Evolution

I don't mean Darwin, but personal evolution; self-growth, self-actualisation and all those other 'selfs' that sociologists love to fling about.

It occurred to me that growth, soul growth, happens without conscious thought. How do I know this? Well, I was doing my latest assignment on my Diploma. The assignment is on electronic publishing. That led me to how long I've been using the 'net, and how long I've been apart of the Forward Motion community. From there, I realised how much I've learned while there.

Writing is not an easy thing to do, but I can look back at the beginnings of my posting work and see how much I've learned. From head hopping and rushing my work, I'm now circumspect in scene writing and slower in consideration of why something is where it is and how it works in with other scenes. All of this wasn't really thought about, just watched for. Now my writing has a better flow.

Same thing for editing. I'm more focused, more evolved in what I'm looking for. Others, I know, appreciate the care I take with their work.

Life works the same way. Sometimes, I think we learn through osmosis. We absorb information every day and when someone asks about something, we know. Some of us may pause and wonder how we know others simply accept it.

I'd like to think most people realise this, but I know it's not true given the selfish behaviour I see.

Evolution, personal growth, professional growth. If more people thought about their own philosophies and how they interact with others, we'd probably live in a happier place. Maybe it's because of the aging process, but I don't think so. I think it has more to do with how introspective a person is; I think it has to do with what kind of emotional roller-coasters people have ridden during their lives. The steeper the hills, the lower the valleys, the more evolved people become. If you don't have any rough rides, how can you appreciate the wonderful ones?

Think about that the next time you're tempted to bad behaviour.