Eadarian Network

Hello my friend,

Welcome to the 35th installment of The Creative Journey, the experience of one Charles Yerkes, Eadarian Poet, perpetuator, and otherwise mildly creative and excessively modest personage.

The process of growth is an interesting thing.

The noble life is a life that is always growing – always maturing – always improving. Or, rather, is consistently doing so.

In talking to a friend of mine the other day, I was reminded of the fact that maturity, growth, strength, and wisdom all come in layers. Meaning that you start working through an issue – say, insecurity or low self esteem – and you get to a point where you are feeling fairly secure in who you are, your self image is stronger than ever, and you have broken through to the next level of maturity and strength when suddenly the old feelings of insecurity and self doubt seem stronger than ever and you are left puzzled and thinking, Did I not just leave all this junk baggage behind?

Well, yes… and no. On the level you were living at, yes you did. But once you were strong enough to move in to a new level of maturity, you were also destined to face the deeper underlieing causes for that first set of baggage. Sort of like (referring to air travel and luggage) you were able to ditch the carryon bag but now you get to deal with the first of your checked baggage – the smallest possible checked bag, and it can even be one with rollers. And worry not, once you have gotten rid of this accessory, there will be the next bag in line, perhaps a little bigger, and maybe one with out the ease of rollers to help pull it along.

This will continue as long as you are alive and growing. So don’t worry about missing out on your chance to deal with this… you will avoid it not.

Now, it is true that at some point the baggage you have to grow through may change in appearance. Meaning that once you have dealt completely with an issue, for example low self worth; and you have done this on several levels of growth and now have a very strong self image, you may have to start to deal with growing out of selfish behaviors, out of the tendency toward arrogance that often accompanies a new self image, or perhaps some other obtuseness, which currently lies hidden in your life, will now be able to come to your attention as something you need to grow through.

This is the natural order of things and there are only 2 other options to this growth. 1) Being alive (heart beating, lungs breathing) but dying for all other intents and purposes. And 2) actually being dead.

And as none of My friends live in either of these alternatives, be prepared for this slow and stubborn growth cycle. There is no way out of it.

It is easy to wish the growth to be over and done, and done NOW! And to want to be grown up all at once. But, that is simply not the way things are made. All growth takes time. Physical growth from infant to adult takes twenty years, give or take a couple of years. Psychological growth from infant to growing adult also takes more than twenty years. Friendships only grow with time. Love, – true – deep – other directed love, only develops with time. There are no short cuts.

Yes, some grow faster than others and some mature slower than others. But the point is, all growth takes time. Allow yourself to be ok with the time that is needed.

I know we live in a day and age when everything has to happen yesterday. When the hallmark of success is how quickly it is achieved, not simply that it is achieved. But this is simply not how life works. Indeed, all things worth having take time. Even the great dancer, Fred Astaire, once said that his apparently effortless dance moves, only came as the result of hours and hours and hours of practicing them, of going over the same steps again, again, and again… and again.

Give yourself the time to grow. It is ok if it takes more time than you wish. And, as with Mr. Astaire, it is ok if it takes hours and hours (or days, months, and years) of doing the same thing. For when the time of growth is over, also like Mr. Astaire, you will glide over the floor, giving no hint of all that went into getting you there.

And the coolest thing, is that you then are able to help others who are going through what you just did. That my friend is not something that is to be missed.

Well, I’m a little long in this installment, so for now I had better go.

Incase I do not get to add another installment before the 25th,

I do hope you have a most excellent Christmas season, so…

Merry Christmas!

Charles Yerkes
Eadarian Poet, Perpetuator, Photographer, and Fiddle Player

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To choose a past installment(s) of The Creative Journey click here. To view a Quote of the Week, click here.

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