Eadarian Network

Hello my friend,

Welcome to the 66th installment of The Creative Journey, the experience of one Charles Yerkes, Eadarian Poet, perpetuator, and otherwise mildly creative and excessively modest personage.

It has often been said that if you want to know who a person truly is, then simply watch how they handle the little things in life. Who a person is manifests itself in the little, seemingly non-important things of life. Things such as: does the person routinely interrupt conversations with out so much as an, excuse me? And do they then talk about whatever they want without regard to the topic of the current conversation? Does the person pick up after their pet when out in public areas, parks, or even a neighbors yard? Do they throw unwanted trash out the car window instead of taking it to a trashcan? Are they chronically late, for no good reason? Are they shoddy in parking the car and so take up two spaces instead of one? Is everything simply about having fun? Are the first words out of their mouth, everyone else does it?

“But,” you say. “These are really small things.” Exactly. And they are indicators of who a person truly is. Is the person a small petty person or a considerate one? Is the person dependable or unreliable? Can the person be trusted or not? These are all things that can be learned by watching how the small things are handled. If they do what is right, what is required, what is respectful, and what takes extra effort in the small things; then they have the character that will do them in the more important things. Or to state it another way, if a person does not have the character needed to handle the small things in life well, he does not have the character to handle the large ones well either. This is simply a fact of human behavior.

“So, are we to try and force people to do these small things well?” No. That would be stupid. Quite stupid. You never really change anything by merely removing a symptom. How little things are handled are mere symptoms, not the problem. It is similar to the symptom of pain when one has a broken bone. Painkillers can remove that symptom, the pain can be eliminated, but the problem, the cause of that symptom, is still there. The removal of the pain does not mend the broken bone. So too forcing people to fix the symptoms of poorly handling the little things does not make a person have the character to handle them well, it merely hides the poor character… for a little while. But the poor character is still there and will resurface shortly. The key is to develop character in people that is strong and courageous. For when this is done, the little things will be handled well – for they are only an indicator of who the person truly is.

No one is perfect, and everyone will handle the little things poorly from time to time. That is life, a part of being a human being. And it is possible to focus too much on the little things so that life gets bogged down always trying to do things “right”. Which will also be a negative experience. People perform the small things unconsciously, this is why they are a good indicator of who the person is; it is a true revealing of who they are. And do not take this as an invite to go and start pointing out the imperfections of others. But rather, this is an invite to observe yourself; to learn about your own character and to look for ways to help it grow.

Grow in peace.

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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