love of better being

	growing up, achieving enough, paying forward, moving on gary e. davis	Dec. 9, 2018

It’s so simple, the header here—too simple, but useful for my path ahead, which easily becomes complex. So, I modulate myself for the sake of beginning, like a curriculum strand begins relative to where interaction begins. On the one hand (very beginningly), “growing up” is a common, rather vapid rubric. There’s a vast magazine-level literature on that. On the other hand (very conceptually), adult individuality can be far more than “maturity” (normal adultness); capabilities can be so manifold; personality so rich, that it’s better to talk of self-identity (‘selfidentity’, I prefer to write) as individuality which possibly shows multiple personalities in a healthy sense, such that familial personality, deep friendship, social life, and professional engagement are importantly different in kind of personality (intimate partner, parent, old friend, citizen, employee, leader). What do you want for your life? “What I want to be when I grow up” transforms itself into a sense of what one wants to achieve in being whom one is. You set out to change the world, but learn that bringing innovation to one’s career is a greater challenge than was imagined (and requires collaborations, cooperations, and coordinations that are learning curves unto themselves). What is “enough” in aiming for a lot, in order to feel fulfilled? How do you bring care for others into one’s life well? How do you balance proper care for your own future with care for the children, the students, the stranger, and future generations that deserve to benefit from Our care as much we’ve benefitted from our ancestors? And love of life never feels that learning ends, nor wants to postpone the next career, or the next big project—maybe even still (as always?) idealizing chances to contribute lastingly to all who know you, if not doing something to further humanity, leaving a lovely mark on Earth, gaining historic remembrance. Grow up. Achieve a lot. Pay forward. Move on.

 

Be fair. © 2019, gary e. davis