Awareness ≠ regression
Why growth can feel like relapse
Don’t mistake awareness for regression.
As you grow, evolve, and learn it’s inevitable that the previously unknown unknowns become known. This can make you feel that you’ve gone backwards. That you’ve regressed.
You haven’t.
Organic life grows in spirals.
Take the fern, snail, or planetary orbit. This spiralling is true for us, too. We do not grow in a linear path, moving further and further away from our starting point.
Instead, we grow through cycles. Periods of divergence, and periods of convergence. Which is why, deep in the process of intentional growth, you might find yourself screaming:
“I THOUGHT I’D DEALT WITH THIS ALREADY! I THOUGHT I WAS OVER IT! WHY IS THIS COMING BACK AROUND AGAIN?!”
As is often the case, the answer is in the question: it is coming back around.
But rather than going in circles, you’re likely going in spirals, and witnessing the thing-in-question from a different vantage point.
Want some scientific proof? Let me introduce you to the Dunning Kruger effect.
The Dunning Kruger effect is a bias where your perception of competence is overestimated when competence is low and underestimated when competence is high.
So when you think you’ve gotten worse at something, that’s often the clearest signal that you’ve actually gotten better.
While maddening, let is also be humbling.
The spiral of growth never ends.
There is no finishing point, conclusion, or final resolution. Life is evolution. The only difference is our acceptance of the fact and our willingness to keep going — around and around.
꩜ A little gift if you made it to the end of this piece, I love this song.
This came at the right time today! Thank you, Charley! ❤️