how things (should) evolve

I have this friend who once said to me "I am going to evolve in bracelets."

The statement was quite vague at first, but then it started getting clearer the more I thought about it. In any case, I did ask: What do you mean?

He said: "Well I love wearing accessories, bracelets to be specific, and I realized I do not know much about them. So I'm going to start the process of evolving in that regard. I will first buy a rubber band , wear it as a bracelet and then just take it from there."

...

Three years later I see him wearing an Hermes braided leather bracelet. So I asked.

"Well the rubber band, and even the thicker rubber wrist bands; both were sub par. It didn't take much to realize that's not the quality nor the design I'm looking for. I tried the regular fabric ones, made of cloth. Those were ok, but did not last long. They also didn't have the nicest look. So after that, I went for metallic bracelets. Both the loop ones and the chain ones were simply too heavy and too shiny. So I tried the leather ones. Those I found to be the best. Specifically the braided design with a magnetic inner lock. The lock is not bulky nor too loose nor has dangling ends. Braided leather has the best low key premium look and feel."

And that was his story on his evolution in bracelets.

I have another friend who went through a similar experience with painting. He started doodling with a regular blue dry ink Bic pen on regular A4 paper seven years ago. After months of producing basic simple doodles he started using colors. Four years ago he transitioned to A3 sized papers and 1sqm cardboards, and got proper premium water color pens, professional pencils, a couple of rulers and started producing big intricate colorful designs. After three years of doing that he began painting with oil on canvas. By then he had his own design, his own style, even his own technique.

The same thing happened to me with this blog. I did not just go online one day, open a blog, and start writing. I bought a notepad in 2009, that was the first time I started writing down thoughts and ideas. In 2010 I started writing notes on my phone. That, I remember, was a turning point, as it became so convenient to automatically jolt down an idea. Then in 2015 I downloaded all my notes onto my PC, and set out on writing about one topic for two years (it concluded in a 20 page unfinished paper). I then went back to writing notes on my phone for another three years before I came to create this blog in 2021.

This is what it means to have organic growth. Do not try to emulate what or how you think 'things should be' - or even worse to emulate how others tell you 'things should be'- but rather be aware of your disposition towards a thing and cater to that. Start from the beginning and go through the journey - Needless to say the journey will always differ from one person to the other, but's that's a discussion for another time. The idea is to try not to force growth on anything. This does not mean you do not put effort; on the contrary, you must, for sure, 100%, absolutely, work on developing your thing. Think about it, analyze it, lament over it, try different things, plan... but don't force. Surely you must always think of the best way to develop, to evolve, to get better... but don't force. You must always try to find ways to improve... but don't force! Don't try to be what you are not simply because others are, or because you think you 'should'. Organic growth is a natural progressive and developmental process that relies on effort (both physical and mental) and awareness (be honest with yourself, understand actual situations).

If you put in the time and effort and you wait (again, waiting does not mean being idle, but rather patient with the progress), if you keep it organic, it will work. This is a perspective that works on anything, from bracelets (goods & services) to music production (art) to behavior and personal growth (psychology) to literally anything in life. It could take 1 day from start to perfection (say learning how to open a lock with a key), or it could never end (like playing chess) where you would never reach perfection.

Be organic, be honest, persevere.