Knowing Someone

Sometimes people like to say that they actually "know someone", but it's somewhat of a moving target. The "knowing" is perhaps only in the comfort of one's mind. The "knowing" could be considered a mindset or an outdated stereotype of a person perceived, but is it accurate for the dynamic reality of a living being?



With a young baby, the growth and development is quite apparent. Hikaru isn't the same person he was a year ago, or even a day ago, or even a minute ago. Seeing his changes makes him interesting to watch (at least for the parents).

This afternoon in the light of the setting sun, Hikaru noticed his long shadow. With the sun to his back, he noticed the movement of his leg's shadows, and he hopped up and down on alternating feet with joy and delight (excuse the pun). Perhaps a small realization, but in that brief instant of time, our baby "changed" with the sunlight.

Of course, as we get older, our biological changes and shifts in neural patterns aren't as drastic. And sometimes we don't even notice ourselves changing from day to day without taking some notes of introspection. But as we accumulate our daily experiences, everyone changes, learns, grows -- and hopefully this will continue, even when we're a hundred years old.

If it wasn't for "change", life might lose some of its "zing", and degrade into a stale boredom. Relationships can also stay fresh and interesting because we change (and hopefully we're all changing with our acquired wisdom for the better).

So for the coming "new year", you don't know me anymore, and I don't know you either, but that's OK. Our memories will remain intact of times shared. But there's now a happy new tree ring of growth on our trunks from the past year, and that's something to really celebrate.

Wishing everyone (including all the new babies and older folks) a wonderful new year of growth and change in 2007!