"Evolving Backwards"?

Hola, mis amigos! 🙋‍♀️

In All Authors Publishing House we get asked a bunch of questions. Most of them come from a conversational point of view. However, a lot of times they become assignments. Here is one of those questions.

Is there such thing as evolving backwards?

🤔 Food for thought? Absolutely!

Without further ado, here is my answer.

"Evolving backwards" to me is synonymous with Devolution which is indeed a thing. Look it up.

With that said, lets get to the nitty gritty, shall we?

1, 2, Cha-cha-cha!

DEVOLUTION Meaning:

(1) The transfer or delegation of power to a lower level.
(2) Descent or degeneration to a lower or worse state.

Now that I have proven that Devolution is a thing I could potentially end this blog entry. 😆 But I don't think that was the point of the question. I guess I am supposed to talk about it in the realm of my writing career. So here we go.

Can an author devolve? 🤔💬

The easy answer is that many things in life, authors not exempt, can devolve. Lots of things are subject to regressing in one way or another.

However we aren't looking for an easy answer here. We're looking for something more. With your permission I'll give this a go and see how much more enlightenment I can bring, if any.

I look at evolution like a plant. This applies to all facets of life and nature. You can't plant a bean and expect it to grow backwards. It will grow upwards and outwards and one day die to lay way for a new bean to do the same, better this time.

It is said that we, human beings, started off as apes. Now whether or not I believe that tale is up for debate but I can see the logic behind it. So let's use that as an example.

If we indeed came from the prehistoric ape then one had to die in order for the next to take its place. The one who is born from the old is better than its predecessor. Just like with the bean. The above gif is a great example of just that.

In my humble opinion that same premise applies to our mind and hearts. You must say good bye to the old in order to welcome the new. The better. And once the new has come the old cannot return.

Let me put my own life up for example.

The bible says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13. Now, I am not the most religious type but I do find truth in that statement.

Evolution is called such because it is the gradual development of something, especially from a simple existence to a more complex form.

Let's look at the spiritual value of this meaning.

In my younger and greatly immature years I found solace in vengeance, laughter in hysteria, and meaning in emptiness. I thought that I knew when indeed I was oblivious.

I thought that I knew the meaning of love. You know, what whole "happily ever after" that fairy tales portray. I thought that I knew the meaning of sacrifice; if I gave up spending these five dollars today then I'd have ten to spend tomorrow. I thought I knew what maturity was; I folded my laundry after washing it. I thought I knew what independence was; I could cook all on my own.

Oh, how wrong I was.

With time came wisdom. With wisdom came depth of understanding. I now know that true love means loving unconditionally; good, bad or otherwise. I could see what true sacrifice is; putting yourself and desires last in order to provide someone else's needs. Maturity now meant not living in a reactive state of mind but a proactive one. Independence meant surviving without the assistance of anyone, not being codependent but interdependent. 

While I do know that nothing is completely exempt of devolution I also know this ... the one lesson that I learned that would supersede the rest was ...

Once my eyes had been open to the profundity of all these things they could never be closed again. Meaning that once I understood them, I could never not (double negative here, but you get what I mean).

When my evolution had taken place, I could not devolve.

From a mental-emotional and spiritual perspective I could not grow backwards. The proverbial "you can't unsee". The shedding of the old, paved the way for the new and the new was of far greater value.

This translated into my every day life, my understanding, and yes, even my writing. Now I also know that when my tree eventually dies it will have laid the groundwork for an even better one to take its place.

Basically and simply put, no, you can not evolve backwards.