Extending further — we watch television, read books, view movies in which characters come up against crisis, and then undergo a change of character.  It’s a basic writer’s technique for any work of fiction — required, even — yet it’s not an accurate representation of what happens in real life.  People in reality can change, but they’re slow to do so — if they do so at all. Yet we expect others — friends, business associates, celebrities, our political leaders, our religious leaders — to go through crises and change for the better. How often we’re let down on this point!  We need “Seinfeld” back again ... a group of people who *never* progress, who show clearly that we need to change ourselves in order to not be miserable self-centered individuals.

I find it all a funny combo of ignorance and naivete, and the need to shout it all from the rooftops [I’m looking in a mirror as I type this phrase]. We all fall into the abyss from time to time, but the sheer number doing it these days is astonishing. 

I recommend writing drafts of posts or comments, and then stepping away from them for a period of time.

As I should have done before writing and posting this.