I’ve come late to a large body of understanding which, I suspect, many people acquire entirely without realising it. For whatever reason, I haven’t formed many of the habits and beliefs that seem to sustain people in everyday life; a failing I’m currently trying to rectify.

This has two ramifications. Firstly, when I discover or clarify something new or important (to me, that is) I often post about it here. A couple of recent examples might be ‘I Can Spell Archaeopteryx’ and ‘Taking Time’.

Secondly, my approach is different. In the normal process of growing up, very often we’ll acquire habits, beliefs and knowledge without realising we’ve done so. Our mental universes shift, our behavioural patterns change, but because the changes take place without an announcement to the conscious mind, and over a period of time, we don’t notice the differences.

However, the changes I’m making to the way I live my life are coming from a conscious effort to comprehend and change. Consequently, my understanding is far more conceptual than it would have been if it had simply evolved organically. New thoughts take their place in a theoretical framework as well as being implemented in a practical sense.

Hopefully this means you see things I’ve written in this vein, and think about them for a little while. Then you nod, thinking “Yep, I do that already,” and get back to living your life.