Visualizing growth

It’s fun, and sometimes horrifying, to see ways in which we grow.

When I look back on work I produced even a few years earlier, the difference from then to now is stark.

It’s important to be able to tell the difference.

We can get so caught up in the day to day work that we lose sight of the long term gains.

Like watching a child or puppy grow, you hardly notice any growth if you sit with it every single day. It’s only when you look back at a picture is when the growth is the most obvious thing in the world.

This is why we should maintain a means of tracking our work. Whether through a public portfolio, a consistent writing practice, or whatever ways you can manifest for your work.

Yes, you should look back at your earlier days with some disgust at what you produced. But with some nostalgia as well.

The growth will be obvious because you’ve worked so hard at it. You might not feel it as the days march by but growth is subtle like that.

Only in retrospect can you see how far you’ve come.