changes I: to be better

How do you become a better person? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why do you become a better person? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think I've been over this before, in former posts. My disolusionment with morality etc. Bla bla bla bla bla. But this is important: the slow and intentional shift away from this, which began at a rigid reformation, has gradually turned into experience. From discipline to being. The shift from moralism to morality, from religiosity to religion, from intentionality to habit. Bla bla bla bla bla. In any case, somewhere in here, I think, is the “Why.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of my favourite movies is called “Lars and the Real Girl.” In one great scene, Lars asks his older brother how you know that you've become a man. “Is it sex?” he asks. His brother stammers a moment and then decides that, no, that's not really it. It was deciding to do the right thing when you didn't have to, or when its hard to, or imperfect or when no-one knows or expects more anyways; its when you take responsibility for not only your life but those that it butts up against. Its to be good because its right. Its to be a decent human being. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is this coming of age innate? Do we just wake up one day with the desire to protect our family for strictly evolutionary reasons? I think that saying yes here is too easy. I wouldn't want to brush off something that I feel sets us apart as human beings. The ability to be civil, and to be good is too profound. In the movie, Lars discovers how to give back only after an entire town has loved him first. They don't feed him to the wolves. Even though they live in Minnesota. Even though Lars carries around a doll which he projects as his girlfriend. Even though. I think the answer to “why” is tied up in the “who” in your life.