"this is a tune for the Velvet Elvises"

it's 12:15 in the morning...

i still have homework i need to do...

and i don't think i really have anything in particular to write about...

but i'm just in one of those writing moods. so here goes.

today during my hour drive home from school, i got to thinking: why do we expect maturity out of others, but never exhibit it? why do we love stories about people who grow and change, but are too stubborn to change ourselves?

when someone watches a movie or reads a book, they expect the main character to be different at the end than they were at the beginning. a character that remains static is boring. you change the channel, or put down the book for a new one. why? because we expect people to learn from their experiences and adapt accordingly. we expect it of people in stories, and we expect it of those around us, because it's part of the human condition: we're not perfect, and we're learning new things all the time. but if you learn something and never apply it...well, there's no reason to have learned it. kind of like the classic high schooler's response to math:"when am I EVER going to use this in my life?"...i know i've said it before. i said it because i don't want to waste time learning something i can't use down the road.

so, okay, i've established the point: people expect other people to change.

but i don't think we ever expect ourselves to. while we may whine and ask for an opportunity to be offered, when the opportunity arises we say, "hmmm, i actually think i'm just going to stay where i am. it's nice here. i don't need this change." we may SAY we need to grow, but the fact is that we don't want to. so that brings me to my original question: why do we expect growth/change/maturity out of everyone BUT ourselves?

honestly, i think it's because we're lazy. we like the way things are and when it comes down to it, we don't feel like giving the necessary effort to make important changes in our lives. we don't want to grow up (and yet, of course, we are offended whenever people tell us that we need to). and i don't like that...especially because i know i'm guilty of it too.

just some food for thought. i could write a lot more, but that whole homework thing (plus that whole sleep thing) tells me i should save this for another time.