A friend of mine posted an article about the Red Deer variant in human evolution and within reading the first paragraph, I found myself so completely joyful that the day’s exhaustion seemed long gone. Being an inquisitive person, I have since been thinking about why it does that to me. I think it satisfies the scientist, historian and the artist in my brain.
My mom was a science teacher, and we grew up going to natural history museums. My grandmama taught history, and we also went to historical sites on our vacations. I developed a love for both, and in the first part of my adultlife I was an actor. And I still write fiction in my spare time.
Evolution hits all of these for me. The science of deciphering what these bones mean and what these adaptations were used for. The storytelling that emerges about how we got here. The history of that story.
Most of all though, evolution is like watching a living painting be uncovered at the same time that it paints in innovative ways. The story and the picture are being revealed and being created. It is amazing.
And as a final thought, evolution is a miracle. I sit here typing this on my Android, the result of millions of incredible accidents and historical contingencies and happenstance. One small change in the way the world unfolded and someone else might be here typing about creationism (good job, phone, for not knowing that word). But I get to be here. And that is amazing.
creating carrie 