Reversion, a definition

re·vert

riˈvərt/

verb

1. 1.

   return to (a previous state, condition, practice, etc.).

You could call reversion an observation, and in fact most probably do, often in the context of statistics and their relevance in measuring health, finance, population, and other fascinating studies. However, in my observation reversion has taken shape more as a philosophy. I'll do my best to explain.

We've all read and heard several religions described in a nutshell as being the process by which we get closer to 'God', however one defines 'God'. In one example, 'God' is an entity, an omniscient power, and our closeness to that entity is measured by our ability to live by a code and absorb a dogma. In another example 'God' is the absence of clutter, be it metaphysical, karmic, physical, sociological, etc., and our closeness to that is measured by how spartan we keep our existence. While we humans generally don't agree on the particulars, I think we do agree where 'closeness to God' manifests in the physical world; we see it in nature, and declare things as wrong when they seem to defy nature, destroying it or altering it in some way that takes its innate beauty away. Sometimes nature takes the shape of something ugly or profane to us, but its place in the universe is secure, even if its purpose isn't clear to the naked eye.

All of these philosophies can boil down to a search for identity and purpose. Every search has a path, whether conscious or not, and at the end of the search one can look back and see that there were wrong turns and dead ends along the way, that there lay a more direct path to the destination that we couldn't quite follow along the way. I'm not suggesting that every turn is without its own merit - sometimes great discoveries are made on tangents and misdirection - but I will suggest that upon closer examination, those tangents are actually part of the path and its discovery. To that end, I'll call reversion the process of finding our way back to the path after taking journeys away from it. While it seems like an oversimplification, it's often astonishingly revealing; the more I use this simple context as a lens on my life, the more seems to come into focus. If life is a process of straying and reverting, then through careful observation the path should be a tangible scientific discovery. 

I'll share funny stories, sad stories, observations, ideas, and interests of mine here, and periodically I'll cast the lens back upon myself and my entries in search of journeys and reversions. Hopefully with practice I'll see the variances and reversions for what they are and stay on the mean.