I'm hearing a strange new buzz here and there from the media, through social media, in magazines, on the radio, all sorts of places that seems to point to the fact that people seem to be gaining insight into what it means to be a human being and how we actually fit into this world.  This gives me hope for the future, for my children and my children's children, and your children and grandchildren, and so on.  

It seems we are finally trying to take an honest look at ourselves, our thoughts, our behaviors and choices, and many of us are truly trying to find answers to the questions that plague all people, but that generations before us, in some ways, seemed afraid to ask.  We seem more ready than our predecessors to look at our lives and the mistakes we've made in them and try to actually learn from them and make changes in our lives for the better.  We seem to be realizing that our failures or mistakes or shortcomings-whatever you want to call anything less than perfect-are not something to be shunned and be afraid of or be ashamed of, rather they are proof positive that sometimes we have to hurt to learn and grow.  

That's liberating to me.  I've made my fair share of mistakes, and I, for one, am glad that we've reached a point in our emotional evolution that I no longer feel I "should" or need to sit in the corner and beat myself to death about them anymore.  I can forgive myself, learn what I need to from the mistakes, grieve my losses, and move forward in my life, on my way to becoming a happy and healthy person, perhaps for the very first time.