Human in Progress:

If you were to follow me in any of my socials you’d probably find the phrase “Human in Progress” in one odd corner or another of the bio.

It’s something that I’ve done for years with some vague notion of what it meant to me or whomever might actually take the time to read it, but I’ve never truly sat down and done a proper meditation on the topic.

What does it mean to be a Human in Progress?

What does it mean to me..? … Does it mean anything to you?

If I recall correctly, I first posted it as a banner for my Youtube Channel. I was sure that I was going to strive to be a full-time YouTuber. While I had plenty of ideas, I was actively working on a less than a handful of videos.

Like many of us do, I focused on the aesthetics, branding, and a thousand and one other intangible things that don’t really matter instead of… you know… actually doing the thing.

Somewhere along the way, the time came to design a place-holder banner so that my profiles wouldn’t look so empty. I thought it would be funny to, for a time, label myself as a “Human in Progress” since I wasn’t really sure where I was going to take my soon-to-be “blossoming” online career.

It reminded me of design school where I’d always label working files with “-wip” to denote that they’re works in process much like my socials.

I figured I’d just put something and worry about changing it later.

The thing is, I find myself in a similar situation today. As I tweak and build out this site, I find myself (and this site) in a bit of an unfinished state.

So, as I was about to brand the site with those three words, I paused for a second and asked myself: “The fuck does this even mean?”

And then the scariest part hit me.

“I don’t know.”

While I do subscribe to the notion that we’re always changing and people that are always progressing towards being a better version of themselves. I … at thirty years old… never sat down to plot out who or what I’m “progressing” to be.

If you’ve been keeping up, you’re likely seeing a trend of how I got here. Alternatively, why I haven’t gone “anywhere.”

Outside of less than half-baked ideas in the oven, hoping to scrounge up enough money to move on to the next thing. I’ve never had any real north star of what’s waiting for me at the finish line.

Much like the “You can have it all” mantra we spoke about last week. I’ve also repeated this without really reflecting on it.

So, why not take a crack at it today?

A Human in Progress is someone who is consistently working on themselves. It’s someone who looks at life through the lens of a long journey with no concrete destination, only a loose collection of desires that once achieved, we are either satisfied or realize that our true desire was something else all along.

However, in both cases, life goes on and one must move on to something new. Enjoy and experience new things, desires, people, places…

A Human in Progress is someone who understands that they are the prism as a whole, not just the individual refractions of the light shining through it.

I dunno… but, it’s a work in progress. haha.

Maybe it’s one of those things that I’ll keep working and reworking as the years roll by.

What does Human in Progress mean to you? Let me know down below.

Thank you,

Joshua Pagan | 05/05/2024