Make Me a Promise

A curious thing, a promise is. Irrespective of fact, circumstance, temperament, weather, anything really, the keeping of a promise ought to be the most steadfast thing humanity has ever created! It is, however, no such thing. In fact, it very likely contributes a great deal to quite the opposite of that most fundamental of aspirations: permanence.

Promises show us all who humans really are. They show us that humans are, indeed, very imperfect, very unreliable, and intrinsically susceptible to behaving against their own self interest. If anything, promises show us what a remarkable thing it is that humans have been able to develop and flourish so extravagantly across the face of the Earth despite having as many intensely volatile attributes as they do.

Promises are the chunky, irregular nuggets of sea salt in the undulating caramel of life- an important metric in evaluating the myriad permeable qualities of human personality. Observing how someone utilizes and organizes their relationships around promises and promise-like commitments with other people and things is tantamount to complete surveillance of a person’s doings.