Dr. David Orman

I’ve come to understand the importance of letting people evolve. It’s easy to freeze someone in time, to define them by who they once were or what they once did. But the truth is, we all carry outdated versions of ourselves—echoes of choices made from pain, ignorance, or fear. We are constantly changing, even when that growth is invisible to the outside world.

Everyone has moments they’d rather not be remembered for. A single action, a single word, can become a person’s permanent label in someone else’s memory. I’ve seen how harshly people are judged, how their worst mistake becomes the only lens through which they’re viewed. It’s a cruel kind of imprisonment—to be held forever accountable for a version of yourself that no longer exists.

But life is movement. People shed old skin, outgrow old beliefs, and stumble their way into deeper understanding. They make amends, they shift course, they do the hard work of becoming someone better. And when they do, they deserve to be seen—not for the person they were, but for the effort they’ve made to grow beyond that.