Charles Hotel courtyard lights, last Friday evening about 6pm.

I love this blog post from a man named Eric Zorn. He lists 50 things he’s learned in 50 years of life. A very valuable exercise for each of us, I think. A few of my favorites of his:

10. Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.
17. Don’t waste your breath proclaiming what’s really important to you. How you spend your time says it all.
37. Mental illness is as real as diabetes, arthritis or any other disease, and no more disgraceful. It’s the stigma that’s disgraceful.
41. Almost no one stretches, flosses or gives compliments often enough.
49. Whatever your passion, pursue it as though your days were numbered. Because they are.

I was daunted when I started to write a list of my own. A project for day with more energy, mental and physical. When I think about what I’ve learned in my ordinary 33 years on earth I think about things both practical and abstract (and Eric’s list has a nice combination of both). In terms of the more big-picture, amorphous truths, many of them have changed and shifted over time. Embracing ambiguity and to learn to go with the flow continue to be big priorities for me; struggles, too, but dimensions on which I think I’ve made some faint progress. Maybe for now, when I write 33 things I have learned, I’ll focus on irrefutable facts. 1. Nutella is its own food group, and a critical one. 2. Bacon is a vegetable. 3. There is no music better than that of the singer-songwriters of the 70s. 4. Evening heels should all be stilettos, never chunky. 5. Jalapenos are delicious on pizza. 6. White wine is best on the rocks. ETC, ETC.