During my walk yesterday, with the cold wind prickling my face, I was struck by how many experiences I have gone through over the past 50 years. The still unbelievable fact that I have been alive for 50 years alone is quite an experience… I am one of those people who enjoys rituals in my life. They are akin to punctuation marks, helping me to take stock of my evolution. For the past few years, at the end of December, I have gone through my Moleskine weekly notebook to compile a list of the year’s highlights, failures and accomplishments. If I were to put together 50 of these lists, it would be quite a mosaic of events, encounters and adventures. Trips taken, discoveries made, people entering and leaving my life… Because of my thirst for growth, my life has become this quilt of trials and tribulations. I want to see everything, read everything, do everything. Breadth of curiosity sacrificing depth of skill. I am sad that I am not an expert at anything: I haven’t (yet?) been able to muster the focus and discipline to apply myself in order to master any of the many interests that have caught my attention through the years. It is not too late. In the meantime, I am grateful for the chance to sample as many shades of the human experience as I possibly can.
