Happy New Year!

For 2017, I hope to continue to fulfill my 2016 resolution: “eat strawberries.” This was motivated by the following quote from Bertrand Russell:

Suppose one man likes strawberries and another does not; in what respect is the latter superior? There is no abstract and impersonal proof either that strawberries are good or that they are not good. To the man who likes them they are good, to the man who dislikes them they are not. But the man who likes them has a pleasure which the other does not have; to that extent his life is more enjoyable and he is better adapted to the world in which both must live. What is true in this trivial instance is equally true in more important matters. The man who enjoys watching football is to that extent superior to the man who does not. The man who enjoys reading is still more superior to the man who does not, since opportunities for reading are more frequent than opportunities for watching football. The more things a man is interested in, the more opportunities of happiness he has and the less he is at the mercy of fate, since if he loses one thing he can fall back upon another. Life is too short to be interested in everything, but it is good to be interested in as many things as are necessary to fill our days. (Russell, The Conquest of Happiness, pp. 125-6)

I adapt my interpretation a bit. Surely, being interested in stuff is good. But being too interested, I’ve found, can make me scattered and noncommittal. So while I do hope to retain a zest for life, I’ll try to keep my enthusiasm focused, as well. Most of all, this quote inspires me to accept (and, even better, embrace) that that life brings. This is a common zen tenant, and one that I’ve found works wonders in helping me live a happiier and more fulfilling life. Acceptance and nonattachment, followed by an embracement, makes one well-suited to enjoy this life, and make contributions to the lives of others, too.

So that, and I’m going to try to learn to make matcha lattes.

Latte