Some things to think about, but not for too long.

• You are in the background of other people’s vacation photos: the Mickey Mouse ears perched precariously on your head as you reach for an ice cream in a far fake Tiki Hut, or a small blurred face turned upward on a playground, catching a half-second of sun before some stranger’s shutter goes click.

• You have been the best part of someone’s day, perhaps the best of someone’s life.

• You are also the villain in someone else’s story. We all are — it’s nothing personal. {Except to the people who will spend significant amounts of time wondering why you left, why you refused to get help, or why you couldn’t be bothered to return the grocery cart to its corral.}

• So many barriers to misbehavior are entirely mental. During live performances, there’s usually nothing to stop any of us from getting on stage and breaking into song. {Well. If you’re very ambitious in your choice of venue, there may be security guards. There may be a bouncer named Rod who can stop you.}
  
  When teaching, I often think, My authority is totally imaginary. If all these students stood up and walked out, what could I actually do?

• We are constantly tripping on the tension between being mere specks in a vast universe that holds more stories and souls than we can fathom — I mean, each of us is ONE mortal in a history of at least a KAJILLION, and yes, that is the official scientific term — and being irreplaceable, precious anomalies so loved and fragile it’s worth shedding a few salty smidgens.