Here are a few things I learned
Nine modest pearls of wisdom that might be useful moving forward
A few weeks ago I turned 60. One of those entirely arbitrary hallmarks in a human life that nevertheless, despite ourselves, make you look up and pay attention. To celebrate the occasion, my lovely daughter and wife organized a sumptuous dinner in a nice restaurant in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil), where we were staying for a brief vacation. And the celebrations went on a few days later, by way of spending a late evening sipping whiskey at a really cool jazz bar in São Paulo.
Inevitably, I’ve taken the occasion of entering the 7th decade of my life as a good excuse to reflect a bit about what I’ve done so far, what I’d like to do moving forward, and what I’ve learned in the meantime that should inform my future decisions. I hope you will indulge me in this post, which is really a kind of manifesto to myself for how I’d like to live whatever (hopefully long and especially healthy) time is left for me on planet Earth. Who knows, the resulting musings may be useful to others as well.
What I’ve learned
I don’t think I’ve learned much, as it turns out, but perhaps enough. I’m not talking about straightforward knowledge, of which, thanks to multiple stints in graduate school and two academic careers, I have actually…
