A glorious decade

10 years ago to the day I flew into JFK and took a 2-3 hour shuttle ride to Princeton. I was wide-eyed, maybe a little cynical, mostly naive and inexperienced.

Last week I drove 10 hours, in a rental car, from Ann Arbor to JFK and flew out to Israel. With much more baggage, in every sense of the word. Baggage weighs us down (all glorious 200 pounds of it---oh boy does some of that have to go), but it also contains all manner of useful and joyful things. I may still be cynical and naive and wide-eyed, but only (I hope) in the best sense. 

10 years in the US have taught and given me a lot. I hope to be back soon.

Take a deep breath and repeat after me

1. While starving yourself of information would be foolhardy, bingeing on a firehose of information is neither conducive to your sanity and happiness, nor helpful for good decision-making. Systematically avoid both extremes. Adopt blunt measures to achieve this if need be.
2. Life goes on. Things will change, for better or for worse. There will be hardships that we will all have to bear, some more than others. But life will go on. 
3. Don't ignore the world around you, but don't let it consume you. Focus on the here and now. In particular: there are things you were going to do, that still need to be done, and that you have the time and space to do now. Do them.
4. It's unfortunate that these words have been coopted for other, more propagandistic purposes, but remember: 群防群治