“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Think strategically. Invest for the long-term. Build sustainable institutions.

These are all dogmatic precepts I've come to believe. But do I miss out by not paying enough attention to the things that are by definition not sustainable — the vanishing moments that collectively comprise the long-term? Am I too biased toward an ever-retreating horizon?

Let's be honest: My one wild and precious life is subject to the whims of a capricious universe, my rationality bounded, and my information imperfect. But it's OK. Complete rationality is not that fun anyway. Who said leaps of faith have to make perfect sense?

So I plan to embrace the ephemeral and build a collection of fleeting yet vivid memories: a spontaneous snowball fight, a face-melting guitar solo, a lover's glance, autumn in New England, a child's first piano recital, a midnight swim in the ocean, rooftop Rioja against a summer skyline, dinner conversations going well past midnight, that red dress...

It's the details that compose the big picture.

 

— James Corcoran