Devotion is my word of the year. In my family, my friendships, my work, I aspire to focus on what’s most important so that unnecessary, habitual, self-inflicted urgency can fall away.

Did you know I was a professional painter at one point in my life? While Ella and I were painting our dining room over the holiday break, I casually mentioned my brief career as part of a painting crew in Detroit and surrounding areas. She was surprised that she didn't know, but not surprised that I was.

I wonder if it’s normal to turn fifty and wonder why nobody told you that it’s great? I love being fifty years old. I love surprising people when I tell them I’m fifty. I'm telling you now, in case a big birthday is looming, to find some friends who will tell you how wonderful it feels to have reached X age, and how much fun they're having.

I've been turning the concept of forgiveness over in my heart and mind pretty regularly throughout my life. It's probably because I am someone who makes a lot of mistakes while stubbornly walking around the world with a wide-open heart.