I spent last weekend with a group of friends. On the first day the cold, wind-swept rain all but forced us to hunker down in our hotel room, where we talked and drank wine and ate crackers and trail mix. I am generally tied to routine, so having no agenda made me feel like a boat without an anchor. But once I got over the weirdness of it, it felt  wonderful.

It made me realize how important it is to pull yourself out of the familiar. If you don’t, the flexibility to alter and appreciate a different perspective vanishes. The most enviable thing about youth isn’t unwrinkled skin, or the ability to run a mile in under seven minutes. It’s the ability to say what the hell, yes. It’s the ability to sidestep, rather than embrace, routine. It’s the ability to wake up on someone else’s sofa in a place you’ve never been and find yourself slightly off-balance but perfectly at home in the world.