My preferences say much about who I am as a person. They are neither good nor bad, although some attempt to impute moral values into their preferences. (I never eat meat. I always get up early. I only listen to classical music.) But what about when a strongly held fondness for something ties me up and prohibits me from trying something new? Am I free? Am I accepting of whatever comes my way? Or am I trying so hard to control my environment that it ends up controlling me? Some things are important—some are not. I want to have the wisdom to discern and the freedom to choose new things that will enrich my life. So today, if someone offers me, for example, deep fried oysters, I’ll try them. Who knows, I might like them. Or, if someone invites me to watch a chess tournament, I’ll go. I might like it. In the process, maybe I’ll be enriched by the experience and get to see something from an entirely different point of view.

clams