Do you sometimes eat in restaurants where you never want to leave and in fact wouldn’t mind owning or at least having another glass of wine?

If you have those moments, do you remember them? For the record, in case I forget, here’s the evening of Monday, April 24, 2017. Florence, Italy.

I’m big on perspective. I don’t need to like what you like and vice-versa. But you need to like it from your perspective. If you don’t like it, change your perspective or change something. If the world around you is not as you would like it, first place the oxygen mask on yourself before you apply it to others. In other words, change yourself before you change the world.

This is a break from our regularly scheduled program to allow a word from our sponsor, Canto Del Ramerino. The spooky eyes and narrowing streets were scaring even me, so we’re going to break for a moment. We’ll be back tomorrow. But I’m afraid it’s going to get scaryrer. Yeah, sorry.

Let’s do a little calculation. That’s just the late-night math guy that I am. It’s in my blood. It comes from doing SAT math tests with my dad “for fun” (his choice of words) in high school, at “the round table.” I’m going to add up what’s going on.

1. Kids are at the apartment. (Disclaimer: this might be illegal. If there are fines, they are worth it.) They have phones. If they burn the house down or get kidnapped, they can text. It’s been a long day of parenting.
2. There is prosecco and wine and beer. This bullet point needs no further explanation.
3. My wife just said that maybe we should never leave. I’m taking this as a sign that she’s enjoying it. She also said, out loud, that these are the moments in life that you must not forget, that you savor like a fine wine, that come along on a regular basis but that you must grab, shake and hold onto and hug with a fury approaching back pain so you don’t forget that you’re alive and that this is one of those times that you can’t forget because this is the life that you dream of living and we are living it.
4. There are locals. At least they speak Italian. They might be impostors or actors or work here. They are more local than I am.
5. My wife (see #3) is OK with me busting out my laptop at 10 pm in a cafe in Italy because she realizes that I am a man on a mission and that I will stop at nothing to keep up my Write Every Day passion and that includes this. See #2 if this is an issue. That’s a really long bolded headline. I apologize, I’ll improve. But it’s true, I will stop at nothing. She’s reading a book and is so engrossed in it that I don’t dare interrupt (unless it’s to order more prosecco).
6. Did I mention the kids weren’t here? That’s how I can get to a bullet point #6 without mention of: (a) fatigue, (b) boredom, (c) WiFi, (d) cultural overload, (e) fraternal sabotage, (f) starvation, (g) ___________ (insert favorite adolsescent complaint here). If you already add up #2, #3, #4 (as wildcard or optional variable) and #5, you get to a number like infinity which is difficult to comprehend and hard to add up and I’m only on bullet point #6.
7. This is fun for me. I heard a show the other day where someone said, “I can’t not do it.” and “I would do it for free.” and “It’s become larger than me.” and that’s how I feel about putting words down. Dear reader, if you are such a trooper that you’re down to bullet point #7 here with me and you don’t really get this bullet point, think about your dreams. I’ll wait. Maybe just even one dream. Quick! What comes to mind? What if you could live that dream? What if you could do it on a regular basis? Maybe not all day, every day, but at least Every Single Day a little bit. Just enough to get your fix and get your blood levels balanced and your heart racing and your soul doing cartwheels? What if a tiny piece of you could live the life you dream of? It could overshadow pretty much anything else in your life. Now I’m not asking, now I’m telling. It’s a powerful thing. #7 is titled “This is fun for me.” but it’s all encompassing and “fun” is probably too light of a word, but the lightness of it is the key. It’s not heavy or a burden. It’s not weighing me down, in fact, it’s what puts the wind in my sails and propels me forward, upward and onward.

#7 there blew up my math. I can’t count that high. I’m not sure it has a value or at least a value I can calculate. How do you value fun and lightness and play? If you can calculate that, please show me the formula.

But here’s what I can calculate: one day. One evening. A moment. How long is it? It’s now. It’s not last week or next month. It’s not what should have been, what might have been or what could have been. It’s right this very moment. What are you doing? How could it be construed as something positive? Do more of that.

Could it be that simple? It’s 10:30. I’ve just immortalized a half hour of my life into 7 bullet points that I will never forget, can always refer to and will, and this might be hard for you non-writers, non-mathematicians to comprehend, compounded exponentially the impact it will have on my memory of these moments. It’s math. It’s writing. It’s life as I know it.