the best advice I give my students is this: life is not a video game where you win by collecting points, doing boring, meaningless, soul-crushing things for the majority of your career so that you can āspendā them one day on something you actually care about. the same social constraints that discipline young people into deferring gratification too easily trick them into deferring their passions and deferring their integrity, too. every day is equally your life. every bit of power and choice you have is an opportunity, right now, to live out your values. make art now. travel now. take the job that matters now. plant a garden now. do the right thing now. later is too late: spend your points.
