I’ve long espoused a High Saturation Life, defined by my theory of Absolute Value Intensity. Allow me to update this framework from my current position in the backseat, on our way up the mountain.

I will choose a lifetime of intensity over a lifetime of idleness on the principle that all potent experiences are Life and Living in their most unadulterated form, irrespective of positive/negative value ascription.

I mean this less in the literal sense of endorsing a lifetime of torture, but rather an abjuration of a life well lived as defined by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

I want the lifeblood of every experience — ecstasy, despair, hope, fear, doubt, triumph.

Now I understand what I truly mean is not a blind pursuit of intensity — “Vitality”, in the sacred sense I seek, would be a gross misnomer for hedonism — but rather a life of ownership.

I do not eschew respite, but aimlessness. I do not spurn stillness, but stagnation.

It is ownership I yearn for.

If I do not own my failures, in the fullness of heartbreak and the limpidity of devastation, then I have no right to my victories.

If I am to suffer, I will do so willingly, and with the knowledge and clarity that this is my life to experience in every dimension it can offer me.

And when I seek pleasure, I will do so with the intentionality and respect life deserves.

So yes, I can slow down. I just choose not to.

And if I do, it’s on purpose.