Today is my birthday. It’s the start of year 33 (or is it year 34?) and it’s my Jesus Year.

For those who don’t know, the Jesus Year is the celebration of your 33rd birthday. It’s a bit crass and possibly sacrilegious but hey, what a great idea!

I had plans and notes to write a legitimate manifesto. Seriously, you would have been impressed by it. A diatribe on the collapse of adulthood rituals, the tragedies of ascenders who never come back down to Earth and references to indie bands and comic book heroes. And a recipe for honey apple pork to boot!

But that seemed to defeat the purpose and really, do you want to read my philosophical treatise on growing up in this day and age? (You do? Well, it’s way more interesting if I tell you over wine and vegan cookies.)

The best way to summarize my guiding philosophy is this illustration I read in the comments sections on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog at The Atlantic. (By the way, his postings on learning French in Paris are recommended reading.)

In your hand is a cup, on the table is a quart. The cup is what you have now, the quart is what you see you could have. But to take the quart, you have to put down the cup, and so, for a few moments, you have nothing at all.

I’ve been fortunate, lucky even. I’ve lived in great places, had wonderful experiences in work and have met some of the most amazing people on this planet. I’m truly blessed to have learned quite a bit so far.

What I’ve held is great and what seems in front of me is grander and yet elusive. It’s more than circumstances or more life events; it’s the demanding desire to move forward, purposely. I don’t want to get older or accumulate more stuff because I have to or out of default.

Rather, I want to move toward a place, a place I only hear whispers and rumours about so far. They say that space is hard to get to but once you find it, that’s where the good stuff is.

I don’t quite know where I’m going but I know I’ll get there. I want to get there with expectation and wonder, combined with experience and sobriety. It’ll take the rest of my life to get there but I have faith it’ll be worth the journey.

I can list tactics and strategies about this year: Run the Buenos Aires Marathon, finally learn the Charleston, help Jose and Perla improve their reading at Reading All-Stars. I want to cook a kick-ass fritatta and make paleo brownies. There’s this cute girl that I want to ask out but I keep losing my nerve. I want to wear more red clothing. I need a new couch.

Those are all markers and goals. Worthy goals.

But the main goal is to have no goals. My purpose going forward isn’t to learn but to unlearn. To be willing to be without so I can get to what I can be. In doing that, I can be better at serving and caring for others.

As T.S. Eliot wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

That’s a journey worth taking. So, here’s my manifesto and I hope to stick to it.

See you on the Road to Good Air.