Looking at my memoir up till age 30 (marriage) now trimmed down and neat, with beautiful outlines showing, I feel great satisfaction in sculpting what I have been. Cutting out the excess to leave a supple plot. Leonardo said: “Acquire something during your youth to provide for your losses in old age. If you intend for your old age to feed on wisdom, so act during your youth that you may not lack food during your old age.”

Well, it’s true for any age – that you are storing up the wisdom it allowed you. But if you at any point take the longview, it’s great if you can see the clear lines of the picture. Who have you been? Where have you traveled? What food did you acquire to feed yourself if you were cut off in a cave and had to digest it? Would you find it appetizing and nourishing, the fruit of your travels?