There's so many things I want to do, and I end up doing not much.

C: Did you ever keep a journal when you were a kid?
J: Yeah. On and off, I guess.
C: It's funny, I read one of mine...from '83 the other day.
J: Yeah?
C: And what really surprised me is that I was dealing with life the same way I am now. I was much more hopeful and naive but the core, and the way I was feeling things, is exactly the same. It made me realize I haven't changed much at all.
J: I don't think anybody does. People don't want to admit it, but it's like we have these innate set points and nothing much that happens to us changes our disposition.
C: You believe that?
J: I think so. I read this study where they followed people who'd won the lottery and people who'd become paraplegics. You'd think one extreme is gonna make you euphoric and the other suicidal. But the study shows that, after about six months...as soon as people had gotten used to their new situation they were, more or less, the same.
C: The same?
J: Yeah. Like, if they were basically an optimistic, jovial person they're now an optimistic, jovial person in a wheelchair. If they're a petty, miserable asshole, then they're a petty, miserable asshole with a new Cadillac, a house and a boat.
C: So I'll be forever depressed no matter what great things happen?
J: Definitely.
C: Great.
J: No, come on, are you depressed now?
C: No, no, I'm not depressed. But sometimes I worry I'll get to the end of my life feeling I haven't done all I wanted to.
J: Well, what do you want to do?
C: I...I want to paint more, I want to play my guitar every day. I want to learn Chinese. I want to write more songs. There's so many things I want to do, and I end up doing not much.
J: All right, well, let me ask you this: Do you believe in ghosts or spirits?
C: No.
J: No?
C: No.
J: Okay, what about reincarnation?
C: Not at all.
J: God?
C: No.
J: All right.
C: That sounds terrible. No, no, no. But I don't want to be one of those people that don't believe in any magic.
J: So then, astrology?
C: Yes, of course!
J: There we go.
C: That makes sense, right? You're a Scorpio, I'm a Sag, we get along.