he very degree of wornness ofcertain cards that you once ipped to daily but now perhaps do not—since that author is drunk and forgotten or that magazine editorhas been red and now makes high-end apple chutneys inBinghamton—constitutes signicant information about what partsof the Rolodex were of importance to you over the years.

“Follow your blisters” implies something that you come back to so many times that you eventually move past the blister stage, into toughened skin. Eventually, the activity “marks you” through use and practice, and you develop a special competence. When you practice an activity a bit more obsessively than other people, you build unique character – you earn some wear and some healing that makes you idiosyncratic, and a little unbalanced.It is something that you don’t need to put on your to-do list, something you care enough about to return to repeatedly, even though it causes discomfort. Over time, you develop a layer of protection that enables you to do that something more easily.

Unfortunately, this simple, lifesaving practice has become part of a political debate that says: If you’re for Trump, you don’t wear a mask; if you’re against Trump, you do... The stakes are much too high for that.”

This dynamic is playing out during the pandemic among the many people who refuse to wear masks or practice social distancing.

Because it is so important to be seen as competent and productive members of society, people naturally attempt to present themselves to others in a positive light. We attempt to convince others that we are good and worthy people by appearing attractive, strong, intelligent, and likable and by saying positive things to others (Jones & Pittman, 1982; Schlenker, 2003). The tendency to present a positive self-image to others, with the goal of increasing our social status, is known as self-presentation, and it is a basic and natural part of everyday life.