The beginning of a trip is always a time of thoughtfulness. Lately, my mind has turned to psychology. Most psychologists now seem to believe in the concept of “temperament” — some permanent core of your personality that was set early in life, perhaps even before birth. And while this core can evolve and change to a degree based on experience, many qualities are essentially set and fixed. Part of my temperament seems to be a tendency to being moved very easily. I think my friends and my family know me as an expressive person. But experience has brought this aspect of my temperament much closer to the foreground. Over the past eight months, I find myself crying easily and often. I am moved by pain and beauty. This has been a tough job at times. My returns home mostly seem like a time to recover and restore a little.