How certain objects may come to seem a part of oneself! I refer here not to the smartphone, but to such things as quietly persist beside one through life—a favorite pen or watch, a chair, a ring. Connection to our objects seems often reviled these days. This is understandable, given our tendency to be pulled into excess. I think, however, that an affection for objects which connect one to a better self is integral to the good life. The tools one uses to make beautiful things, for instance, bring to mind a thousand memories of creation and one’s own capacity to do good. The cherished gift reminds one not only of the giver, but of the many occasions it has witnessed, and which might not be so easily remembered, if one had not this gentle friend, whispering former hours in one’s ear.