Why is gold worth more than the rock, striated in pink and grey and many millions of years old, that my son picked up on our nature walk yesterday?

Why are the lillies we bought at the store for $14.99 worth more than the ivy growing wildly along the path, punctuated with purple flowers with red stamen?

Why is a diamond, hard and forever, worth more than a dew drop, dazzling and gone with a breath?

Why is it worth more to interpret and explain the law to businesspeople than to interpret and explain the world to children?

Why is the rarity of the finest caviar worth more than the rarity of the single, slightly slanted board in a sea of straight boards on my deck, or the rarity of the sunrise this morning?

Why is a Supreme hoodie worth more than 100 white tee-shirts? Why is it worth less than a single white tee shirt, when it is worth less?

Why is an hour spent in work worth more than an hour spent dancing?

Why is an hour spent in meditation worth more than an hour talking with a friend?

Why is hustling toward the next milestone on a 5-year plan better than wandering with our eyes truly open?

Why is writing this blog post better than a cool spring breeze on my skin as I sit in the yard?

Why is success better than failure? More money better than less? Fame better than infamy?

Why is "mine" better than "the"?

Why is happiness better than sorrow?

Why is my opinion on each of the above better than its opposite?

When did I choose these opinions, so obvious to me now, which govern the big and the small ways I spend my money and my life?

If I didn't choose them, who did?

Why is a life governed by my own values, consciously chosen, worth more than one governed by the values of the masses?