I’ve had a lot of hats in my life and always seem to have one on my head when I’m out and about. But I’ve only had a few favorite hats.

It’s funny how the masses of hats in my collection distills down to a few treasured favorites.

You never know that a hat will become a favorite hat when you first put it on. I wish it were that easy. I would buy backups of the ones destined for the crown of favoritism in advance. Instead of weathering them down into the comfortable tatters they ultimately become.

I’ve bought a lot of hats that I had hoped would become my favorite. They looked cool; were in style at the time or went well with a favorite t-shirt (subject to relatively the same unfortunate sorting process).

But favorite hats are like happiness: you’ll never find it when you’re out looking for it. It can only be stumbled upon and henceforth worn for all its worth and warmth.

Along with a smile.

I usually put that on after I’ve put on my favorite hat for the day.