Endure

This project of reading at least one work by every Nobel laureate is a long process. Currently (2024) there are 120 and I’m not just trying to read the words and move on but actually absorb the literature and the underlying thoughts that go into them to become a better reader.

I am currently about 70% of the way through and it has been going on for over ten years. Documenting through a reading list is only a new activity associated with the primary goal. One of the hardest parts is getting through a book that I really didn’t resonate with, go to my checkoff sheet and see how little of a dent that struggle of read made on the overall project.

Just keep on keepin’ on

To get through it though I have come to appreciate that not everything is for me to be wowed by. Maybe I’m not the target audience or maybe I accidentally picked a non-representative work by that author. Either way I can keep moving. It reminds me of a quote from Czeslaw Milosz who said (via translator) “endurace comes from enduring.” Hopefully that means I’m building capacity to endure across all aspects of my life. Then again I thought that was why I ran a couple marathons so maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment.