It is a Sad, Beautiful Fact That We're Going To Miss Almost Everything, as Linda Holmes wrote for NPR not long ago. She asserts that there are two ways we can handle this realisation: culling or surrendering.
Most people cull. Culling is eliminating possibilities. Whole genres or mediums, because they are not important. "I don't watch tv; it's a waste of time." "I don't go to art galleries; they are boring". Culling implies that we have control. "It's an effort, I think," Linda says, "to make the world smaller and easier to manage, to make the awareness of what we're missing less painful."
The alternative is surrendering. Surrendering is acknowledging that we just don't have the time to do and see and experience all the things that could be important. Surrendering is sad, because we are aware of our limitations. But it's also great. "Imagine if you'd seen everything good, or if you knew about everything good.... That would imply that all the cultural value the world has managed to produce since a glob of primordial ooze first picked up a violin is so tiny and insignificant that a single human being can gobble all of it in one lifetime. That would make us failures, I think." Surrendering acknowledges that life has endless potential, extending into the horizon, further than we can imagine. No matter what, beauty and fun and pleasure will continue to be available to us. The sadness of missing out is satiated by the perpetual promise of new experiences.
Likewise, if "well-read" means "not missing anything," then nobody has a chance. If "well-read" means "making a genuine effort to explore thoughtfully," then yes, we can all be well-read. As Linda says, "what we've seen is always going to be a very small cup dipped out of a very big ocean, and turning your back on the ocean to stare into the cup can't change that".
For me, I prefer surrendering. Culling reduces possibilities that could lead somewhere wonderful. I like to surrender and wander, meander, allowing myself to be led somewhere I could never have discovered on my own had I been purposeful and methodical. Aimlessly searching, making time for mindless browsing, is how I find pictures, discover poems, chance upon brilliant ideas. I found Haruki Murakami looking for quotes on memories for a manuscript I was writing at the time. I found Anais Nin whilst browsing the margins of a Paris tour guide.
I also think it is important to stay abreast of popular culture, no matter how mindless and shallow it seems to be, and how high above it we consider ourselves. I don't mean that it's necessary to appreciate it, or be a slave to it... but just to understand the direction things are going (and, if need be, to actively stay out of it, rebel against it). We are, after all, all part of the same vast world, and for different people, far away from each other, to connect over time and space through art, ideas and stories is one of the most beautiful things we can experience.
I also think it is important to stay abreast of popular culture, no matter how mindless and shallow it seems to be, and how high above it we consider ourselves. I don't mean that it's necessary to appreciate it, or be a slave to it... but just to understand the direction things are going (and, if need be, to actively stay out of it, rebel against it). We are, after all, all part of the same vast world, and for different people, far away from each other, to connect over time and space through art, ideas and stories is one of the most beautiful things we can experience.
"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong."
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
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