Life in retrospect is quite different than a life actually lived. The saying that "hindsight is 20/20" really captures the essence of the difference. Sometimes life as you're living it has you by the throat, or is making you feel like you can truly fly; and the act of a life lived in full immersion doesn't necessarily promote the art of 20/20 introspection.
I have to laugh when I say that I am, "of an age." At 62 I am at a place where I am able to take a look at the expanse of my life from a 20/20 perspective, as well as still live a life of full immersion. In the context of this uniquely age qualified perspective, I am spending the summer with Ernest Hemingway. I have given this pending partnership a lot of thought, and come to it with some preconceived ideas that I am willing to explore.
Our relationship starts with a truly literary connection. I love books, and I love books about the human condition and all that it embraces. Ernest Hemingway's books and life are richly woven with the human frailties, struggles, triumphs, and decay that are part and parcel of humanity. I do not claim to be exceptional, extraordinary, or enlightened. On the contrary, I am a product of the human condition of which both Ernest and I have chosen to write about.
Ernest comes to our summer engagement much more qualified as a recognized author, writer, and adventurer than I do. His superiority in these arenas, as a Pulitzer Prize winner and a Nobel Prize winner (to name just two of many awards he received in his lifetime), is unquestionable. But I am willing and feel capable of standing toe to toe with Mr. Hemmingway when it comes to life and the human condition. I do not claim to have experienced what he experienced or to have seen what he saw, but to have known and to know the human condition? Yes, I bring something of value to the table. I am looking forward to spending the summer exploring this stuff called humanity that is made up of the web of billions of lives spinning on a green and blue marble, caught up in the planetary dance of a solar system that is but a minuscule part of a mysterious universe.
I am looking forward to Ernest and I spending this summer together and walking through our lives using the vehicle of our writings to illuminate the human conditions that our stories share.
