The Name of the Rose is the title of Umberto Eco's 1980 debut novel. It caused quite a stir at the time and I 'just had to' read it. I remember not being too impressed mostly because it was hard to understand. I have the feeling I would enjoy it more if I read again now.
But that's beside the point. The point is this quote by Eco that I read in The Marginalian* this morning: "The list is the origin of culture. But, more than that, it can be a priceless map of personal aspiration, as is the case of the kinds of lists we make this time of year -- resolution lists." Then followed this list penned by Woody Guthrie in 1942:
I especially like #'s 13 - READ LOTS GOOD BOOKS, 17 - DONT GET LONESOME, 19 - KEEP HOPING MACHINE RUNNING, 22 - SAVE DOUGH, 32 - MAKE UP YOUR MIND, and lastly, the reason for this post, #2 - WORK BY A SCHEDULE.
Whether it was my resolution list for a new year or just a list I had made for personal self improvement, I had shared it with friends of ours, Darlene and Roger. I think the first thing on my list was "get up at 5:30". It then included the usual, "exercise, lose weight, keep the house clean", etc., etc. I remember one of them was "write more letters". **
What I remember most was Roger saying to his wife: "You should do these things, too." (That's Roger's profile at the edge of this pic - taken in their basement at a New Year's Eve party.)
I read alot of self-improvement books in the 60's and 70's - like just reading them could make me better. I never stuck to that list I shared with our friends, nor any list ever that I can recall. But I've always felt the need to do better.
As I mentioned yesterday, no New Year's resolutions for me, but one of hope and goals. Like Woody, keeping my hoping machine running.
*The Marginalian is something that just started showing up in my Facebook feed, most likely because of some algorithm. I do enjoy reading it and learning many new and interesting ideas.
** Obviously before the days of social media.
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