I watched a documentary about Ernest Hemmingway. He traveled and lived in many places around the world seeking out the wild and novel. Hunting, bull running, drinking, street fighting, poetry, womanizing, marlin fishing, etc – basically living life to the max – the volume turned up to full. A real character. What I found interesting was that no matter where he went people seemed to adore him. He is commemorated and eternalised with statues in all of his favourite haunts from Pamplona to Havana. People didn’t want to let go of him. They wanted to keep him, enshrine him. Why was that? What was it about him?
At one point, Michael Palin listed many of Hemmingway’s injuries and ailments from his endless adventures and escapades. It’s was almost beyond belief. Then Palin said ‘Hemmingway was almost willingly accident-prone‘ – what a beautiful term I thought and there couldn’t be a better description of antifragile. Through all his adventures and misdemeanours, Hemmingway was presumably strengthening his character and had undoubtedly countless stories to tell. What’s more, he supported his lifestyle by sharing those stories in printed format (upside!) and to everyone in the bars! Was that what drew people to him?