“Fifty years of writing,” it crosses my mind every now and then as I go about my daily chores as of late. “Actually,” I quickly correct myself each and every time, “fiftieth year of writing!” Indeed, it will take me another eleven months to make my boast valid. Nonetheless, I am amazed by my endurance. And endurance is the word, no doubt. When I started writing, I was only twenty-nine years old, and I will be seventy-nine in a few short months. In short, I have been writing most of my life. Even though I have done my best to keep my writings as short as possible, my magnum opus has grown to a giant of literature. In fact, I am not aware of any other book as large as my own in terms of the number of words. Close to four-million words, it is a giant for true. Still, I will do my best to keep it short of this mindboggling number. Even though I will continue writing for a few more years, I will write less and less. For giants can be daunting and intimidating, even in literature.

Addendum (April 15, 2025)

Only a few months later, I feel ever-so-slightly annoyed about this piece of writing. It focuses on the number of years and words only. As for words, I have long been the winner (“How Many Words,” March 7, 2015). Soon enough, I will be the winner in terms of years, as well. Screw quantity, though. How about quality? Will my Residua ever become a giant of literature in terms of its substance? Hard to tell, to be sure, but there can be no doubt that much of my writing is about things essential to my species from its inception till its dissolution. Only consider my many books of selections from my magnum opus, among which at least three are of general interest from start to finish: Cave Art Now (2003), What Is to Be Done? (2014), and Who Is Yoga? (2016). These three books go to the origins of the human species, as well as its destination. The fact that they remain unknown to most of my fellow humans only tells about their shoddy intelligence at this stage of evolution. Pitiful, to cut it short. Every social success rests on socializing and nothing but socializing (“On Socializing,” December 29, 2022). But I will remain a hermit till my last breath (“How Would You Describe Yourself in Just a Few Words?” December 11, 2024). Social success is farthest from my mind, and no kidding. As a matter of fact, it would be the very worst that could ever happen to me before I kick the bucket. Three cheers for human stupidity!