When I was in law school, I studied in the same area of the library most days. In the stacks next to my little corral, there was a set of books I liked to browse through: the Harvard Classics.

First published in 1909 and marketed as “Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf of Books,” the series contains classic works of literature, speeches, poems, plays, and historical documents.

Recently, as a birthday gift to myself, I bought a complete used set. Along with the 50 books, there’s also a reading guide. The idea is simple: about fifteen minutes of reading each day, with a different selection each day.

I’ve read some of these works online before, but my goal now is to actually follow the plan and work through the guide for a year. I only started in April when the set arrived.

The readings aren’t easy. A lot of them are written in older language and can be difficult for me to understand. I try to read slowly and understand as much as I can. When I’m not sure what something means – or when I want more context – I’ll use AI to summarize the piece and explain why it mattered. That helps a lot. I’ll finish a reading and then learn something like: it was the first play that really developed character, or a group of poems that made poetry accessible to ordinary people by using everyday language.

Some of the readings have been interesting, but that’s about it. Others have been more interesting than I expected.

Today’s reading was a series of poems by William Wordsworth. I’m not really a poetry guy. Like painting or opera, I usually feel like I just don’t get it. But that’s exactly why this is a valuable challenge.

I learned why Wordsworth was important as a poet, and I came away with a few takeaways. He saw the divine in nature and in the everyday activities of ordinary people. The Affliction of Margaret hit hard. Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman, made me think about getting older. The poems about daffodils, skylarks, and cuckoos connected with my own love of being outside—especially being in the mountains surrounded by trees, plants, and animals.

Learning why he mattered as a poet gave me an appreciation for poetry I didn’t really have before.

A friend recently asked if I had a bucket list for turning 60. Another friend is doing a “60 at 60” challenge with sixty goals for the year.

I don’t have anything that structured.

But I do want to keep exploring new things. I’m taking a painting class (I am terrible), still learning bass guitar and drums, training for another Ironman, learning ASL, going to a weekend fly-fishing camp,  and now adding classic literature to the mix.

I guess my goal isn’t a bucket list.

I just want to keep learning, doing, and seeing new things.