Another double post? You’re clearly slacking here. What happened to posting daily?
My mind has been loud today and a lot of me feels a bit like a failure for missing out the post yesterday. There’s also quieter side of me that can see that it has actually been a two-day process that is better-explained in one post.
These last two days I’ve been thinking about my work / leisure ratio and generally struggling with the fact that I feel like I need a break and yet my work load + the proximity of my most recent holiday seem to suggest it’s time to work flat out. Yesterday I woke up early, did a mini yoga session, breakfast things, a morning of Biennale work. We’re at packing stage at the moment so the objects are getting wrapped at three different locations in preparation for shipping to Venice.
I got home, cooked, ate and felt really sleepy. I toyed with the idea of a nap but decided I was far to busy to spare 20 minutes to sleep. I sat down to write since I wanted to finish the copywriting job I am working on and so that I could have the day off today. I just could not settle. I read news, formed conspiracy theories about the man dragged out of the plane being a staged story, played around with a candle creating many wicks throughout its surface, panicked about the sheer amount of work I still need to do and my inability to get going. I stuck with it. Eventually I switched Noisli.com on and kind of got going. It took me about 5 hours to do what I would have managed in 1 if I were on my game. I did not stop to eat dinner, I hardly got off my chair at all. At around 11pm Johannes called to say he’s in Valletta and all the churches are open and lit and I should come out. I did the last 15 minutes of writing and finally ventured out into the world outside.
I was hungry, grumpy and tired yet also in awe that I had completely separated myself from this world just outside my doorstep. I can really get completely absorbed with my work. We walked, we got some much needed food, eventually I began to feel like a human being again but by then the churches had all closed.
I had a good sleep and a super late wake-up today. My body really needed that. I made breakfast in the early afternoon and thought about plans to go to the beach and visit a Good Friday procession ( I have not actually been to one for years). I ended up getting semi sucked in by work and finally making it out at around 6pm for the procession. It was the first time I saw one in Valletta and I was seriously impressed. The organisation, the logistics involved, people’s dedication, the costumes, amazing teamwork in carrying statues. Apparently the Maltese can execute an incredibly well-planned thing when they wish to. How do we spread this kind of ability into other aspects of Maltese life?
Walking home I felt an intense love for this city I live in. Where else on earth would one find this combination of architecture and human past and present that dance together in such intriguing ways? So many layers to discover, so many details to observe, such density of intricacy and richness. How is all of this going to remain alive in the coming years? How will it remain relevant, real? How will this city change in the next few years? More importantly, where is my role in all this? What can I do to make sure the depth remains? I started to feel overwhelmed at the possibilities, at all the things that need thinking about, doing something about. Where do I start?
This evening I ate, did some errands and brainstormed some ideas with Letta and came up with a few mischievous plans. This is exactly what I love about my living companions, we regularly hatch plans. Here’s to this one being the start of some very fun and helpful initiatives.
Sidenote. Kind of related articles I read today:
How working less could solve all our problems
Goodbye things, hello minimalism
You can see where all this is going 🙂 Less work, more life.
