The vastness out there

©MCD

Our time has become strange. It’s that portion of future history books that no one will be able to fully explain or rationally justify the reasons why things happen. People have become insane in every sense. We’re losing our grip on our selves, our actions, what we can control and what not, and most importantly our minds. There is a lot of anger out there; tension that cannot be relieved, unhealthy sentimental eruptions leading to what we dub as toxic. Actions that make no sense and cannot be predicted. But all are resulting in a negative flow of what has by now become a mundane routine. We are not shocked by anything anymore because nothing surprises us.

What if we changed our perspective? What if we – tried at least – to silence the negativity our minds speak to us?

Get out.

Of your head, your house, your situations.

Walk it off.

Just be alone with yourself and the nature surrounding you.

Breathe.

Let your eyes gaze beyond the horizon.

Realise how vast the world is and how tiny a part of it we are.

Change the way you see things and soon you’ll realise that things will themselves change too.

It’s not all that bad. You just think it is and you’ve convinced yourself it’s so.

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Walking Habits

“Why do you walk so much? You cover miles each day. Don’t you get bored of it? Or tired?”

It was a question many asked. Few comprehended why he was thrilled to wake up and go for a walk to start his day.

He would stroll up hills, on beachfronts, around the city, but mainly wherever there was a view and it was quiet.

Walking helped him clear his mind. It made him zone-out of everything in his head and helped rid of the accumulated daily stress. The endorphins on the rise greatly improved his mood, and it was a perfect energy boost to the day.

For health reasons, walking is good in that it burns calories, strengthens your muscles and helps maintain a healthy weight.

But more so, by walking he discovered so many places he didn’t know about. And he learnt to pay attention to the details. To everything that make up this beautiful world we live in but hardly notice.

He usually walked and talked. It helped save time and get caught up with friends. So by the time he was back home, showered, and ready to get to work, he had already exercised and socialised simultaneously.

It’s one of those things that you won’t fully acknowledge unless you try it for yourself. That was his answer in the end.  

The way we feel about it all

We tend to associate people with events, circumstances, and above all emotions. It’s the feeling they evoke when we first meet. That aura they radiate. The vibes they emit. You know you click with someone from the first instance you set eyes on each other. And your intuition is often never wrong.

The thing is, if we encounter people at a negative condition, it’s very difficult to revoke that prejudice about them that we’ve already created. We may forget the event, or what actually happened, but what remains is how it made us feel. And feelings are an important part of who we are. They affect every single thing – from our attitude, our words our perspective, to our appetite.

It’s true that the chaos and irrationality that govern our everyday lives certainly do not help calm our often inexplicable nerves and agitation. But we try. We invest effort constantly to maintain a mental serenity that will help us get through the day, the week, the month, and so forth. It’s not always easy. And we certainly require some assistance in changing the way we feel. Perhaps we think too much about it all. Because our experience of life is seamless and smooth until the moment we stop to rationalise it all, to overthink, overanalyse and often overreact about it.

Weekends are for relaxing

©MCD

We seem to be spending too much of the (working) week looking forward to the weekend. Those two days that we can escape the chaos and irrationality that constitute our daily contemporary lives.

In essence, though, we’re anticipating this end of week so much because we need it. We ought to relax and our very organisms are actually calling for it. It is a sign that we’re experiencing life in rhythms that our beyond natural; we stress too much over meaningless things; we anguish and rush; we work, sleep, and eat at irregular tempo and hours.

We need a couple of days to do nothing that entails a tight schedule and an alarm clock. To allow ourselves to lie in, to walk on the beach, to go for a coffee, to meet friends, to engage in endless conversations, and to not think about the passing time.

We know we’ve relaxed and replenished, when all we’ve done is sleep and surrender to leisure, and just like that the weekend has passed, without us realising exactly how. But we feel complete and happy, and that’s what truly matters. And what will help us get through another week.

Blossoming days

©MCD_Delphi

Weekend escapes are reviving mainly because they offer the much-needed getaway from our routine. Regardless of whether it’s boring or not, we all need some time away from what we usually do. If only, to change our perspective on life by merely altering the scenery around us and opening our eyes to something new.

Going to places abundant with myths and history is rejuvenating in more ways than the obvious.

And as spring approaches, nature is seemingly beautifying itself to welcome such excursions.

One of the most beautiful images of this time, is a cherry blossom in bloom.

It is so rare – the full bloom may only last a week – and short-lived (have a lifespan of 30-40 years) emphasising that pretty things should be enjoyed as long as they last, almost urging you to live the moment.

In Japanese folklore, cherry blossoms – sakura – represent the impermanent nature of life. They symbolise both birth and death, beauty and violence, as they historically signified the short but colourful life of the samurai.

Cherry blossoms are a symbolic flower of the spring, a time of renewal, and the fleeting nature of life.

Whatever they are believed to symbolise or represent, they are a majestic sight, reminding us that there is beauty everywhere, and can be enjoyed no matter how little it lasts. As long as you have the will and open-mindedness to do so.

The fine lines

When signing our name on anything, we’re often advised from a very young age to read every single word that precedes it carefully, sometimes even twice. But we’re mostly urged to read the fine print. Because that’s where the catch is hidden. Where you can hardly see or notice it. It is a paradox that the most important terms are often written in a font size that you can barely see. But sometimes that too shows how shady certain requisites are. It’s like trading something illicit; you need to do it out of sight.

In everyday life we constantly deal with situations that entail a fine script. From the contract terms you sign with a telecommunications company that seeks to restrict you for a certain time period, to the mere fact that the furniture you purchased will be delivered only onto the pavement of your building no matter how bulky or fragile they may be. Sometimes those fine prints are so small they are inapprehensible even to those who wrote them.

But you have to deal with it all. Because it’s more difficult to prove you’re right than simply play along and get the job done. Wearingly, we learn to acknowledge that some things are not worth the hassle, the torment and the psychological nerve-wrecking war that we alone implore on ourselves.

We too have a fine line we push ourselves to the limit of. With everything we experience, we extend that line a bit further and train our minds to be more prepared for the concealed clauses that reign our routines.

Longing to return

©MCD_Velika

On the first day back from a holiday you’re usually overwhelmed with an unbearable denial of having returned. It’s as if you refuse to accept that the break is over and you have to return to routine, because you need to work to earn the money to be able to then have a break.

The extent to which you’ve relaxed and had tremendous fun during your holiday is often linearly proportional to the time it will take you to come to terms with the fact that the break is now over. It’s a harsh awakening, consenting to now having returned to what you’ve tried for months to escape from.

But in truth, why are you doing something you so badly need a break from anyway? Sure, we all need a change from everything once in a while, but shouldn’t you be spending most of your days doing something you like, that fulfils you and which you’re good at? Shouldn’t you be longing to return to this too after your break? If you feel you’re incarcerated and forced into functioning in a job you don’t want to get up and go to, then you should rethink your priorities.

The point in life is to have a job that is more than that. One that you’re passionate about, and even if it is not exactly what you want to be doing, it motivates you to be the best you can be at it. One that inspires you to raise the bar higher, because you can.

Holidays are great. And we all need the time to switch off, calm down, change scenes and rethink many aspects of our lives. But let’s be rational: there are people who can’t afford to take a break, mainly because they have nothing to go away from or don’t even have the financial capacity to do so.

So be grateful: for the work you have, the ability to earn a living, to travel, to escape routine, to have friends to experience things with, but most of all, to have a home to return to after it all.

Taking time off

One of the most pleasing sentiments in the world is setting out for an adventure. You don’t care how early or late you travel in this case, because you are certain that your destination will recompense the trouble of getting there.

Embarking on an adventure usually entails taking time off your usual routine. It means shutting out everything that, no matter how much you enjoy doing, has made you weary and exhausted due to its prolonged and repeated nature.

We all need time off. A break. To detox, regroup and rejuvenate. A welcome recess; that time of doing nothing, will help you bring things into perspective. It is only when you change your view on things that you manage to see a clearer picture.

And you realise that you can draw inspiration and motivation from the simplest things in life. Those that in the hustle and bustle of daily chaos you tend to forget exist.

You’ll go where you focus your light on. You just need to remember that you are responsible for shining it. And it order to maintain its brightness, you need to recharge it when it gets dim.

There is a good quote, which says that you won’t let the fuel in your car drop to empty, why do you allow it to happen to you? Letting your energy drain.

August is that perfect period to shut down for a while. To allow your mind and soul to breathe. To regain your strength, rediscover your focus and set new goals. It is the time to dream and make plans on how to achieve them.

Take time off. You’ll be thankful you did when you return relaxed, refreshed, recharged.

Quarantine news

©Douglas M. MacIlroy

“I had a visitor today! Wait, I’ll show you. I managed to take a photo”. She scrolled through her photo gallery on her phone, while her friend was patiently sipping his coffee on the other end of the line. He smiled at her through his screen as he saw her eyes light up with enthusiasm at the news.

It was their daily teleconference. Well, the morning one. Others would follow during the day.

It was the new quarantine routine. Some moan about it, while others do their best to show that distance doesn’t matter and it can’t keep us apart.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Conserving the summer vibes

©MCD

It isn’t really the return that hurts the most. It’s the crash landing that you feel you subject yourself to when the holiday ends. Because now you have to return to everything you were trying to escape from, to hide from, to pretend they don’t exist. You have to garner the strength to face it all. The reality, the routine, the “normality” you allowed to fade away while you were enjoying the sun, the sea, the fun, the new relationships and experiences the season brings.

We easily fall into depression when the summer ends and we are forced to return to our “ordinary” lives with whatever that entails. Because “normal” has a different definition to each person.  And we strive, at least for the first couple of days, to maintain that optimism and joy the sunlit weeks brought upon us. We struggle to maintain not only the memories of the most enjoyable season of the year, but the mood it brings along. We hope it won’t fade as soon as our tan-line does.

But the thing is, every season has its perks. There is something to enjoy every month of the year – every day, even. We simply need to have the determination to put all those dreams we make when we’re relaxed into concrete actions at any time. Our goals aren’t really seasonally. We can dream and make plans and set targets all year round. And if we’re decisive and courageous enough to take the risk, we can make them happen. We may even be able to conserve that summer optimism and cheerful mood.