Bound

Today is my birthday.

I’m going to spend it as I always like to do: surrounded by my dearest friends.

I don’t know if this is odd, but I think of this day as a celebration of my friends,without whom I’m nothing. (Maybe that’s the reason).

departure

I found out yesterday that a cat I loved very much died of unknown reasons.

I was devastated.

It is not too often that I get that attached to pets, but this one was special.

Hiro (2010) by Camilla Engman

Bye-bye, Zézi.

Scandinavia, Spain

Here’s a little something for my Scandinavian friends faced with what seems to be a particularly cold winter.

Winter fun, illustration by Camilla Engman

Winter shouldn’t be the worst time of the year, especially because it is the longest season for you. Enjoy it, but do it accordingly. Can you remember your grandparents’ stories about how lovely it was to gather around a fire, sipping hot cocoa and telling stories? That’s what your cold season should be about: meeting people, staying together, sharing things. Summer is only a two-month (in some places up there a one-month) period of the year, much too short for you to live your lives longing for it.

Nordic grandparents are a good key to learning to have fun during winter because they were born before tv was here, long before the internet and ages before the comfort of easy traveling. They mostly had no warmer place to go, they had to stay in the North and cope with the cold. And they did it in a much more graceful way too.

My point here is basically: deal with what is available. Join your klubber/klubbor/klúbbar, go skiing, take long hikes, go ice-skating, just anything can suffice.

Just do not forget that you don’t live in Southern Spain. Enjoy what you have.

Happy Holidays

I’ve always greatly appreciated the presence of animals in connection to most human festivities.

Since Christmas is somewhat linked to the North Pole, I chose an image that depicts the sweetness of the animal kingdom and adds to a hopeful message. This is a lovely illustration by Camilla Engman:

Happy Holidays!

One or the other

If I had to choose between work and procrastination, I am afraid I would have to say the latter.

This is not due to lack of enjoyment in what I do, but I guess the day would have to be much bigger to fit the time I need to feel inspired together with the rest of the working day. At the risk of underperformance and unfinishing business, I prefer to have my mind creativity recharged by not doing anything of work-related consequence. Without it, I would just slowly die of mental and intellectual boredom.

This illustration by my all-time favorite alive artist and illustrator, the poetically talented Camilla Engman from Sweden is a perfect representation of what I mean by inspiration.

On work and leisure

Choose.