Sometimes big cities are just annoying – the pushing and shoving of crowds, the early morning rush hour, the beggars who make my heart sad, and the general pressure to produce, work and be busy. Colleagues and friends ask me – Oh what did you do last night?
Nothing. I did nothing. I read a book. Milan Kundera’s ‘The book of Laughter and Forgetting’. Yes, very ironic that title. And I made a salad. And I recovered from the flashing computer screen in an over-heated office.
When did this become normal life? Life was so different when our parents grew up. They were not surrounded by screens and did not have to be available all day long. I, on the other hand, get e-mails, WhatsApp messages, SMS’s and phone calls all day long.
My dad grew up in Namibia and spent his weekends on his uncle’s farm where he played outside with his friends and meerkat. I mean, sure, that’s not an average childhood. But compare it to how kids spend their time these days…it makes me want to heave a deep sigh. Things have changed so fast over a few decades.
Whenever the big city gets too much, I like to flee into nature and take a long walk (or escape to Denmark, see photo above). Nature always reminds me of how powerful the elements are and how insignificant our problems are in comparison.