Browsing through the bookstore looking at cookbooks, books on fashion, photography, art, architecture, gardening, I feel excited and inspired. Walking to a restaurant where I sit down to have a Neapolitan style pizza, I feel energised. Coming to a French brasserie-bar, I feel sophisticated. A single night out in the city is a much needed…

Browsing through the bookstore looking at cookbooks, books on fashion, photography, art, architecture, gardening, I feel excited and inspired. Walking to a restaurant where I sit down to have a Neapolitan style pizza, I feel energised. Coming to a French brasserie-bar, I feel sophisticated. A single night out in the city is a much needed luxury these days.

As we are busy being parents, partners, family, friends, professionals and do-it-(y)ourselfers it’s sometimes easy to feel not only a little drained but also uninspired and thinly spread. I listened to this podcast earlier this week as I cycled to work (which in- and of-itself uplifted my moods a little) in which the speaker talks about how dopamine addiction is also an escapism of having to profile ourselves all the time.

“Modern life requires us to just constantly think about ourselves and be on display. And the use of these ways to take us out of ourselves is increasing because we’re constantly narcissistically thinking about ourselves.”
From the NYT Interview: Digital Drugs Have Us Hooked. Dr. Anna Lembke Sees a Way Out.

So that’s why we love to scroll Instagram and just be mindlessly looking at other people profiling themselves. I could get into that theory. But trying to stop this habit (as I am) brings the challenge with it that it becomes harder to relax the mind for a minute… interesting, that’s an observation to be let simmering.

I was also watching this video by Van Neistat on Easy flow vs. Hard flow state in which he talks about procrastination being a form of “western” and efficient relaxation. Another interesting thought to let linger.

I was feeling a little flat and down the past two weeks (ever since Blue Monday to be honest). Slowly I have become more aware of it and trying to understand why I feel this way. Is it a mild depression because of the cold, wet, grey weather? Is it because of the hard work on the garden that’s making me tired? Is it all the things going on in the family?

Exactly a year ago we were loving life in sunny Australia. Off course the fact that we were on holiday made for a relaxing start to the year. But the climate, temperature, sun and environment definitely were as important in making the otherwise most difficult months of the year in terms of mood more manageable. Upon return it was a bit of a deception to life our normal live again within our usual surrounds. People told us “you missed nothing, it was only rain throughout the time you were away.”

It’s mid February and I have felt what those people did last year – a mild mid-winter depression. After returning from New York at the start of this year, I was feeling very uplifted and excited, energised! How could I create moments in my daily life that create this same feeling for me with minimal and ready-at-hand means? That’s an observation to think about in the next few weeks. Ta-ta

Itinerary for reference (2024)

AMS 09:15 11 Dec (Wed) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl.
EWR 10:40 11 Dec (Wed) New York, Newark
UA71 Boeing 777-200 – Flying time: 8hrs 25mins

EWR 18:05 27 Dec (Fri) New York, Newark.
AMS 07:15 28 Dec (Sat) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl.
UA70 Boeing 777-200 – Flying time: 7hrs 10mins