20.09.2023
So finally I’m on this long overdue holiday for 2 weeks. It’s been a long while in the making, and wanting to do it again. And now I’m on this holidays where my team of project manager and developer are keeping the company forward. So that’s quite the practice in letting go. And I know that my team does work very diligent.
So on the first few days of the holidays there still has been the urges of wanting to check my emails. Thoughts like “maybe there is something that I missed” are going through my mind. And then I take a deep breath (or actually several ones) to remind myself that it’s alright. And if something would require my immediate action people would contact me.
I believe rest is so important for us entrepreneurs. It gives the mind time to unwind, and to finally think all the thoughts it’s been wanting to think since a long while. In busy day-to-day life there is the tendency to push those thoughts back. To focus on what is now in front, and to be actively solved. Especially coming from a German culture I tend to be quite problem solving oriented. It’s always the question “what’s the next thing that I can solve?”. Probably also I have it to some extent from my father who is also very active in looking for solutions for things.
So.. what do I now do with all the free time? For a start I’ve been getting into cooking tasty pasta & learning some Italian. I love love love Italian food – the simplicity of the ingredients, ideally really high quality ingredients, and the freshness of the food. It’s just pure joy. And I find Italian food to very easy to cook. It just turns out right pretty much every time. And then there is the Italian language. It’s so similar to Spanish. It’s quite funny that I can understand so much of Italian with only very briefly learning about it. It still makes me wonder how in Europe there is so many languages that are so similar. It makes sense that it culturally developed over several thousand years, and that people are very proud of their languages. The language is part of the cultural identity, and how people define themselves. So if suddenly everybody would only speak let’s say English, a huge part of the cultural way of being would be lost. And it’s noticeable in the little interactions of people. Yesterday I overheard how somebody asked for the way, and the response of “prego, ciao” (“you’re welcome, tschau”) was given with so much feeling. Probably also the easy-goingness of Tuscany contributes to this a lot. Good feelings!!
Pisa is also a beautiful city to spend some time in. It’s great for people-watching as so many tourists from all over the world come here. And I just love to watch how people express themselves, and think about how their life is like. And to see that people from so many different cultures look so beautiful! And they all have their unique way of expressing themselves. Then also the food is quite reasonably priced in many places, and there is so many cafés and little restaurants to sit outside. And the temperature in September is just perfect for Tuscany. One can be outside pretty much the whole day. Kind of like Lisbon where I usually spend this time of the year. Even though Lisbon is also quite awesome during early to mid-summer because the Tajo río (Tagus river), and the Atlantic make the climate more moderate. So it doesn’t reach those extreme cold or warm temperatures. And my goal is to stay in the sweet spot of average temperature of 22 degrees celsius for most of the year.
For tonight the plan is to get some Tacos, and then be out and about in some of the student bars. So I’m excited to enjoy some more of that chill time out and about. And I’ve been making some good progress on the reading front. So I’m making progress in the flow book, reading the part about how thinking. And how even “ordinary” people can contribute to the total knowledge of humankind. It doesn’t necessary require superhuman skills, or elite university funding to make progress. What’s more needed is the drive and curiosity, and finding a way to enjoy the process. So I think that Ali Abdaal with his hypothesis of “productivity is best when it’s enjoyable” is onto something. Especially when it’s effectiveness instead of efficiency that is being kept in mind.