Sunday, funday, the universal day of rest (ha), began with a lazy morning. I actually woke up really early and resisted my urge to check my phone, at least 20 times. My brain kept thinking about work I should be doing, the pitch I have on Tuesday morning at the Arts Council etc etc etc. I used to be completely unable to stay in bed when my mind started panicking but I’ve become better at distracting it like you would a little child having a tantrum.
When I eventually did get up, my day started with a smoothie and coffee followed with a household (minus Leta who was feeling a little poorly) trip south. We descended on Marsaxlokk and did what hundreds of tourists and locals were doing, we ate ourselves to the end of the market and then sat down for some food.
The sea, both in Marsaxlokk and in Peter’s Pool (where we went for our sunset roam) was a sad sight. Between the bottles and bits of plastic and the fish scum (courtesy of the fish farms nearby) floating on the water, I could really see where it’s heading. Why do we stay silent in the face of such clear signs of damage of our most precious resource? What is it that makes us (me included of course) feel powerless, energy-less, resigned to endure this situation and countless others currently plaguing this country? What makes us all so silent? Are we too comfortable? Have our spirits been broken? Are we unable to see beyond the tips of our noses?
At Peter’s Pool I sat and stared, mesmerised by the collection of names carved on the rocks and wondering who had put them there and why they had gone for them. The sound of the waves echoing in the bay calmed my mind although punctuated by the occasional scream from a group of tourists having a winter swim, clearly oblivious to the fact that they were jumping into fish soup.
Back home tonight I sat down to write my diary at around 8pm and at 11pm, 3 hours later, I’m still at it. Some days I just cannot concentrate. I stopped to forage (even though I was not hungry), I made hot chocolate, then drank tea twice, I posted the photos I took today on Instagram, I stared at Facebook for far too long before I finally wrote long enough to get into the flow. The longer I give myself to finish a task, the less efficient I am at doing it. I work much better with shorter deadlines based on mini-goals, especially with challenging jobs that I don’t yet know my way around.
It’s 23:03 and time to retire. Tomorrow promises to be a long day and I want to meet it nice and early.
