Diagonal
Like my words surface from the parking chambers of my mind and the nuero-roads they travel down, I surface from the subterrain L3 green line metro station at the top of Passeig de Gracia. The granite-grey obelisk stands before me in the midle of the boulevard in Plaza Cinc d'Oros as if guiding the early morning traffic safely on its way like ships past a light house on the cliffs.
I turn left and on to Diagonal (pronounced Dee-a-go-nal in Spanish), the long boulevard that cuts diagonally through the city of Barcelona right from west to its easterly end near the Besos river. And this is where another 5-minute walking journey begins. The first espresso shot in the underground station bar kicks in, my legs are pistons accompanied by my mind as it shifts its cogs in to a cruise gear. My working day is already flowing as I mentally organise my tasks for the day.
And then as I gaze upwards, I stop.
I stop organising that is. Because these 5 minutes are not to be lost. As much as I need to focus at my working day on the way to the office, I cannot miss out on everything around me. I have so many photos of me where I am walking through a city and looking up. Raise your gaze in life. I realise in another life how I might have been an architect. Living in Barcelona and walking down every street is food for your eyes and I feast on breakfast every morning.
This is five minutes of life balance. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the full-flow introduction of Hybrid working suits me so fine. It is logical, it gives balance to our busy lives. Two days working from home I have peace of mind and I can focus and get so much done without distraction. I live in a mediterranean country and I can start my day sat cross-legged and still on the terrace. I can breathe, I can tune in. Breakfast follows soaked in a dose of Vitamin D from the big fireball in the sky. But working the other three days in the office gives you the human interaction that evolution has deemed a requisite for us all. Tech is great, but I need that face-to-face input from my team; every wolf needs his pack even if he can go hunting alone.
The frequent traffic lights break the constance of the traffic. The cars pull off the main strip on to and down the Carrers of Eixample district gridiron, first waiting 'patiently impatient' for the busy pedestrians to leave a gap in the side walks. I always stop for them, I like the pause. I am my own traffic light controlling my own way. Balance. It helps us keep focusing on moving forward yet it keeps us present and to fully stop, just for a moment. To understand what these moments can bring you.
You breathe. You tune in.
Spring is in the air. The thriving green parakeets sit and hop around in the palm tree tops that line the asphalt, singing their morning song, squawking their plans for the day to each other. I let another car go by and I hear their melody louder now over the bassline of the vehicle rhythm section in this day-to-day orchestra. Spring signals new beginnings each year, it gives hope. Even when the usual April showers can spatter you on your way, you do not lose that hope like you can do in an onrush of winter, instead there is no rush in waiting for the warm. You just put up an umbrella and think of it as a Native American raindance on the plains as they stretch out before you.
Then there are the people; as much as every big city has its own version of a rat race at this time of day, here it feels toned down. The rats don't rush but walk intently, there is no argy-bargy, even getting off the underground tube. I have the time to see them all go on their way as I go about mine. Where are they going? What are they doing today? So many lives within this life, all right here, right now. You capture pauses on the pavement like I did in this photo. I write this because I feel I have to share, I can't keep all this for myself.
We live, we die. In between we spend our time trying to connect, whether that be as complexed or as simple as it is for a dog - ah, it's a dog's life...think about that phrase before you say it. Life is a boardgame of Connect 4. That's all we do, it is our essence. I don't holiday, I travel, so I can do this. At home I start the week days right here, in this five minutes on Diagonal. I am exactly where I need to be.
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