This whole week’s been particularly busy and eventful, by no means boring, yet with little stress, as I stick to my rule of not scheduling two meetings, events or appointments back to back. This allows me time to read, think, walk, cycle, but most importantly – have those extra minutes (and sometimes hours) should something wonderful happens, which I have no right to miss.
Like, on Wednesday, I had a meeting with a great film director; the initial plan was to have coffee with him for an hour, do my emails in the same cafe for another thirty minutes, then move on to doing paperwork and editing somewhere else. I ended up spending over six hours with him, going all over London, talking about philosophy, healthy lifestyle, filming, fashion photography, cycling in London etc etc. We cooked a delicious healthy lunch together, then both rushed for our evening commitments: he took tube to get to the opening night of a gallery, I cycled to deliver a talk and take part in the Educational Writers’ Forum at the Society of Authors.
Now that I’m at last having some quiet time in bed listening to Ludovico Einaudi’s ‘I giorni’ and eating a mouth-wateringly ripe pear, I’m looking back at my week and smiling as a silly man, thinking that giving you an overview of what my Friday looked like may be of interest and help in shaping someone else’s life.
I wake up at 7am and after having worked on my emails, short business errands, do a 10-minutes’ exercise and take a quick cold shower.
At 9am I have my porridge (or some may say it’s more of a massive pile of nuts, raisins and a bit of oats hidden underneath) and matcha tea; consuming such a food is not a fast thing, so it’s only at 9.45am I am ready to leave home for a 10am appointment with my new client.
We’re meeting in a quiet cafe to start the set of six hour-long life coaching sessions. We end up talking for 80 minutes as we are keen to clearly identify the issues we want to target at our next meeting the following week.
Today, I do not cycle so it takes me some time to walk to High Street Kensington for an appointment with my bank manager. 40 minutes later, a happy client leaves the bank branch to return books and DVDs to the Institut Francais and take something new to help me progress with rediscovering French (sadly, I am skipping my lunch – something I promised to myself I’d have every day no matter what, well, I am yet to learn the importance of prioritising!).
At 2pm I meet my French teacher and her friend, we talk for 2,5 hours about pension system and its’ future, whether it’s worth living for the moment or better wait til you earn enough to secure every single aspect of your life, I learn about amazing regions in France and volunteering opportunities in Africa…
Quarter to five I am already walking towards Covent Garden to see a Bristolian girl, I met on-line a few months ago and who’s become a good friend now. We visit a vegetarian Indian canteen for an early dinner, then I’m invited to attend a Kirtan music party, something I’ve never been to, so I say yes and two hours and three mantras (Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare) later I am glad that I’ve done it! That’s an experience, which has helped me relax, dream of my future, think of links between religions, feel nostalgic of India and, the last but by no means the least, have a vegan cake.:-)
I get home at around 10pm for my portion of fruits and a book I bought recently at a charity shop, where in the recent months I prefer doing my non-grocery shopping, by 11am I’m fast asleep…
I’m yet to live my life to the full, however, I can finally see how my dreams of diversified, intense, full of vibe existence shapes into reality.
(Photo by Oleg Mikheev)
