oof. this was going to be the week i was finally feeling good again and did ALL THE THINGS… and then one of the boy’s aunts passed away mid-week, and we went back north again for the funeral and to give some support to his mother (her sister).
funerals are always an awkward and sad affair, but whenever there is one, i’m reminded of this NPR piece:
“Always go to the funeral” means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don’t feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don’t really have to and I definitely don’t want to. I’m talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. You know, the painfully under-attended birthday party. The hospital visit during happy hour. The Shiva call for one of my ex’s uncles. In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn’t been good versus evil. It’s hardly so epic. Most days, my real battle is doing good versus doing nothing.”
so that was it for the week. i read a bit, i swam in the in-laws municipal pool twice and soaked in the sun that shone gloriously a bit all over portugal. i designed a poster filled with stamps for an exhibition, figuring my way around vectorial editors, and actually kind of enjoying it for the first time.
on the way back south on sunday, we listened to the first part of craig’s interview with tim ferriss, and since then, words like “archetype” and “asceticism” have been on my mind. also, walking of course — and walking in japan in particular. we’ll see what the future holds!