Actio et Contemplatio

Sometimes I ask myself why this blog is so important to me, apart from creating a nostalgic connection with my late Papa. Sometimes it seems almost absurd to give myself this extra duty in the intensity and madness of our everyday life with two little kids, a jobwise unpredictable husband and his start-up, a job and curating TEDx events. The answer might even be a full-on contradiction and might not make much sense. Maybe it does, maybe not.

Would actually love to hear back from you, whoever reads these lines. Whoever stumbles into this somewhat online version of a quiet, little unknown gallery in a silent, unimportant side street – next to the busy boulevards and stradas of important business. You know the feeling when you are strolling through a busy area downtown and, without even knowing why, you follow an impulse and decide to walk down a little, quiet side street that you had never noticed before.

You immediately walk slower, with a more attentive gaze. It almost has an effect of instant deceleration. And then again, by an impulse coming out of nowhere, you enter this quiet little, charmingly out-dated gallery.

You enter and for a moment, you forget your agenda, for a moment you cannot hear the noise in your head and the city around you. It is just pure silence and the feeling of being in another time and space. And it feels like something you have been longing for. Without knowing. Without being aware.

Walking with an analog camera in my hands and contemplating on the outcome afterwards (good old Actio et Contemplatio, right?) has this very same effect on me. It helps me to be more aware and attentive of all the hidden treasures around us. The little stunning beauties that we pass by day-in and day-out without noticing. The many details that make the difference and life beautiful.