Photo: When this tree begins to shed its leaves, one can admire the complexity of the intertwining of its branches, somewhat akin to humans.
Freeing my personality from its unnecessary layers to reach the core of my being is an endless exercise. Discoveries occur in joy, but not exclusively, and surprisingly, most often through the simplest gestures and events of daily life.
*always inspired by Edouard Leve
What is referred to in English as « small talk » (an expression I really like) is not my forte, but at Tahuna (Nelson beach), I surprise myself engaging in it without the pain I tend to feel in such occasions when I bump into more and more bathers (99.5% of whom are women) who tend to extend their usual swimming season during the winter months. We share our knowledge about the water temperature, warmer or colder today than yesterday, warmer or colder this year than last year, warmer or colder at high or low tide, its quality (better in winter, less good after rain), whether the said bather dips her head in the water or not, whether she comes every day regardless of the temperature or not, the difference that the sun makes when one is in cold water or when one gets out of the water, how one swims, towards the horizon if one is a good swimmer (not me) or if one swims parallel to the shore, particularly if one is alone. All that small talk suits me.
photo : autumn colours shine in a special way, Outaouais
I revel in the repetition of the simplest gestures: getting up and seeing the sun, going for a walk, drinking a cup of coffee, feeling at home when I open my eyes in the morning. Routine, in other words.
*always inspired by Edouard Leve
photo : Botanical Garden, Nelson, spring rebirth and a taste for rediscovering the paths now relieved from the sadness of winter.
« I is someone else »** is what I said to myself when I realized that I am now looking at the furniture in my apartment wondering what kind of exercises they could lend themselves to.
*still according to Edouard Levé
**Rimbaud « Je est un autre »
I prefer to swim in winter, first because the water temperature (around 10 degrees) produces a lot of endorphins after my swims, and secondly because I am often alone. I can then completely soak up the beauty of the place, the sound of the waves, the warmth of the sun on my face, while the rest of my body is numb from the cold. But even when I’m not alone, I like to be on the beach in winter because every walker gives off a sense of completeness, as if everyone is thinking: « how lucky to be here today ».
*as always, inspired by Edouard Leve
