I noticed that this year I didn’t make a big deal, if any, out of two events. One was this blog’s 4th anniversary; another – my birthday. The anniversary was in August when I was on a road trip for business. The birthday was on the 9th, and I chose not to mention it on the day.
The main reason was quite simple: I didn’t see the point in drawing attention to a fact that is just a fact. It’s not like I’m 65 but I don’t feel anywhere near my age. So, I thought, what’s the point to talk too much about it?
Another reason was that throughout this year I’ve been feeling somewhat stuck in the rut, including what I’ve been writing on the blog. It felt as if I wasn’t expressing myself enough. After talking to a new Moscow friend I think I know what may be the reason.
Do you remember this Einstein’s saying that the man creates all his best things while he’s young? Then he acquires experience and becomes narrow-minded. The reason why he becomes narrow-minded is because he “knows” how to do things, so the element of professionalism stops him from experimenting and actually enjoying the ride.
I don’t want to analyse how all this applies to me personally or to writing Los Cuadernos de Julia, and in any case I wasn’t considering telling the world about my private life, to add to the content. What I realised I needed to do was to make the whole thing somewhat lighthearted like it was when I was starting. Now and again I do write about funny moments, and I also understand that there has to be some balance between light and serious stuff. I do think, though, that over the years I’ve made the blog a bit too serious and too classy, which is not what I really am.
So, on the 9th I celebrated the age a lot of people think is true. It doesn’t mean that I cannot handle responsibility but it means that I can laugh at life and myself. Truth to be told, when life gets down on you, it’s easy to take your responsibilities very seriously, and this is what I did, and it couldn’t help but translate into the blog’s content. Never mind. Let’s make some changes.
By the way, I’ve never yet mentioned David Bowie on this blog. He’s one of inspirations, given the “track record” of changes in style, either in clothes or music, as well as successful cinema career.