Don't misinterpret this post. What is going on in the Ukraine is horrible and criminal. We should not turn away from this new war in Europe. But not every day is one filled with imperialistic Russian actions. On those days we need to be mindful for our own mental health. This post was occasioned by someone telling me that I seemed "lighter" when I was in Portugal. As I thought of whether I was lighter this is what rolled across my brain. Right now it is justifiably impossible to be lighter.
14 August to 8 November 2021, was a grand adventure for me. Four of those 88 days were spent travelling or recovering from travelling. Let me say transatlantic travel is grinding. Such travel is not fun and it does not lighten the soul. Four days spent on airplanes, or at labs for Covid testing, or crammed into Ubers rushing from here to there with mere moments to spare provide no joy. Trust me I was total nerves, angst and anxiety for those four days overseeing the travel of the four members of my family. Oh, and I hate air travel. (One important note learned on this trip, don’t eat the unnaturally green relish at the hot dog stands in O’Hare airport. Just saying.)
For the rest of that time, 84 days to be exact, I was happier and more joyous than I had been in decades. 84 days were spent without any overarching angst weighing my spirit down. 78 of those days were spent in warm sunshine in Portugal. Portugal is not heaven but it have a different vibe to it, a more let us live this life vibe.
My soul was akin to a feather blown upward on warm winds. Was this lessening of the weight of the world due to the warm Iberian climate? Did the daily alcohol use, something not in my life patterns for over three decades, fill a spiritual hot air balloon and lift me up? Was it the newness of everything that gave me gossamer wings to catch the breezes off the Atlantic? How do I put my finger on it? I can’t.
Don’t get me wrong. There were moments of challenge that left me tense. Like the time the Airbnb guy showed up an hour late to let us in. Or the time the train conductor said we had to ignore our tickets and get off at the next stop and run to catch the next train back to Lisbon or we would be waiting alone on the platform for hours. Or when following the comments in the travel book we took a train out to a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. There was supposed to be a historic house there. Nope. It was within the boundaries of the town but it was 45 minutes away. Without a car we weren’t going there. However, the bull ring made for nice photos.
But mostly those 84 were nice. Each day unfolded as if I had thrown a dark at a wall covered with travel brochures and decided where to go based on what location the dart hit. We walked down cobblestone streets. Our hours were spent inside ancient walled cities. Roman temples, villas coupled with ancient monasteries serving up ancient worlds to my imagination. Meals were often soups and tostas (toasted sandwiches made of brie and prosciutto spiced with a dash of oregano) washed down with flat cold water and/or Superbock beer. There were cathedrals filled with art and gilt just waiting to take my breath away.
The overwhelming newness of the place wasn’t really the whole reason I felt the weights drop off my body and my mind. As much as anything it was disconnecting from the interwebs instantaneous news cycle. I did not check any of my news feeds for weeks on end. Being in a land where I did not speak the language meant that the headlines on the papers at newsstands meant nothing to me, couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Further, about the only news items I paid attention to were about when the next transit strike in Lisbon would be. I used my phone to check train times and call Ubers. Well, I also checked my bank account and my credit card from time to time. Oh yeah, I posted to Facebook, it is important to breed jealousy among one’s friends and family.
When you unhook from the stream of pundits talking smack, and from the tales of what politician did what, you can live closer to the moment. I am one of those people who believe that by the time you observe the moment, it has already passed. You can’t be myopic; rumors of war and violence must be paid attention to with some degree of diligence but beyond that so much of the rest is all unnecessary to living one’s daily life. What Trump or Maddow or McConnell or AOC have spouted recently doesn’t matter to the average person living their average day. So, other than just keeping a light eye on things there is no point roiling your mind and your gut with their nonsense.
But when you live in a place where every single time you turn on your computer or look at you cell phone headlines burst out at you saying, “GOP humoring of Trump’s praise of Putin sinks to absurd new lows,” and “Arizona Governor Says He'd Rather Have a White Nationalist in State Legislature than a Democrat,” it is damn hard to stay unhooked. Thus, staying light is damned difficult. No, we can’t be on vacation all the time in a place where language barriers and the cost of daily cellphone service keep us from clicking and viewing this crap. What we can do is learn, something we humans used to be somewhat good at, how to use our access to technology in a wiser manner. A few hours less with the endless stream of fearmongering and vitriol will make us all just a few mental pounds lighter.
❤️
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