Getting things done

... without stress

Dec 09, 2022

Quote of the week

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu

Hello,

I got a lot of things done this week. I have spent most of every day in front of the computer, in order to solve a problem with the newsletter. On top of that I have decided to change my book blog The Content Reader from Blogger to Wix. I had to create new websites, and it has taken me over a month to find out how to do it. Now it is up and running and you find it under the link above. It will be developed by time and learning. I am all for the motto; Learn by doing. Who needs manuals?

Monday took me to Copenhagen for a meeting with the EU pensioner’s group (yes, we have one of those). We had interesting talks at the EU Representation and at the Parliament. The latter is housed in the Christiansborg’s castle which I visited some weeks ago. We ended the day in a cosy pub where they served home made glögg. Very much needed after a day with continuous rain drizzle. Otherwise I have taken covid and flu vaccinations. The car was washed and serviced. Ready to go in other words.

Miscellanious

I heard on the radio that stress is more and more the cause for various diseases today. I think we should listen to Lao Tzu in this week’s quote. Nature is taking its time through all seasons without stress. At least it used to do. In a way I guess that is something in the past. These days we could say that man has caused the nature to stress, and thereby destroying it. Nature has a healing effect and finally even the health care in Sweden has discovered that. Doctors can now prescribe ‘nature’ instead of pills. A patient could be prescribed to go to a farm, a plant school or do certain activities in the outdoors. The first such prescriptions have turned out very well. Let’s hope it will continue.

Marcel Proust - In Search of Lost Time

One person who did not stress, I hope, was Marcel Proust. It took him 13 years to write his masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time) which was published in seven volumes. It is the longest novel ever published. He writes about his childhood and adult lives, on themes of loss of time, lack of meaning, memory and social changes. Mostly relating to the time he was living in. It makes me think that it would be a perfect read for today. The novel is considered one of the best ever written and inspired authors like Virginia Woolf and Vladimir Nabokov.

Depending on the edition it reaches around 4.000 pages and contains over 1.2 million words. I do want to read it, but it feels like climbing a high mountain. I watched a documentary about Proust, celebrating 100 years since he died in 1922. The narrator said the first 150 pages are a little bit slow, but then something happens. Well, well, just have to get past the first part then. It might be a too heavy task nevertheless. Swedish author Ivar Lo-Johansson said: “Reading Proust is like plowing the field with a toothbrush.”

Henry James is known for writing long sentences, but it seems that Proust beats him. Not only the longest novel, but also the longest sentence going on for 847 words. That is almost three A4 pages.

Then we have “La madeleine de Proust ” (Proust’s madeleine) which is a small cake. It appears in the first volume Swann’s Way. Proust describes how he is served madeleine and tea by his mother, which is something he took from real life. In the book the narrator is overcome by memories and emotions connected to eating madeleines. It is today used in French to express something that reminds you of your childhood.

Proust suffered from asthma which affected his whole life. The cause was not known at the time. His health deteriorated after his mother died in 1905. She was doting on him. He spent his days sleeping and writing in bed during the night. During his last three years he was confined to his bed.

Proust was gay and there are a lot of homosexual references in the book, which experts presume are partly autobiographical. His family and friends knew about his preferences, but in those days it was not possible to be outspoken about it.

Proust had a housekeeper/secretary, Céleste, who also assisted him with proof reading and editing. In the documentary she told us about one morning when she brought him breakfast and he said that something wonderful had happened during the night. He had written “Fin” at the end of the page. The novel had finally come to an end.

The first SMS

Thirty years ago the first sms was sent in England. Can you guess what it said? It said “Merry Christmas”. I don’t think anyone could imagine how big these messages would be. Today it has been replaced by other messenger apps, especially by young people. It seems though that when there is something urgent or you want to sent an important message, sms is still to prefer.

Mickey Mouse from the past

Not far from where I live there was, once upon a time during the Iron Age, a big settlement. Today it is called Uppåkra, but the archeologists do not know what it was called in its hey days. It was an important city for thousand years from A.D. to around year 1000. Only two percent of the huge area has been excavated and still there are thousands of finds. It might mean that the archaeologists have to re-write history.

I am reading a book about the place and diggings, Tusen år i Uppåkra (Thousand Years in Uppåkra) by Dick Harrisson, famous historian. Just at the very beginning when I found a somewhat funny thing. The image below is a buckle, clothes pin, awl or tweezers, the experts are not entirely sure. It probably is a lion head, but for modern man it reminds us of Mickey Mouse. Discovery Channel did a news reel on the find and Disney felt obliged to make a comment. Unfortunately, I could not find the comment. If anyone has seen it, please send me a message. The object is believed to be from 900 A.D. and being made by a French artist.

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