Interests

I know I haven’t been posting much, but I’ve been distracted. For one thing I’m on holiday in Europe with my girlfriend and family and so don’t have much time for the internet. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped writing completely, though, my recent trip to Paris has made me pay more attention to a short story I’m trying to write which is set there and which I’ll post as soon as I’m back in Australia.

But apart from travelling, spending time at the gym and skiing I have been doing some research in preparation of returning to University. With any luck in a couple of months I’ll be writing a Thesis on the Classical Greek influences on 17th Century French Literature, specifically the tragedies of Racine. So what I do is sit around in this beautiful ski town in France while the sun is shining outside reading aloud ( I feel this helps me absorb the information) from Lucien Goldmann’s The Hidden God, trying to fully grasp the ideas behind dialectical materialism, Jansenism and The Tragic Vision. Now I know this sounds pretty dull, and you must be asking yourself why I would spend my time this way but I’m coming to my point. My point is that it doesn’t matter what your interests are or how you personally want to fill your time as long as you enjoy it. Frankly I enjoy reading philosophical treatises about 17th Century French Literature and I know it may not seem completely rational but I’m not going to apologize for it.

If I want to be outside I go for a walk, if I want to push myself physically and improve my body I go to the gym, if I want to relax I’ll read a novel. In the meantime, though, I think about things that most people don’t care in the slightest about. And that doesn’t bother me because I enjoy doing it. I could be out battling long queues to ski on overcrowded slopes (I’m not a bad skier, after all I am half Swiss) but these days I’m sitting at home reading about Racine.

So here is what I’m going to say to you before my trip through Italy (just because I like Literature doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy travelling): Do what you enjoy, no matter what people around you think of it. If you need to go to the gym even if it cuts time out of your social life, then do it. If you need some time alone to read, then take that time. Whatever project you are working on for yourself, take the time for it. Ultimately how you end up spending your time is up to you and it is limited, so try doing something that you really, truly, enjoy.