Meaningful Melancholy

“Being a good listener is one of the most important and enchanting life skills anyone can have.” Alain de Botton

Once again I almost fully forgot about having a blog until the very last minute. I exaggerate when saying this, it is not so much that I forgot or did not write. It is just that I usually lack the energy after a school day to write any amount of words. I try to mark down some keywords along the way to have somewhat of a structure to follow when I eventually do get to writing. That is quite enough for the journal section of my blog. On the counterpart there is my desire to provide some sort of suggestion, remark or advice that can be of value to my readers. This is more difficult to incorporate because it should be based on personal experience and research.

I really enjoy doing the research because I often learn new things about a certain subject or find links to other ideas. Nonetheless starting with the research from scratch the day before the blogpost is supposed to go live is not the best way to manage things. In these cases I usually tend to rely on my personal experiences. It is not the wrong way to go about it but the information provided is thus limited and not "proven". I had ideas for this week's additional content, but I decided against it because it would lack the research.

Doing any sort of work last minute is dangerous because sometimes we sacrifice quality for our goals. For example I try to write around 800 words per post because I find that it is the right amount to be captivating yet not too long for it to bore someone. The sacrifice made when writing 800 words last minute is the text's coherence and flow or even the image that is reflected by the text.

About having an image, on Thursday morning I saw that our school proposed a free 2 hour crash course on personal branding with a focus on LinkedIn. I have seen quite a lot of those complimentary course offers but they seldom speak to me. For a few reasons I felt intrigued by the subject at hand and decided to sign up. I was the only first year in that video call. It was pretty funny because people were already talking about going to work and stuff. I still have not once imagined myself going to work someplace as an engineer. It might happen at some point but I am not even sure yet that engineering is my definite calling.

The course was great. It talked about our e-reputation which basically comes down to the results that Google shows when typing one's name in. We were told that the first three results attract 60% of the clicks which puts things into great perspective about human impatience. Another thought brought forward was that in the first five to six sites that show up when googling your name there should not be any trace of social media (the exact examples were Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat). So go ahead and try it with your own name! Preferably do it on incognito mode or take a friend or family member's phone for it to avoid any embezzling by your cookies and saved preferences.

This Friday instead of the usual volleyball training we decided to organise a surprise birthday party for one of the teammates. It took place in a nice little restaurant which was quite crowded with local residents who all new the birthday boy and each other. It was fascinating to watch certain aspects of the group's behaviour, it was like a big family of 40 but with a clear vision of what is correct and what is not. Just to convey the energy of the group I will quote something said to me when leaving.

I had to leave early because the next day I had a chemistry and an engineering science exam. When asked about why I was leaving so early I said that I need to look over a few papers. Then this middle-aged woman who I had not seen once before shouted out: "You can lie to your mom, but not to me!" implying that I would not do any studying that night. As much as I hate to admit it, she was right. When I got home I lay down and fell asleep almost instantly. That evening in itself, even without these fun observations, was very entertaining. I got to talk to my teammates which does not happen so much when in practise or during a game. I know what they could do on the pitch but not so much who they are outside of that.

This Sunday we were blessed with amazing weather here in Lille and I promised myself I would get out of the house as soon as possible. Even without being in isolation I tend to stay indoors outside of school hours. After wrestling with a physics online test I went for a bike ride without any sort of plan. I just started pressing on the pedals and went where the road took me. The roads outside of Lille consist of small highways that last around one to two kilometres until there is a small town with its own church, town hall and somewhat of a market place. This is repeated indefinitely in almost every direction.

It is quite fun to trip around but without a map it is easy to get lost, because all of those small towns look like one another. When I got to a certain distance I realised that I should start heading back because my phone battery would not last that much longer. The battery was consumed by periodic filming, playing an audiobook and also running Strava in the background. After a one and a half hour ride I returned home with precisely 1% of battery. I left with a solid 85%... I really enjoyed biking again and the book (The School of Life) I was listening to while cycling resonated with me.

I really liked a passage of the book that spoke about melancholy. "Melancholy is not rage or bitterness, it is a noble species of sadness that arises when we are open to the fact that life is inherently difficult for everyone and that suffering and disappointment are at the heart of human experience." For me melancholy is a state of creativity, it is the moment I have the realest of reflections and can project those onto a piece of paper with most ease. So if you have not before, try to use melancholy as fuel!

Have a wonderful week!