My biggest extravagance these days? A weekend free from plans. I yearn for time to myself not rushing to airports in order to get to yet another wedding, party or opening. I much prefer to have time and space on the horizon than yet another party looming in the distance. To me not having any commitments can be such a blessing. Of course it is great to be invited to fun events all around the world. At the risk of sounding like a jaded tosser, but I must admit I do like declining an invitation. I do this not because I get a kick out of it but purely because to me the best thing about an invitation is not really the event itself but rather the freedom of choice it grants me. I can then decide whether or not I feel like indulging. It is as though I am standing in front of two locked doors. Under each door I find a sealed envelope. In each envelope I find a key leaving me free to decide through which door I want to walk.

In an ideal world making decisions would be that simple. Unfortunately it so often happens that the best invitations all arrive at the same time leaving me in a complete muddle as to which one to attend. There can be days on end with not much going on and then suddenly there are three parties all the same night. Then there is the muddle of missing out, choosing to walk through the wrong door, so to speak. Of course there really is no such thing as the wrong decision in such a matter. As a child I used to love an interactive adventure book which required you to determine where the narrative would take you. “If you want to follow the boy along the path” it read “continue reading on page 162, otherwise go to the next page.” What a thrill! I loved the involvement this book offered. Of course shortly afterwards I fell of a cliff and died and then spent hours trying to figure out where I had taken the wrong decision and how I could overcome death. I almost ripped the book apart so often did I jump back and forth trying to cheat my way through it. It was pretty hopeless. I should have realized then that life’s decisions can rarely be boiled down to right and wrong. But one thing they always can be boiled down to is cause and effect.

I am a person who wants to have my cake and eat it, so consequences can be tedious. Then again, given the choice, I often succumb to my fear of missing out and hence force myself into attending something I knew I shouldn’t really have bothered with in the first place. Life’s dilemmas, eh?

Squeezing a hectic social life into a busy work schedule is tricky. On top of that, and in order to feed my imagination in finding the perfect property, I have been frantically scanning London’s W2 and W11. Needless to say this has lead to little more than utter exhaustion. And why is it that I never seem to feel the upside of our recession in any shape or form? Shouldn’t prices be down and agents chasing after their last clients? Well, certainly not where I have been looking or shopping.

So what is my most treasured belonging? Time, which unfortunately is not my belonging at all, rather it is a mere rental. It’s time I really would like to buy, or even better, make. My lord, if I could find a way to bottle time I would be the richest person on the planet. I would also be as knowledgeable as a library and could probably become a successful athlete in whatever discipline I found amusing. I mean I could practice for months on end without anyone knowing and then win gloriously. Yes, bottling time would be a sure success. Furthermore I could probably compete more easily against people who party professionally (like most of my friends). Thus I would find keeping up with it all much easier. If a Monday is just like a Sunday then, yes, why not spend every weekend cruising about.

This weekend I did what needed to be done. I made use of my most treasured extravagance and took some time out. I was supposed to meet my ever partying friends at yet another wedding in Monaco. Although I adore the bride I knew that I simply couldn’t get myself on yet another plane and into another uncomfortable gown. For most of my friends summer holidays have already begun. I am not quite sure what they are taking a holiday from but I suppose it’s hard to break a habit reminiscent of our student days. Summer runs from mid May to late September/early October. Do you see what I mean about bottling time?

Staying in London this weekend was a glowing oasis in an endless and steaming desert. I went to the cinema and saw an incredible film which you all must see and tell me what you think. It’s a documentary by Werner Herzog – one of my all time favourite film makers. Encounters at the End of the World is not your usual climate change scare nor is it an orgasm of wildlife shots. Rather it is a brutally honest observation of what really goes on at the end of the world and in the heads of some of the worlds most brilliant scientists. I wonder what America’s National Science Foundation thought when they saw the result of their commission.

On Saturday I played tennis in Hyde Park which was heaven. What a wonderful activity to do in the middle of London, I thought. I must say, staying put felt as revitalising as having gone to some exotic spa on some exotic island.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Princess Diaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.