DAY12: AS IF WE WERE PLAYING MONOPOLY

MIRIAM 12 – Today, dear Andrea, I reached the peak of my doing nothing. Today I floated in a sea of hours, minutes and seconds that seemed to never end, going from the living room to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the bedroom, from the bedroom to my kids’ room. I think I watched probably 15 Instagram Live, thinking how useful they to pass the time these days, to keep who is alone company. Or who, like me, decided to “float” – only today, I promise.

And to think that this morning, when I woke up, I was ready to do, do, do. And then no: yesterday I made the best zeppole I have ever tasted and tomorrow I will probably clean up the bookcase in the living room and classify all the books by author, but today I didn’t want to do anything. Today I floated.

Nonetheless, a small fruit has sprung, sudden and unexpected, just like spring: I realized that I cannot force the hand these days, I must be more lenient with myself. And so I thought about “before”, about how strict I was with myself, always expecting more and more, never allowing myself anything that I hadn’t earn with my own sweat. I thought about how hard I studied, how hard I worked, how hard I trained. Because I always had to be at the top of my game, I always had to go to bed exhausted, otherwise I wasn’t happy.

And instead, as if we were playing Monopoly, I “go to jail” and stand still for a game turn, not by choice.

And so I try to enjoy this jail and this new leniency, hoping it won’t disappear at the crack of dawn.

ANDREA 12 – My Monopoly game, on the contrary, is still going on. The “boxes” of my day are (for who’s reading, follow the board starting from the GO!): Vicolo Stretto, aka the bathroom when I get up in the morning, the South Station, where I open the blinds (sometimes even the windows, to let some fresh air in the house that, as you would say in Naples, “adda piglià aria”), the P of Parking, which would be the made up office in the living room, from which, through Skype, I connect with my colleagues “jumping” from a box to the other of their homes ( from Milan, Turin, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Melbourne). I move from the parking to the Water Works, which for me would be the assault of the dishwasher, loyal friend of this quarantine. Valentina always complained about my relationship with it (the dishwasher), now she can’t but cherish this such improved bond. At 20pm I stop: via Roma I come to Naples to get in contact with Miriam to write this story, but it’s not over cause when the day ends and Skype is switched off, we get to the Luxury Tax: the tax we pay every night to our thoughts. The most recurring one I have is: when is it going to end? Well, for now I’m at the GO!, I don’t’ withdraw the 500$, I get out on the terrace and I just breath. It’s spring.