on doing things for and by yourself
Every now and then, I plan to do something by myself. Even though I already spend most of my days alone working at home, planning to do something that gets me out of the house brings almost as much joy as doing the thing itself.
Normally, this means going to the movies. Sadly, there are now only a couple of independent movies left in Lisbon, but they have an eclectic scheduling of movies that features the most recent releases, but also some classics—some of them recognized as such, others who are not that well-known by the public (like me). The tickets are also cheaper for the 1:30 PM session. That's a double win for me since I get to pay less and I'm sure I won't find any of the annoying people who spend the whole movie checking their phones or talking—but I never saw that happening at this movie place, fortunately.
They're doing a special schedule called "New Year's Gifts" that features some of their favorite movies from 2024, and I managed to finally watch "Evil Does Not Exist". It's a beautiful movie about a small village in Japan where a company wants to build a glamping camp and the tensions it creates with the local people, who know they just want to take advantage of their land without any consideration for them or Nature.
The shots and scenery are so beautiful that I left the cinema with a smile on my face, which I carried with me while I cycled to Aldi. And yes, I did "wandrer" around and checked out some new kilometers, if you ever read my weekend schmoozes.
Overall, I cherish these little breaks from my daily routine. They get me out of the house and disconnected from everything else. I just focus on the movie and forget everything else for 120 minutes.