I got sunshine

It’s only January, but as many of you can testify, I’m sure, it’s been an unusually warm winter. For Madrid this seems to mean that one of my favorite Spanish cultural traditions has taken to the streets a bit earlier. In Spain, once it starts to get warm (usually late February, early March), the Spanish head out to the nearest town plaza. While no true local would eat in the over-priced (and, generally, over-rated) restaurants that line those plazas, they will buy a sandwich and a drink and plop themselves down in the sun. The “Plaza Mayor”, typically the most beautiful plaza in any given Spanish city, is the destination of many.

The Plaza Mayor in Madrid is usually overrun by tourists and the hawkers that follow them, and given this it might not seem like the friendliest place for a picnic. But in the spring, the Spanish make it theirs. It may seem basic, but I love the fact that the Spaniards have no aversion to sitting on the ground. WHY NOT enjoy the sun where it shines most—right in the middle of the plaza?

So while grey days are still around to remind me that it is, after all, only January… The enthusiasm of the Spaniards for those sunny afternoons in the plaza portends the return of spring.

we're back!

It may seem like some things will never change. Your father always has the ability to make you question your position even while praising your life choices; the farcical GOP primary race continues to sweep across 'key' states; Spanish grannies still know exactly where to walk on the sidewalk so as to prohibit passing from either side. But we must also recognize the advent of a new year, and all the possibilities that go along with it.

As second semester starts at Suffolk Madrid, and with it come new classes, new classmates, new plans, and new hopes, I would like to share with you an article that I came across recently and the three suggestions for a meaningful life in 2012 that it shared.

1. Cultivate (your better self). Learn the arts of nuance, subtlety, and grace.

2. Create (something dangerous). Youth is to be spent pursuing your passion. Don't simply be content with the road well traveled... rather dream big, and be an architect of the future.

3. Forgive (and fail). Remember that failure is, in itself, a part of achievement. So go ahead-- fail. Just remember to forgive yourself and those around you... taking failure for the important lesson that it is.

I have paraphrased these three profound suggestions, for the sake of my own reflection. I do recommend reading the original article though, which was written by Umair Haque and published in the Harvard Business Review under the title "Mastering the Art of Living Meaningfully Well". He acknowledges the challenges that we all face, and speaks with wonderful insight to suggestions which I, for one, intend to carry with me in the year(s) to come.