The 5th Empire - The Allotment

My wife started renting an allotment back in the spring of 2018. It is a six meter by five meter piece of land. One of about 120 such allotments, laid out in a large square arrangement at the back of a hospital for the mentally ill. To get to the allotment, I enter through the main gate of the hospital. I pass a large parking lot, next to the two main buildings. A wide avenue leads down to the allotments at the back. It is lined with tall trees. There are also a number of smaller buildings and sheds, all quite picturesque in their somewhat shabby and warn down condition.

Being regularly at the allotment, I've come to know a few of the patients who idle away their time on park benches along the avenue. Curious about the foreigner, they sometimes strike up little conversations. They ask where I'm from and what I think of Portugal. Many of them have a long career as beggars. Unable to kick their professional habit, they ask for a coin, but that would be against the rules of the hospital. Giving money to the patients is not permitted. It's a house rule that I have no intention to break.

The allotment has turned out to be an excellent distraction. Being quite far from where I live, it takes me about 40 minutes to get there by foot. Once there, I spend up to two hours before returning home. A typical round trip takes me about three hours. This gives me plenty of time to relax, run through thoughts and idea, and find my zen. Things fall into place. Any impulse to do something rash is subdued. Decision making becomes easier, creativity improves, and a general sense of well being and harmony ensues.

Having this place where I can easily find my zen has been immensely valuable, especially during the spring of 2018, when the taxman and their associated collection agencies were constantly calling me, sending me threatening letters, and generally behaving like the thugs that they are. To deal with this, I developed the habit of leaving my phone at home. I never picked up the phone unless I knew the caller. If the number was unknown to me, I looked it up, but never did it happen that I returned the call. None of the unknown numbers turned out to be relevant.

After the brief barrage of calls, things calmed down considerably. However, I've retained my habit of hardly ever carrying my phone with me. It is quite liberating to be offline. Missed calls can always be made later. There is less of a rush to do anything, which adds to my zen.

Having an allotment and being offline for at least a few hours a day is a great way to deal with stressful situations. The zen achieved helps putting things into perspective. Decision making becomes easier, less impulse driven. Combined with my investment strategy that focuses on mega-cycles, rather than daily movements, it is possible to relax completely. I can focus all my energy into meaningful activities so that I can live my life to its fullest.

By Pierre Mazzacano D'Amato - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link