By Bastien Chazalette-Zaco

In the cold.

I was walking down the street by a sunny and cold Sunday, during the early afternoon. Nobody seemed to have the same intentions as me, the streets were empty and calm, almost too much, even for a Sunday. A strange atmosphere resulted from this weirdly too silent neighborhood, into such a large city. I felt like I changed country over the night to end up in a distant isolated land where the cold was biting my chest through the light jacket I choose before living home. I am right here, in hackney, 5min from my house. But it still was the kind of cold that freezes you to your bones. This sort of weather really puts me in a weird state of mind, the cold surrounded my body, I can feel my presence in the wind, that I apply a force against him. The vulnerability face to nature could come to mind too and indeed I don’t feel powerful imaging what can do an even more extreme weather. Maybe because of that feeling of slight insecurity, that doesn’t feel that bad. Or maybe because you feel more your body, even if I keep a fast rate to not freeze, I find those moments quite good. It’s a time where you can take a step back, let my reduct mobility body repeat steps after steps, and, appreciate what can live, or just be, around me. And here I’m blow. I am not in the same country. Not that I don’t know that I’m leaving here for more than 5 months. I am pretty adapted now, to be honest. But just because everything’s going so fast, because life is running like crazy I sometimes forget to look up and appreciate the why I came here. For study sure but also because I wanted to see, feel and know something else. And all those things that I wanted are constantly around me. Every step I take out of home is in a way still new. And I must appreciate every little thing I can.

So here I am, now standing, immobile in the cold, alone in the street and the simplest walk to go buy some bread become a far deepest moment of reflection with my self. I am not acting crazy, I just stand for a couple of minutes, looking around me and trying to focus on the little things. I try to breathe calmly and inhaled slowly. Feel my cold feet on the floor, all the gravity of my body applies an opposite force on the ground. I am quite happy to have decided to get out of my sofa, even if the first minutes in the cold was intense, it would have been a shame to haven’t enjoyed such an agreeable moment of reflection. The kind of moment that stays in your mind, that is important to remember, to feel like you enjoyed your time even though a fast life as we can live here.

Back home, I enjoyed, even more, my coffee and my toast of marmalade, from France. Knowing that I can eat such good products and fill as good as those three minutes I spend standing in the middle of the cold.