Our car of 15 years showed three flashing lights on the dashboard while we travelled to Whitby last Sunday. It displayed them during Summer too when we were driving to Poland from the UK. We got it repaired but the same problem showed. ‘We’ll give it a rest when we get to Whitby. It will cool down and we’ll be able to drive back.’ my husband said. His prediction was right. We returned home safely. One thing to be rather grateful for today.
We travelled to Whitby for air. To feel the sand between our fingers and water on our feet. And to eat fish, of course, an irreplaceable custom of every food lover. We headed towards the beach when we saw a crowd of people returning towards the car park. We seemed to be the only family that walked in the opposite direction. ‘Was everything fine?’ I wondered examining the opened restaurants, stalls, coffee shops and calmly floating boats and yachts. The surrounding was reassuring and the lobsters and crabs painted on restaurant walls seemed to nudge us towards the beach. Who wouldn’t like to see where the crabs live after all?
We rushed to get at least an hour of the golden light at the beach. We passed the crab-fishing family, a man inviting us for a sea trip, new marine centre and just before we reached the beach we had to pause to urgently drop 50p coins into a designated place for overstretched bladders. A relief worth paying for. :)
We collected ourselves and all the 6 bags that we had with us for all the eventualities of the beach life. Just before the stairs we stopped at the viewing platform to see the sea and the beach but the beach was not there to be seen. The frothy waves were licking the sea walls and all the way to the cliff. A spring high tide took over the whole beach. Disappointment was hard to swallow and yet there we were exposed to the sea air, energised by the colours of the sky, caressed by the breeze. Enough to be grateful for. Not to mention the ice-cream and the dinner and a chat with a fisherman… but more on this at a different time.
Is it possible to improve in life without being grateful for the past and what it taught us? Could we make progress in life without seeing the positives in our personal journeys? Could we be artistic, creative, productive if we do not appreciate what we have or what has passed? If we are angry that the flowers have died, could we appreciate their textures, their patterns, their beauty highlighted by time? They were. They existed. They contributed. If we decide to engage with the past or the passing of time in a creative manner, the effect is usually gratifying. Could it be otherwise?
Czy można poprawić sobie życie bez odczuwania wdzięczności za przeszłość i za to czego nas nauczyła? Czy możemy robić postępy w życiu, nie dostrzegając pozytywów w naszych osobistych podróżach? Czy możemy być artystyczni, kreatywni, produktywni, jeśli nie doceniamy tego, co mamy lub tego, co minęło? Jeśli jesteśmy źli, że kwiaty umarły, czy możemy docenić ich faktury, ich wzory, ich piękno podkreślone przez czas? Były. Istniły. Przyczyniły się do piękna. Jeśli zdecydujemy się na twórcze zajęcie się przeszłością lub wpływem przemijania, efekt będzie zazwyczaj satysfakcjonujący. Czy by mogło być inaczej?
In smart work there is less joy than in a game of tag and time is running out for children and adults alike into the hustle and bustle of memories.
Who caught whom? No one asks about the tag But everyone writes a report On the questions they asked And answers they received Only relevant to self It seems
But to receive an answer Is to make a promise of gratitude.
No one knows Few understand
Has the person who asked got lost earlier? Or did they ask in time? To be grateful? Or to be done? Choose.
– Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini
Additional good read for this week:
This article has caught my attention this week. Very interesting read. This is the Key to Achieving ‘Time Affluence’ (click to read).
Poem and photography by Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini, 2025. Copying without an explicit and written permission from the author is not allowed.
Po Polsku
W mądrej pracy jest mniej radości niż w grze w berka, a dzieciom i dorosłym czas ucieka tak samo w zgiełk wspomnień.
Kto kogo złapał? Nikt nie pyta, Ale każdy pisze raport Z pytań, które zadał I odpowiedzi, które otrzymał. Dotyczących tylko siebie Wydawać by się mogło. Ale otrzymać odpowiedź To złożyć obietnicę wdzięczności.
Nikt nie wie. Niewielu rozumie.
Czy osoba, która zapytała, zgubiła się wcześniej? Czy zapytała w porę?
Być wdzięcznym? Czy po prostu mieć wszystko zrobione? Wybierz.
Wiersz Alicji Pyszki-Franceschini, 2025.
Ten artykuł przykuł moją uwagę w tym tygodniu. Bardzo interesujący!
Artykuł w magazynie Forbes zatytułowany “To jest klucz do osiągnięcia ‘Bogactwa Czasu'” (kliknij w link tutaj)
Do następnego razu. x
Material Copyrighted by Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini, 2025. Copying without an explicit and written permission from the author is not allowed.
Do you remember the song by Ed Sheeran called Photograph? The official music video consists of photographs and video cuts. These are from his early childhood and his early music career. I love the simplicity of it all and the sheer joy of watching a growing child, his first steps, his running around and the shrieks of a toddler finding his voice. It is so moving. The decor of his family’s house that is sealed in time. The hands of the family members that carefully assist him in making his first steps, in music or drawing, busking and then all the Happy Birthday’s sung together to celebrate the child. Call me sentimental, but that song makes me cry. It is all moving and all beautiful. I am very inspired by the song and the video. It inspires me to rediscover my own family archive. These are the good times.
Photos taken in Derby (UK), in Poland and in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
Postcards Without Stamps 