Blue Questionnaire

with Elena Narbutaitė

What brings you energy?

Yesterday (Friday, October 30, 2020) I had a chance to work. A Chance, because in this time, it’s not  often that one can have the joy of being physically present in a workplace. I prepare and bake bagels on Fridays. It’s a job that takes up a bit of the night and then begins again very early in the morning. After the baking and serving session, I usually feel like a sleeper in the daylight. So yesterday, after the bagels, around 5pm I took time to rest for 40 minutes, laying on the bed and listening to a well-told podcast that a friend forwarded to me. Drifting into a light sleep state, I woke up fully to an excerpt of a Sun Ra voice recording. 

A few minutes later, I was standing in the kitchen and for a moment I forgot that there was trouble with coronavirus in the world. I made hot tea and got dressed, getting ready to go to a concert of serious contemporary music. Surprisingly, it still took place. The concert hall was half-empty and listening to the music felt good, like sitting in a rehearsal; people more solitary, each by themselves. 

The Concert was over. It was raining outside. I entered the trolleybus and got out on Vingriu street. On the way to a studio where two friends were playing music from records, I stopped to buy a drink. Around 2am, the party was over and we went home. I slept till 12:30pm and woke up calm. Today, I heard the news that one of my brothers has a high temperature, and so on. There is much more energy to think about this now. 

Today is good. I can think of people and friends without entering their privacy and without dressing up in their moods as if I knew them. I understand that the ability to stay in my own business and skin gives me energy and allows me to be more useful. I would like to know more about how to keep such energy flowing. 

What makes you shy?

Youthfulness of events. By this I mean the recurrence today of multiple sensations from childhood and adolescent experiences. I noticed that shyness takes one by surprise. It’s still partly a mystery to me.

Tell us about and art work or occurrence that you were most interested in or excited by this past year.

The last thing that took me by surprise was an exhibition by Suellen Rocca at Secession in Vienna. I think this was my favorite show of last month. I was surprised that I liked it. I came in without a clue and walked out knocked by pleasure. It all happened very quickly. I got to know someone I didn't know before. Learning new things, no matter how old, is very often a joyful event to me.