habits

Two weeks ago Murray and I were visiting my dear friend Celine up in Big Sur.

We had always been sisters of sorts with some uncanny parallels: We’re both 37; half Asian, half European; graduates of Brown University; with family in California, Thailand and Costa Rica.

But that’s where the similarities stop.

So I asked her the Big Question that was racing through my mind…

It was 12:25pm.

Denis could have been hard at work in his little Provencal grocery store.

But instead, his store was shuttered, and he was outside sitting on the bench with his wife, watching life go by.

Looking calm and relaxed, he turned and greeted us as we walked past.

“It’s a beautiful day!” he said cheerfully.

Each day, they open at 8:30am and then go home for lunch by 12:30pm.

And then, if their grandkids aren’t being too cute (and if they feel like it), they re-open again from 3:30-5:30pm.

They work no more than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Sometimes they decide to take an extra day off just because…

Spontaneously shuttering their doors and setting off to visit their daughter or whatever else they feel like doing.

We told them how amazing this was to us, being city folks from a busy-land.

“We work when we want, not when you want..” he replied, his eyes glittering.