As I sit here on a very early Saturday morning, suspended in this halflight between night and day, a lot of thoughts run through my head. In recent years I had rekindled an old friendship with a very dear friend from my youth in Germany. She called this 'Kopfkino. 'Kopf' means 'head' and 'Kino' means 'cinema'. Can you guess this word's meaning? 'Kopfkino' is what happens when you use your imagination to think of something in a very detailed way. You then lose track of time for a few seconds and really feel like you are watching a movie that is happening in your head. She was my very first girlfriend and she died three years ago. It came as quite a shock to me when her family emailed me the sad news, and I didn't need any 'Kopfkino' to imagine that I, too, was on borrowed time.
By now you must have been wondering about the photo on top of this post. It depicts the armrest on my favourite armchair in which I read and write and think and watch television or let my 'Kopfkino' run wild, as I did in this case when the dark smudge on the upholstered armrest reminded me of a retired old neighbour in Far North Queensland. His favourite armchair was hard up against the wall, and after he had leant his head against the wall while watching television year after year and night after night, it had left an oily smudge on the wall. Every time I visited him, my eyes were involuntarily drawn to that smudge and I remember feeling slightly disgusted by it. Now I have my own smudge.
None of this disgusts me any more or even matters. Sure, clean if you must, but I rather use my time to take a walk, visit a friend, sip a cold beer, take a swim, or lie in the sun. Fight the dust if you must but remember that one day you will become dust too. And no one will remember how spotless your house was. They'll remember your laughter, your kindness, the joy you shared, and the things you taught them. I've done my job for the day. I have taught you about 'Kopfkino'.
P.S. In stark contrast, my expensive Moran leather sofa and chairs which were a tax-deductible purchase for my "Canberra Computer Accounting Systems" business in Canberra, are still totally "un-smudged" for several reasons: I never had enough clients to sit in them; they are now upstairs and I don't go there very often - out-of-breath and dodgy knees and all that - and, unlike me, leather is longer-lasting and harder-wearing.
They are now included in my "home-made" real estate advertisement on realestate.com.au to impress prospective buyers but it seems none are.
