#49 About Time

Are our lives controlled by these artefacts? Clocks, calendars, agendas…

About Time is probably my husband’s favourite movie, and lately it’s become a reminder to me of what every single day means. I’ve been working on a project for the last three years that is about to launch, and I cannot stop thinking: what if I had done it differently? What if I had entered a wardrobe at my place and changed everything? My first novel, Unwritten, is a part of me, like my kids are— almost equally loved and rebellious as they are. Rebellious? You might ask, and yes, that’s exactly it. My kids are not fully what I wanted—which is okay, uncontrollable, and acceptable—and so is my book. I started this whole life project as a way to improve my life and do something I’d always wanted to, but as it usually happens (to me), I drifted right and left until I managed to succeed... or have I?

There have been some delays in the process, and Unwritten will be available on July 14th in the US and August 14th in Europe. I never thought I would write a summer book, but I never thought I would become a writer either, so here we are, my books and I waiting for people to discover us.

This change of schedule made me think of a business trip I took many years ago. As part of the Company policy, the five people flying from Europe to Latin America were split across three flights, so we secured our presence in case we were to attend, but all our precautions were in vain. I was overbooked; two others had a plane malfunction and spent an extra day on an island halfway through their trip, and the last two lost their connection flight and were rerouted on two different flights—both delayed—and all of us ended up arriving late to that super-important meeting. Still, everyone laughed.

“You’re so late as your products,” someone told us one night.

So many years later, I see myself in the same position: “late.” I decided to write later than I should, my book will be out later than initially expected, and I constantly feel I’m late doing the things I want to do, but you know what? I’m doing it... I’m finally doing it, and that’s what counts.

I see my kids grow up, and the wrinkles appear on my face, and the more time goes by, the easier it is to recognize that sometimes we have to change. The clock and the calendar are just allies in that process, the reminders, not the ones to blame for the things that happened or not.