Joy of doing nothing

Today was a lazy day. I did nothing from the academic point of view. I spent hours shining my room, organizing the closet and cleaning up the study desk. The room looks and feels heavenly and the cool breeze through the window makes it even more magical. I decided not to study or read. Today was my day off. A day to spend doing nothing really important or relevant. I lingered over breakfast for almost an hour and same was the case with the lunch.

This evening, we decided to have dinner in a Chinese restaurant. The four of us, the Asians, two Indians, one Philippino and one Indonesian. The dinner stretched over three hours and it ended with Gelato. I cant forget I am in Italy so Gelato at the end of a good meal is a must. On my way to the restaurants, I was taking pictures as usual. I get intrigued by few things and I take hundreds of shots of these things. For example, the clouds in the sky, the old buildings, beautiful designs of the doors and the windows and the curtains... Padova is heaven for these pictures.. the windows small and big, greens and blues, the iron gates and old old houses. Today is a public holiday in Italy and it was visible in the city center. Everyone was out on the streets, eating drinking, eating gelato, relaxing with families, all the people, the young and the old alike.

These days, I have this strange urge to take pictures of people walking on the street in a natural moment. I get fascinated by the people who walk by, the way they are dressed, their facial expressions and it almost feels as I know their story through their eyes. Looking straight at them might make them uncomfortable and that is when camera comes in handy. In a way I can hide behind the lens and still get their story, still see through their life but without making it obvious. But I must say I am afraid.. am I impinging their privacy? Am I being too intrusive? Would they take offense of it? Is it ok if I can walk up to them and ask for permission? But taking permission means you lose the natural moment.. and I believe those are the best shots, when the person is unaware.. capturing the candid moments... what should I do? I never felt so compelled to take pictures of people. I have always been more interested in taking landscapes and sky... do we go through these phases even in our interest in photography? Does this change mean anything? Am I becoming more interested in social human life around me? I don't have answers for any of these nor do I need to know them immediately. But i only hope that I will find the most ethical way to photograph people in coming days without being a paparazzi...

I must say that my day was relaxing and i wont mind having such periodic breaks of 'doing nothing' to keep myself optimally functional.. what do you do when you want to take a break.. what helps you recharge your batteries?

Ciao...