my motivation is… eu?

I resolved as one of goals this new year to find more motivation for my work. After reading an adoring piece on Emmanuel Macron, the liberal European independent candidate running in France’s presidential race, and revisiting my post-Brexit blog post here, I think the only plausible reason is massively macro: the EU itself. I am a part of the Union by way of working for an EU program. If I believe so strongly in this economic, political, cultural, administrative project – which I do – then I need to do my best to contribute to it by being a high-quality, functioning cog of the administration (go on, call it bureaucracy…).

Let’s see if I can’t stick that on my desktop monitor to get me going tomorrow…

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imagine me and eu

Midsummer garden party under the auspices of an EU flag | Photo: probably my colleague Thomas

Here’s a secret: I’m obsessed with Facebook’s On This Day blasts to the past. It’s narcissism, but so is reading old diaries, right? So seven years ago last week I was in Germany for the first time and my 20-year-old self was blown away by the ultra-coolness that was Berlin. I’m not going to romanticise it into a “and at that moment I knew I would be back” thing, but it sure was the perfect icing on my exchange semester cake. (Carrot cake. Obviously.)

Many years ago a Canadian friend opined, with innocent gravity after his cliche of a summer trip backpacking through Europe:

Europe changes lives.

The statement itself is a cliche as well but it keeps cropping up, even among my friends now who are 30 rather than 20 years old who are on the continent for the first time. Because it’s true! I don’t know if Europeans can appreciate what a special place this is.