new september

A widely known secret in Spain: August. Sure, there are a few businesses open -- major department stores, tourist traps, museums, the international company sticking to homeland policies. But the majority of the businesses and the people take it easy during the hottest month of the year (note to visitors, if you want the real thing, don’t come to Madrid in August.)

Feel free to mutter something under your breath about the Spanish economy. I’ll wait.

Because there is more to it than time off from work, though that’s a huge part of it, and a necessity. But, during the last week of August, stores and businesses are undergoing something I’ve not seen in the US... there is a general sense of renewal and renovation. Last week, storefronts all around my block were wide open not to invite customers, but the fresh air. And if you peeked inside, you'd find people scrubbing and painting, rearranging and renovating, getting ready for when Spaniards come back to the city post vacation. Such a mood goes well with the sudden cooling in temperature, a buoyancy that comes from taking a real break from the every day... in order to appreciate the every day.

August in Madrid is the breath of an overhaul. For stores, restaurants, businesses, people, families, relationships of any kind, it’s important to take the time to see where we’ve been, where we are, where we are headed.

You know all those HBR articles that discuss how important it is to take a step back and see the big picture, to take time off and recharge the battery, to read and study outside your immediate field of work? All admirable things. Hard pressed to find someone who would disagree with that advice. But who does it? Who has the time?

What a wonderful thing, to be at the start of September in Madrid. There is nothing like living in a place that's generous with opportunities to look around, take a breath, and decide what you want life to be.