Take fifteen minutes out of your day, no more . Look atwhatever you want. Never mind that time flies away.

You don’t have to go to Barcelona, Berlin or Bombay to have fun. You can stay at home in your own town. You can also do it cheaply. To help you along the way, we give you " Seven free things you can do in your city".

Forrest Gump’s mother used to say that life is like a box of chocolates. My mother used to say that I should eat my food and sit still. Despite this, my whole life has been about not sitting still. I do not know what biological reaction occurs in the body when you sit still, but I know that my body doesn’t like it. One time I went to a silent meditation camp for ten days but came home after four. One time I tried to ride the bus to Croatia. It took 50 hours and I went crazy several times during the trip. I'm not the sitting-still type. My teachers have said it. My principals have said it. My parents have said it. And my girlfriend says so.

Nevertheless, one of my favorite things to do occurs when spring comes to Gothenburg. I usually put on a pair of headphones and sit on a park bench in the middle of town. I don’t even put on any music. Typically, the headphones are not even plugged into an MP3 player. Usually, I don’t even have any music with me. Just a couple of disconnected headphones to give the appearance that I’m actually doing something. But I’m not. I sit down and watch people. There is something special about people in the spring. As if they've forgotten everything rough that they’ve been through. Naïve newborn eyes that see potential in everything. Looking at people’s collarbones accentuated by the sun. What I like best is to sit and watch people waiting for each other. How their face is first in a lonely calm and then bursts into a smile when the person they've been waiting for finally comes along. It is at these occasions that my thoughts surface. You have time to formulate long chains. Digest the events of recent months. Sitting still for fifteen minutes on a bench gives me time to think.

Text: Navid Modiri