In Dix pour cent (Call My Agent!), the agents of a Paris talent agency lurch from crisis to crisis. And yet, again and again, they sit down to lunch. A terrace, a bistro table, a plate of something, a glass of wine, a conversation that sometimes solves everything and sometimes solves nothing.
It's a small detail of the series, and a very French one. In France, lunch is still widely seen as a real meal, not a refueling stop. Many workplaces don't even allow eating at your desk, and the pause déjeuner is often taken seriously: you leave the office, you sit down, you eat, you talk.
What the desk lunch costs us
Eating while reading emails or scrolling means we barely taste our food, barely rest, and go back to work as tired as we left it. The body had its fuel. The mind had no break at all.
How to take a lunch break, the Parisian way
1. Leave your desk. Even if you only go to the kitchen, the park or a bench outside. A change of place tells your mind the morning is over. 2. Sit down. Eating standing up or walking is efficient. Sitting is restful. 3. Put the phone away. Face down, in your bag, in another room. Just for these thirty minutes. 4. Eat something you can enjoy. It doesn't have to be elaborate: good bread, a piece of cheese, a salad, a bowl of soup. Notice the colors, the textures, the taste of the first bites. 5. Talk, or don't. A colleague, a friend, the waiter. Or simply watch the street and let your thoughts wander. 6. Walk for five minutes before going back. A slow lap of the block lets the meal and the morning settle.
Why it matters
A real lunch break isn't laziness. It's the midpoint of the day, a chance to come back to yourself before the afternoon begins. People who take one often find they work better afterwards, and they certainly enjoy their day more.
Something for the second half of the day
If you'd like a small pause to take with your coffee after lunch, The First Letter is a short sensory meditation on receiving a letter, free to read or listen to, with a sample of my magazine, "(meditating) On Art". Five minutes that belong only to you.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi