--> Brick buildings being torn down to make room for development reminded Lohbado of when he worked for a few months in the 1970ies as a janitor in a hospital complex. He would pause to gaze at brick walls and windows. Once the required tasks were done, he was supposed to look busy, or to be invisible. He found empty wings, back staircases, places to relax for an hour or two until the end of the shift. Out of sheer boredom, his mind calmed. Life felt increasingly transparent and mysterious. He often wondered why one was required to exist, since existence entails so much suffering. The trick to survival was figuring out how to endure the trauma of having to go through a series of days without knowing why. The secret is to cheer up. It’s a paradox. The more one feels the pain, the greater the necessity to enjoy oneself. There seemed to be no middle ground. Either enjoy life, or else be miserable. His grandmother frequently minded him to stop and appreciate the richness of the sensual world, the beauty of form, color, sound, various tastes, smells and textures.
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