empty gym

Friday night. Came back home from teaching in Lugano.

The beginning of my second year, in a place that means so much to me and my mission.

A sense of “right place”, of “right life”.

An afternoon that flies by, with the students I raised during my first year. Each moment full of the best bliss I know, a sense of alignment that surprises even me. The wonder of finding them motivated, nourished, with so much potential thanks to the work we put in last year.

On the way to Lugano, I drove in silence. No music, no podcast, no nothing.

Just staying, with a clear mind.

On the way back, I am in the mood for two hours straight of Années de Pélerinage: Suisse.

Discovering new interpretations, reflecting on what I hear from the performers I haven’t listened to before. As soon as I’m home, I just want to go to the piano. One hour, working on Au bord d’une source. It will soon be learnt. Harder than Orage, for sure, with some unique technical inventions and mechanisms that need to be understood first.

Then heading to the gym 9PM-10PM.

A conversation with an interesting ex MMA fighter in the locker rooms. Antonio. He tells me he just came out of a 6 months coma, after a violent fight in Spain. Genuinely good guy. I go upstairs to the weights room and I find it completely empty. Never found it so empty.

I turn on my beloved Sky and Sand.

I go through the exercises. I think. I’m building my life, and I am guided by what I believe in, no compromises.

I am living exactly what I wanted. Not everyone will understand, but if you are where you want, you already won.

Let’s keep going, let’s keep building, let’s keep dreaming huge. There’s a lot round the corner. And this 2026, that I felt was going to be extraordinary - is being just that.

It’s a mission.

Paul Kalkbrenner - Sky and Sand