Who’s Nausicaa?

The importance of burning ships

Everyone on Medium and other platforms keeps on telling that you should never give up your job for a side-hustle. At least, you shouldn’t do it, until your side-hustle pays off. Despite it’s certainly a wise suggestion, I did it: I quit my job. And I do not even have a side-hustle.

I made some considerations: I have saved enough to live some years with no earnings and no need to downshift my quality of life. Besides, my only child moved to another country… well, to another continent. So, I wish to be free to spend some time with him.

To be completely honest, I have an idea of side-hustle, as I wish I could become a paid writer, especially about the topics I know better: lifestyle and writing. Indeed, I have a blog about these two main topics.

Lifestyle… what does it mean? Lifestyle to me is the way you bring your knowledge and your culture into your everyday life. Being Italian, it has a lot to do with: a nice dress, a good lunch, and enjoying art at its best. I do not want to be arrogant; every culture has important traits and deserves respect. I am just thinking about the characteristics of my homeland culture, which I cannot ignore. I can only bring it into my everyday life and share it with whoever will enjoy it.

Besides, writing has always been a great passion. It comes with its twin “reading”, as you cannot love writing if you are not an avid reader. If you are on Medium now, I think you know what I mean. My idea of writing is to start from the etymology of a word, and from that point, tell a story related to people, recent events, and all the topics people find in their life. I will share my stories on my website nausicaajourneys.

I chose the name of the mythological princess Nausicaa, for three reasons. The first reason is that Nausicaa was the name that my mother chose for me, before my birth. Luckily, my father opposed the idea, and they agreed that a common name was more functional.

The second reason is that, as a character of the Odyssey, princess Nausicaa is sweet and protective. She welcomes Ulysses to her father’s home, giving him food and shelter. I love the idea that my blog might become a shelter, where sharing tales and stories.

Besides, Nausicaa in ancient Greek means: the woman who burns ships.

It is told that Hernan Cortés, on the shores of Mexico, decided to motivate his army with the same strategy used by Alexander the Great in Asia Minor. Cortés burnt the ships that had to bring him back to Spain. He told to his worried soldiers that they had only one chance: they could only win the battle and conquer that land (and then go back home with the defeated Mexicans’ ships) As everyone knows, the ancient Spanish army conquered Mexico. Of course, I condemn every war and even more every form of genocide. But despite the horrible result of the strategy, we have to admit that Cortés’ action gave a very strong motivation to his army. So, what can we learn from this tale? And what has it to do with us? Well, it is quite clear that sometimes having no choice sharpens our motivation.

About myself, I will go back to this tale every time I wonder if I can build a paying writing job: no choice, get that result.

So, I am feeling thrilled, curious, and a little bit worried about my future, but I hope we will meet on this platform or wherever you might be pleased to read my stories. Despite it’s not a side-hustle yet, I hope we will share a shelter on Nausicaa’s land.