Today I’d like to talk about a very individual discipline that I had to give up following the losses I suffered in 2024, but before I get into that, I need to vent for a moment. We had almost managed to sell the house in Pesaro; I was already tasting a future free of taxes on houses I don’t even use. And then, what happens? It turns out that two of the owners from the family that pushed hardest for the sale are under criminal investigation, and all their real estate assets have been seized.
I played it cool with my cousin, immediately asking about solutions and next steps, but thinking back on it, I can’t help but think about the massive lack of respect they showed all the other owners… you’re under investigation, your assets are seized, and you don’t think to tell us? I might have even shown some solidarity and not wished a curse upon you, but the fact that they didn’t give a shit is serious, regardless of their reasons. Mortacci vostri. Now we have to wait for the seizure to be lifted, and then I think we’ll put it on the open market. It was an opportunity to be seized, but clearly, it wasn’t the right way—or perhaps it wasn’t right for some of my cousins to shoulder the entire financial burden of owning that house. I like to think of it that way.
As for the other house, we’re working with an agent who isn’t “on the ball” at all, and consequently, she’s getting on everyone’s nerves. The saving grace has been having my cousin Marco on my side; he has organizational skills and a level of patience that many in this world would envy. Deo Gratias. I think we might close by mid-February, but I’m usually wrong about these things, so let’s just call it a hope of mine. You pay a real estate agent to handle all the red tape, and instead—zero. We got totally screwed. This is the same woman who, at the beginning, went to the wrong house and accused us of giving her the wrong keys. My cousin, who is as precise as a Swiss watch, giving you the wrong keys? Jesus Christ!
However, the composition phase is going decently. I’ve almost finished creating the backing tracks; next comes the embellishment phase, then writing the lyrics, the penultimate phase of recording drums and vocals, and finally mixing and mastering. These are very experimental tracks, packed with riffs that I’ll need to thin out here and there, otherwise the listener risks being bombarded with too much stimuli—too much of a good thing can be bad. How is “Shape My Future” doing? In terms of views and streams, it’s exactly what I expected, but I’ve noticed a nice increase in YouTube followers. Spotify is a bit of a struggle to grow, but later on, I’ll try another site for organic promotion—maybe with a song that stands out more. I should have tried with “Shape My Future,” “Run Away,” or “Pay for My Sins,” but I didn’t know about those services yet. Never mind.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you about Archery! Yes, indeed! I started in July 2023 and stopped on August 4, 2024. My father was in the hospital, and that day I came home from a session at the range to find my mother on the balcony, on her knees, clutching a chair with her pants down and her diaper off, crying for help. In that moment, I realized I had no choice but to stop. After my mother died, I couldn’t find the motivation to go back, but I’d like to sooner or later, though I’m not sure if I’ll go to the same range. I used to go 4-5 times a week; I knew and greeted everyone. Both my parents died, and only two people offered their condolences. Miserable people who aren’t worth shit. If I do go back, I’ll shoot on my own and keep my mouth shut, the way you do when you’re alone.
Putting the people aside, archery itself is truly cool and relaxing if you go there just to shoot without specific goals. If you have a competitive mindset, however, it can turn into a stressful sport where you get lost in the pursuit of improvement. From what I’ve gathered, it’s a very mental discipline. Got things on your mind? You might shoot poorly all day. Weather’s bad and you’re feeling down? You might shoot poorly. If you ignore or don’t perfect your draw movements, you could miss every shot. And don’t even get me started on tournament performance.
Tournaments are a whole different world. The pressure spikes, especially if you shoot well in practice; you start believing you’re a natural, but in reality, they are two different universes. In training, you need to practice self-management during the shot cycle; focusing on every movement and being methodical helps. But if you want to score well in a tournament, you have to get used to tournaments. You have to do as many as possible until the event feels like a situation you’re used to, like being at home.
I was also taught to stay humble and average out the results of every single race, because the most common mistake is using a high-score game as your benchmark when that might just be your absolute ceiling at the moment. At the time, I had an average of 449 out of 600 at 18 meters (calculated over 4 tournaments). At 30 meters, my average was 515 out of 600 based on 3 tournaments. I was doing okay; I could have improved, but it was already satisfying and I was working on it when the magic broke.
Maybe I’ll start again in March, but I’ll see. It’s definitely an expensive sport if you buy professional gear, but it’s an experience I recommend trying because there are so many categories. There’s the compound bow, which they say is very satisfying—definitely for those who love extreme precision. Then there’s the recurve (Olympic) bow, which is quite complicated to assemble, but almost everyone uses it to emulate Olympic champions. Finally, there’s the barebow and the historical bow, where the level of accuracy depends more on the archer than the bow itself, especially with the historical ones. Besides, there aren’t just target competitions; there’s also Hunter Field, where you aim at plastic silhouettes of various animals. The best courses are those with dips and steep hills, and you can only participate with a barebow or historical bow. Give it a try if you have the time and a spirit of exploration.
See you soon!