Mostly, it changed how I see my past.
It Happened. Make of It What You Will is a witty, heartfelt memoir about travel, independence, and the wonderfully unpredictable moments that make life memorable. How did writing the book change the way you think about the seemingly ordinary incidents that become lasting memories?
Mostly, it changed how I see my past. I was surprised which moments I remembered as if they happened yesterday, and which were simply gone. Memory works like a scattered jigsaw puzzle. You look for the edges first, and then the rest starts to fit.
My trip around the Iberian Peninsula was the edge. It could just as well have been something else. That’s why I don’t see the book as a memoir or a travel journal. The journey is only the frame. The picture is made of everything that fell into place around it.
How has traveling independently influenced your understanding of yourself and your ability to adapt to unfamiliar situations?
I had travelled alone before, and I’d be lying if I said it’s easy. It isn’t. You put a few things on the scales. On one side, dealing with everything by yourself, with no support. On the other, time for attention, and seeing everything around you with your own eyes. Every journey makes me feel more capable, and more sensitive to the world.
Your stories often find humor in frustrating or unpredictable situations. How has humor influenced the way you respond to life’s challenges?
Humour is a shield and a life support at the same time. The alternative is negative feelings, and those destroy. I prefer to build.
What do you hope readers discover about the value of curiosity and paying attention to the details of everyday life?
Not what they discover, but whether they discover it at all. At the pace we live now, we don’t stop anymore. Attention is fading, and it is the essence of life.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
In these pages, a white peacock crosses a country road, passengers refuse to cooperate at a toll gate, a flamenco dancer seems to set the floor on fire, a dinner arrives under a glass cloud of smoke, a raft built from logs claims the Pacific, a castle wakes the desire to draw again, a night in the Basque hills turns every breath into a negotiation, and a man stops breathing exactly at four in the morning.
Joanna Potepa, a Polish visual artist, writes in still frames: short, precise, open scenes where ordinary life changes angle without asking permission. Her gaze does not chase morals or neat explanations. It observes roads, rooms, animals, objects, losses, accidents and absurdities with the attention of someone who knows a life can transform in silence.
Moving between Spain, the United Kingdom and Poland, this book draws an intimate map of motion, memory and attention.
It is what happened. Geometry of almost.
Posted on November 6, 2026, in Interviews and tagged author, book, book recommendations, book review, Book Reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, ebook, goodreads, indie author, It Happened. Make of It What You Will, Joanna Potepa, kindle, kobo, literature, memoir, nonfiction, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, story, writer, writing. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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