Argentine Diego and Leonor are
cool with not doing what’s expected
of them: Living a childish childless
life in the middle of madness
By Emma Kjær Lauridsen
Kids are off the table – for now at least. Diego and Leonor value their creative studio and the ability to do whatever they like more than what’s expected of them from society. Being creative and having fun with friends is essential to the Buenos Aires-based couple who have chosen to follow their own playful path in life.
Buenos Aires is a massive mess. The capital city in Argentine is not only hot and humid - the streets are crowded with bicycles, cars and millions of people - and in the middle of the madness, Diego Cinalli and Leonor Garcia live in a two-floor flat.
Half an hour drive from their apartment, the Argentine couple runs their own creative studio. They create custom solutions like miniature models of chairs, cities and landscapes for both commercial companies, advertising or TV-productions.
Doing what they do requires them to stay in the heated city of Argentine, because of suppliers and creative partners, but the couple has no trouble breathing in the bustling city.
They do get a glimpse of nature and a shot of extra oxygen in between busy days when going to the park to do yoga or to the beach with friends.
- You can say that we are trapped in this messy city because we run our own creative studio from here, but we are trapped in a good way, as we love our job and are surrounded by friends and family. We have found a way to create our comfort-zone in an un-comfort city, Diego says.
If they ever were to leave the chaotic city, it would probably be to the exact opposite, the countryside or the beach, hopefully with friends and new projects. They could not imagine themselves living a typical life in the suburbs.
"We don’t have kids and
don’t plan on having any."
Living a
different life
For now, they enjoy the humid city life, Diego tells. He has a frizzy man-bun, a ring in his left ear and a long beard. Leonor has got black hair with a short, very edgy cut and short bangs. You can tell they don’t have to drink the same office coffee from 8 to 5 pm each day from the way they talk about their life and work. They are both passionate, both excited.
However, it has not always been like that. The couple met while working at an animation studio company in Buenos Aries years ago, doing projects they got told to do. Both are control freaks and that is perhaps why they ended up managing their own professional and private partnership instead.
- We both love creating, so when we started dating, we knew we eventually wanted to create our own together, Diego tells and adds:
- But it can be kind of crazy. Working close with someone who is already close to you is really great, but sometimes it touches some nerves that are kind of sensitive. We have our fights, we have our waves, but we have chosen to explore this adventure together and we love it.
Diego and Leonor work a lot of hours, sometimes 50 hours per week, but they often work on fun projects with their friends as they are creative people just like them. Photographers, film makers, artists, musicians. Everyone with playful occupations, arty haircuts and colorful minds.
However, on one point, Leonor and Diego are different. While their friends are creative and restless people just like them, most of their friends have one kid or more. Leonor and Diego have got two cats and a dog.
Unusual in every
kind of way
It is an unusual decision, not to have kids, they both acknowledge. But it’ not like they have set an ultimatum, they just don’t feel the need to follow the same life path as most people do. They enjoy their childish type of life, doing fun projects with their friends.
Even though Diego is 35 and Leonor 33 years old, and they have got the right “baby-age” as they say, the couple lives in a different life scale than others. Partly because of their job, since it is always changing, but also because of their lifestyle and priorities.
- We don’t have kids and don’t plan on having any. Our friends have kids and we love being with them and playing with their kids, but we don’t particularly want ones ourselves, Diego tells and tries to explain:
- But we don’t feel represented by the modern “anti-children couple model” that considers children to be a threat to their personal freedom. We just love being in a creative environment and the life that we live in. We always do stuff, so this childless-lifestyle gives us the chance to do fun stuff like pottery, drawing, music or whatever we like, he tells.
They have met people who don’t understand their decision, but despite they love kids, and like to be a part of the life of their friends’ kids, they don’t want to follow the typical path or way of life just because everyone else does.
- We are unusual in our way of working and in every other kind of way, so we're cool with not doing what everybody is expending you to do. Whether its kids, work or simply just our way of living, Diego explains.
"The feeling of being free
needs to be present in every
aspect and layers of our lives."
A controversial
narrative
Leonor and Diego often wonder where their life and career is going - mostly because every project gives them ideas to do something different. Sometimes they think about doing miniature stuff like works of art or even developing a product, but common for their thoughts and dreams is freedom.
- We love being able to have our own place to live and work. In this way, we are always around friends, family, working, being creative or just having fun, they say and adds:
- To us, the feeling of being free needs to be present in every aspect and lawyers of our lives. We can walk the dog anytime we like and simple things like that are essential to us, Diego tells.
They would never work from 9-5 at an office, having a boss telling them what to do every day, not creating anything, as most people do.
At the same time, they are not willing to make the sacrifices it would require if they were to have kids right now.
- As long as we continue to be trapped in our own little world that we can control the way we like and can visit friends and family, play with friends’ kids, we’re good, Diego says.
So, despite the majority of people more or less chooses to follow that pattern in life, Diego and Leonor have chosen not to. The fundamental feeling of freedom and having fun is more important to the argentine couple than following the recipe of society.
They would rather design their own life, than get their life designed by norms, by bosses or by babies, they tell. To them, living somewhere in the suburbs, having kids are not the only way to live happily ever after.
