Christmas tales...

Someone asked me yesterday if I like Christmas and at first I had to think for a few seconds in order to reply.In the past I must admit that I did not like Christmas very much because I did not like this seasonal exploitation where you are supposed to consume not because you really want to but because you have to.I did not like that you were suppose to eat with your parents at that time but the rest of the year it didn't really matter if you ate alone.

From the moment that I was able to decide what I want to do for Christmas then Christmas became my favourite season. I am spending my Christmas with the people I want, I am not pressured to follow traditional gatherings and relatives (I can eat with my parents and then go or I can go away for holidays).I can have an unconventional tree and I buy presents not because of the season but because I want to.

Christmas was never a melancholic season for me.Even if I had difficulties in the past and it was that season the whole festivity mood and the light in the streets always cheered me up.I have also many funny stories to remember Christmas adventures that always make me laugh.

When I first came in England my first relationship was with an English guy.He was really superficial (I did not realise it at that time) but I had fun with him.I met him in a punk rock concert and we started dating the next day.I really liked him but what he liked about me was my looks.We would go out with his friends where he would treat me like a trophy.Well I must admit that I liked him bragging about me until I realised that he didn't want to know me any better.By that time 3 months had past and it was Christmas.On Christmas day we went to a dance festival and it was the first time that I went to such an event as at that time I listened only to metal and punk.He listened to punk but I was happy he was open-minded with music.Anyway we went to this festival were everyone was so friendly, I had never seen anything like that.At that night he said to me for the first time that he loves me and didn't stop hugging me.A week later we split up.I realised that what made him love me that night was ecstasy!

I am going away for a little trip on Christmas to relax and explore. I think that people who have lived a lot have a lot of memories.If you want, share a story about your previous X-mas or what you plan to do.I wish you to have a great wonderful time.Merry Christmas everyone!

art by ploop
photography by nighty

On the Press and Freedom

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

Noam Chomsky

I always considered the press to be the best way of acquiring information that was not as directed and controlled as the television. Since I was 14 I used to buy the newspaper that I thought was more independent from the others and read; something that I did especially on Sundays that I had free time.

Growing up I realized that the press was not as independent as it should be and that it did not offer the freedom of speech and structural pluralism that was suppose to (the extent to which the community has an open structure that permits minority voices and opinions to be heard). That was obvious as people who owned the largest newspapers also owed multinational companies, followed a political line something that created a bias and often lead to censorship. This of course is the case for the so called independent newspapers as the press imposes a limit and does not encourage independent writing. Nevertheless, this did not prevent me from reading and relying on the press for obtaining information.

Yesterday I started reading a newspaper and I really started questioning why I continue buying newspapers. Surely, inside newspapers we can read some nice articles but I have the impression that they get fewer as the years go by. On top of that they are filled with advertisements, cds, dvd’s and lack critique and diversity.

On the internet and inside blogs I have started realizing that I am reading more critical articles that are diverse and I also learn faster about the news that interest me as the internet does not select for me the topics that I should read but I make the selection. Of course the writers of the articles may also exhibit personal biases in their articles but on the internet one has the opportunity to discover pluralism. Different articles for the same topic can exhibit different opinions something that the press always lacked. The press could never successfully distance itself and present different views and opinions for the same incident.

I feel that the internet could be a tool that could empower people to express themselves. We can’t always rely on journalists to choose what could be interesting for us to learn. The news is made by people and can be distributed by the people whose opinions are not censored by their editor. I only fear that when governments realise this potential, they will start censoring internet pages as even though our constitution is based on the freedom of speech when the word freedom is mentioned there is always a person that tries to place a limit on what freedom represents.

(art by dorothy shoes)

The dream factory

“Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.”

Virginia Wolf

Every night we close our eyes and an extraordinary thing happens. We shift into a different state of consciousness were we meet new and strange people and face challenging situations. This is when we forget our reality and enter a magical world made of dreams.

It is not a surprise that human beings always were concerned with understanding the nature and purpose of dreaming. It begun with people viewing dreams as a message send by the gods and with eyes filled with superstition. Aristotle was the first to believe that dreams could have a function and pointed out that they reflected a human’s bodily health. Scientists have being arguing over the decades concerning the purpose of dreaming and until today we have not an agreement upon the nature of dreaming, just theories and assumptions.

Freud was the first thinker that emphasized that dreams are the guardians of our sleep. He believed that we manufacture dreams in order to escape from environmental stimuli (i.e the noise, the temperature in the room) but also to escape from internal stimuli such as our personal worries and anxieties that would keep as awake. He believed that our unconscious desires are depicted in our dreams and reveal things about our subconscious. The forbidden wishes are not apparent in our dream but are often hidden behind symbols and this is when he developed dream analysis that is often incorporated as a part of psychoanalytic therapy.

Physiologists argue that dreams do not carry a hidden or secret message. During sleep our consciousness is suspended and this occurs during the two major stages of our sleep (NREM and REM).They believed that the experience of dreaming occurs during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage. The REM sleep is often called paradoxical sleep as the activity of the dreaming brain is similar to the activity of the waking brain. At this stage there is no cognitive responsiveness to stimuli and as if we were paralyzed. However, this is the time that we have our most vivid dreams and if we wake up at this stage we would remember them.

Allan Hobson proposed his own theory the Activation Synthesis (AS) denies that dreams have a meaning. The theory supports that because our brain is active when we are dreaming we activate some neurons randomly. In order for the brain to interpret what just occurred it creates a narrative and dreams are produced.

So far, there is not a lot that we know about our dreaming brain as we still rely on theories and it’s your choice what you like to believe in. I believe that dreams have both a bodily and psychological function. I have the sense that dreams are images constructed that are released so that they can throw the garbage of the day (things we have heard or seen that are insignificant) and clear our head. At the same time they often express anxieties, wishes, impulses that we are many times unaware of. I don’t believe that the symbols in our dreams carry a certain symbolism as Freud but I value that he is the one that emphasized the importance of dreaming. I believe more in the theory of existentialism that we all have different personalities and experiences so it would not be possible for a symbol to carry a certain meaning. Moreover, another proof that there is a psychological meaning in dreaming is the example of the repetitive dreams and dreaming after trauma.

An integration and a synthesis of the biological and psychological functions of dreaming could be useful in truly investigating the nature of dreaming. I am interested in your opinion as we all carry a dreaming factory in our brain.

(art by krecha)

Pixie's day

4 brief reasons that make this day pixie's day:

I love the slight drop in temperature that makes us stay at home and enables us to concentrate on ourselves.
The Christmas is near so this means a break from work.We can also start planning on our Christmas presents. It’s a nice excuse to buy more presents for the people we love without making them feel uncomfortable. It’s my birthday and so far at least they bring me joy, another chance to celebrate and be with people I love.
I wish I could invite you all…

(art by celinemeisser)

The fallacy of political correctness…

“Political correctness is a term used to describe language, or behaviour, which is claimed to be calculated to provide a minimum of offense, particularly to the racial, cultural, or other identity groups being described.”

The belief for employing political correct language was derived by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that aimed to bring to awareness biases that we make in our everyday speech. The term that was originally used by Marxists-Lenists in the early 80s was used by right-wing activists that wanted to challenge communists’ dogmatism. In the mid to late 80s the term was used by conservatives who thought that by using a politically correct vocabulary democracy would be protected. Will Hutton mentions that “"Political correctness is one of the brilliant tools that the American Right developed in the mid-1980s as part of its demolition of American liberalism...”
Today the term political correctness is been used widely and brought changes in the language that we use and brought the emergence of the politically correct dictionary and many revisions on the classic ones.

Politically correctness gave birth to a constant use of euphemisms. Euphemisms are words that describe something unpleasant in the most polite way often metaphorically so as not to disturb the listener. Politics and diplomacy are full of euphemisms. Moreover, the influence for the need to use language that is politically correct has given way to a wide and many times unconscious use of euphemisms. Of course euphemisms are not stable over time; they change as what is politically correct today might not be politically correct tomorrow. For example:
negro → colored → black → African-American→ People of Color
lame → crippled → handicapped → disabled → differently-abled
Shell shock (World War I) → battle fatigue (World War II)→ Operational exhaustion (Korean War) → Post-traumatic stress disorder (Vietnam War).Observe the extreme euphemisms of People of Color and differently-abled.

I think that the use of politically correct speech is creating more problems than it is actually solving. The use of politically correct language in my opinion gave birth to a different form of conservatism that would attack anything that strays for what is proper. Also, it generates difficulties in communication and comprehension. Language is supposed to be a tool to aid communication and not to hinder it. This is what happens when you need to find the proper word in order to speak; not to mention that its also a way for the lawyers to get richer. Moreover, it is a wooden speech that is used mostly by politicians that as they speak instead of using one word they use a whole paragraph. Also for me it is a language of pretense and lie. You might call someone old because he is old, and I wonder what the big deal is. The politically correct word is chronologically gifted. For me chronologically gifted pays more attention to a persons age than old. Similarly, the term minority groups is not politically correct, the term Members of the World's Majorities now is.

I oppose to the use and evolution of politically correct vocabulary. Language should be a bridge to unite people and not to separate them by employing pretense language. My view is that one can be sensitive and polite towards ones view without using all this politically correct language that is adopted by a hypocritical society. I don’t think that is a mistake to name things as they are. I believe that it’s not the word that you use but the way you use that word.

(Art by hockeychick)

Abandonment

“The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment.”

I have to explore the feeling of abandonment through photography. Abandonment is a feeling that we have all felt once in our lives. Maybe we have lost someone that we care about physically or metaphorically maybe we have felt abandoned by people or maybe we have acknowledged the existence of this feeling as we observe an abandoned house or an abandoned place.

The interesting thing is that when I heard about our new exploration in photography I felt a bit numb as I could not remember my self feeling completely and absolutely abandoned. I have felt in the past alone, left, lonely, but I am not sure if I have really felt the real meaning of the word abandoned.

I am a social creature, a person that needs others and wants to be needed. I have so much need of intimate contact that I value and honor friendship. Its important for me to be able to express my self my feelings close to people I love and have meaningful conversations as well as fun. I don’t know how to hide my feelings and rarely do things that pressure me. Thinking about it loneliness must be my greatest fear as for me it is important to share and live not alone but with.

There were times in my life where I have felt lonely, in my mind comes the time when I had to stay in England alone and all my friends were gone. I have also felt lonely metaphorically, alongside with people that we had nothing in common. I have felt heart-broken and left after a break up but I never believed that I was been abandoned. Maybe I am a positive person and the adversities can only make me a stronger or a more experienced person. Maybe it scares me to believe that I was abandoned and I just describe it as being left. Maybe I am too arrogant to believe that I was ever abandoned and maybe all of the above. Before I capture this feeling in my camera I need to search it within my self. It is easy to characterize something as being abandoned but its so damn difficult finding it within yourself.

(art by krecha)

In the mind of Gondry

“When people are very original, sometimes they are original to resist the mainstream.”

Michael Gondry.

Michael Gondry is the director of the “Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind” (Η αιώνια λιακάδα ενός καθαρού μυαλού) and soon his new film “The science of sleep” will be released in the cinemas. Before that he created a great number of short films before he embarked in his first long film endeavor called “Human Behaviour.”

When I think about Gondry I think about a man that refuses to grow up in a world of pretenses and I see a man that not only hasn’t lost the child inside him but dares to expose it. As he said in an interview “childhood occupies the biggest part of your brain so a lot of my memories subconsciously and consciously enter the videos I do.”

He was born in France in 1963 and apart from a very talented film director he has directed music video clips that are innovative, imaginative, surreal and deeply thought provoking. He was always listening to music and performed as a drummer in a band. Describing the meaning of music in his life he mentioned in an interview that "we listened a lot to pop music, rhythm and blues, and my father was a big Duke Ellington fan. So I never got into music as some sort of reaction to my parents. I didn't have to use music to throw shit back at my parents. They gave me lots of freedom in thinking. I just listened to the music I had always liked.” He has collaborated with Bjork in many of her videos (Isobel, bachelorette, human behavior), Beck (cell phone’s dead), Massive Attack’s (protection), Radiohead (Knives out), White stripes, Chemical Brothers and much more. It’s worth seeing his videos as they remind me of short films where he is presenting through images imaginative stories.

His films are deconstructing reality and incorporate our memories, our dreams and the importance of storytelling is emphasized. His videos and films are thought provoking and have something to tell. He has also participated in various exhibitions where he introduced his ideas by using video installations. The world of Gondry is a world for all the adults that will always feel young and question the certainties of this life. Discover him and make your own deconstructions about this world and don’t forget to travel with your imagination as a vehicle.

Link: Gondry

(Image by Gondry in Bjorks video,photo by rachel owens)

Inside carton boxes

For the past few days I have been helping a person to move house. Those of you that have moved or helped someone move are aware that it is an exhausting experience that makes your back hurt and sends you early to bed. However, I think that more importantly, it can be a rediscovery of ones self.

The difficult part in a moving is that we have to separate all of our possessions that we have been accumulating over the years. This is the time that we relive past memories as they are projected through all the sentimental objects that we have collected over the years. We discover letters that we have kept, photos that were misplaced, presents that we did not like but still have kept and many things that we keep holding on to that sometimes are buried in our closets.

Inside carton boxes our lives are laying there and we can observe ones personality not only from the belongings that they have but more importantly from the things that they hold on to. We can stumble on people in our past that still affect us and we can not let go, we can find out about what makes sense in our lives and observe the attachments that we form with objects.

Carton box after carton box we can also detect the changes that have occurred in our lives. We may throw away objects that once were significant while keep objects that we never needed before. We can observe our habits, our sentiments, our behaviours and their course throughout the years.

Moreover, we can also recognize our own sense of materialism and observe our attachments with materials through our reactions in a moving. We can note our reaction when something that we love breaks and we can notice our reactions if we have to get rid of some things when we have to move to a smaller house.

Moving is an experience that can be very self rewarding. Apart from moving to a new place which is always exciting, there is all these realizations that you can make about your self and can help in your emotional growth and awareness. If a friend is moving you can always find something more about them and challenge your own views on materialism. For all this reasons and because change for me is something exciting I perceive moving to be a very rewarding and fun experience!

(art by magooey)

Suspicious minds...

I don’t know if you have noticed that lately when you ask someone what they do in their spare time they say I watch television. When watching television has become a hobby? It is amazing that not only we spend a lot of the time watching television but to describe it as a hobby it’s something new.

A hobby is a spare time recreational pursuit. The essence of a hobby is that some kind of activity takes place that is physical or mental. We can play a sport that involves a lot of action, we can paint and express our artistic needs or we can read a book and exercise our brain. A passive television viewing I wonder how it can constitute of a hobby.

For me the problem is not watching television is more about opening the television when we are bored. This is the time that we are fed with all kinds of trivial information that could be potentially damaging. This is when viewing becomes a state where our reality becomes determined by our TV set. This is when people stop being critical and accept the reality that the various programs of the television broadcast.

Inside the TV reality people start feeling unsafe, anxious scared, and entangled in a vicious circle of misery. They are afraid that something bad will happen to them they become suspicious and they become more and more introvert. Then their world becomes dependent from the images that are showed on the daily news that crave for blood, fear, sex and gossip. The world becomes unsafe and there is no one you can trust. So, you stay inside your house and watch some more. Besides the TV is the world and it’s always a nice topic for conversation at work. This is when TV becomes a hobby.

Our little box rarely broadcasts nice things as they don’t sell well to the audience. I am not saying that we are living in an angelic world but we tend to forget that most events that are broadcasted especially on the news are exaggerated, one-sided and many times manufactured. Watching TV is not bad as long as we watch actively and critically and don’t let them choose for us what we want to see.

(art by gnato)

A suitcase...

Our most vivid memories and recollections come from our childhood. We can remember sounds, smells and images so vividly that can affect as even today in our adult life. Many of our memories revolve around our parents; some are sweet and others are bitter.

I feel that the most difficult communication of all is the communication between a parent and a child. The parents fail to perceive children as having independent identities and even when they become adults they frequently treat them as children. Sometimes parents perceive children as their successors so they pressure children either to be like them or to do the things that they never did. Other times they have a lot of expectations from their children as they always wanted the perfect child. Other times a child is simply a parent’s property that should do what is told. Of course there are the times that parents are sweet and our memories smell of jasmine but we tend to remember the pain.

The negative feelings tend to be remembered especially when the pain comes from our parents. I feel that no matter how far away we are or how old we are our parents will affect as one way or another. Some of us carry a large heavy suitcase that is called memories. Some of the memories there are so heavy that we can barely drag our feet. Then we remain still and dwell over the past. For others the memory suitcase is lighter and they can walk easier. They stopped and they removed some of the nasty memories that laid there asleep and now they can move on.

The only time I feel defenseless is when a parent’s behaviour hurts me even though I was always independent. I think that this happens not only because our parents affect us but also because when they hurt us they re-open this suitcase with the nasty memories. I feel that the more we have coped with these nasty memories the easier it will be to communicate with ourselves and with the world.


Ένα παιδί ονειρεύεται ότι το αγκαλιάζουν
Είναι ξαπλωμένο κάτω από ένα δέντρο
και μέσα από τα φυλλώματα διακρίνει μια ηλιαχτίδα.
Είναι η μέρα που παίζει κρυφτό με το δάσος.
Ένα παιδί ονειρεύεται ότι το εμπιστεύονται.
Είναι ανεβασμένο στο δέντρο και ατενίζει τον ορίζοντα
Νυχτώνει, τα αστέρια λάμπουν
και το σεληνόφως λούζει το δάσος με φως
Ένα παιδί ονειρεύεται ότι το αγαπούν.
Κάθεται πάνω στα κίτρινα νεκρά φύλλα
που έχουν πέσει από τον άνεμο
Δεν είναι μέρα ούτε και νύχτα
Είναι στο πουθενά
Κοιτάει ψηλά το δέντρο και βλέπει την καρδιά του να κρέμεται από ένα κλαδί
Η καρδιά ταλαντεύεται και ο άνεμος με ένα φύσημα την ρίχνει κάτω, στον σωρό με τα ξερά φύλλα
Τόσο απλά σταμάτησε η καρδιά του γιατί το ευχήθηκε
Στο δάσος ένα παιδί ακόμα ονειρεύεται…

Behind avatars

The 'drifting apart' from each other is intense and felt all the way, everyday. It is evident, even by this very act of 'blogging' and communicating in depth with avatars hiding real persons we will probably never see, touch, or smile to. I have encountered more 'soulmates' in blogs and chat-rooms than in my entire life...

dawkinson

I started the blog because I love to write about the things that bother me, inspire me and make me feel in general. I always used to write since I was a little girl .I never liked diaries where people record the daily happenings as I considered them boring. I wrote small texts, songs even conversations on small pieces of paper and then I would lose them. I thought that the only reason that I started the blog is because I wanted to replace a notebook with an internet page. However, the reasons seem to be more profound and have to do with the need to communicate with people that care about what is happening around them. It has also to do with the idea of sharing; something that tends to become so alien in modern society. People often are reluctant to share their thoughts and initiate the simplest conversation.

Inside blogs a community is created with people that I feel care about what is happening around them and share their souls without barriers through their posts. Some dare to write their surname and some hide behind avatars. I hide behind an avatar or better I think I am just using a cute avatar. People who know me will realise that I am the person writing this blog as what I write is consistent with my personality. My close friends know about my blogging experience and sometimes I tell them excited about something I read or something that I wrote. At the same time I can explore my own thoughts and have a meaningful conversation with my blog friends who sometimes I feel they observe some things that my friends don’t notice.

Every day I discover something new about my blog friends through their posts and they learn something new about me. I often try to imagine them living their daily routines while they steal some time to type hastily on their keyboards their next post.
I like them and with some I am more attached, I am interested on what they have to say and at times I feel their emotional upheaval as they can feel mine. Some of their posts touch me emotionally; others inspire me and I will never meet them in my life. It’s not a surprise when people encounter soulmates behind avatars as profound communications can develop.

What I like about the blogging experience is that no introductions are needed. Someone is reading fragments of your soul. Maybe this is why people don’t use their real names because it would make them feel too vulnerable. There are times that I feel vulnerable when I write something emotional but I would never deny or lie about who I am. Mainly my avatar protects me from the intrusion as I don’t want my next door neighbours to be able to enter my thoughts with a click of the mouse.

Inside blogs there is profound communication going on and I feel that our need for something meaningful is increasing. A meaningful conversation, a meaningful communication, a meaningful existence…


(the post was inspired by dawkinson’s meaningful comment)
(art by freckledfaced)

Looks like a human...

Many people that know me are aware that I am fascinated by Japanese culture. I love the food, fashion, manga comics and their anime series. In their comics and anime a recurring theme is stories that refer to cyborgs. Cyborgs are robots that comprise both human and mechanical parts. Cyborgs because of their human parts can experience a wide range of emotions like love and sadness that are similar to human emotions. The models can be used as maids, companions, partners or they can be adopted children. There is one thing that these different models have in common; they are loyal. Of course this is fiction; a product of their imagination that is a popular theme in Japan.

Today I read in the newspaper that Android Repliee Q2 was created in Osaka University. An android is a robot that resembles a human being and behaves in a human way. They can interact with people; they can respond to human touch and look like they breathe. Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro predicts that “as lifelike androids become cheaper and more sophisticated, some of their first uses will be as companions for the elderly and as guides for people in railways stations or museums”. It is still early but as his remarks refer to a near future we could foresee that cyborgs could be existent at a distant future.

Technology is advancing rapidly and even though I am positive on the advancement of technology in general I am skeptical on the android development. I feel that the Japanese obsession with cyborgs and androids has to a great extent do with the lack of human communication that is apparent in their vast culture. In all their stories the robots are loyal, respectful and fill a void in a human soul: that of companionship. When humans are abandoned or heart broken there is a cyborg there that will never leave by their side and that it will accept them for who they are.

People sense more and more the lack of communication amongst people and they feel incomplete. However, robot companionship could never replace human companionship. Something that can look, smell or act like a human is not a human being. Something that can obey our orders and act accordingly to our needs could never make us happy and complete as it lacks something very important: A human soul and free will.

(art by bluefley)

The dreaming city...

I have to imagine of a dream city a place that would make me happy and create it in a photography dark room. This makes me feel a bit restricted because my dream city would definitely have a lot of color which is what our grey cities need.

A dream place would have parks where I could take long walks. I would go there alone and read a book or with my friends and play guitar. A dream city will have more animals that are not afraid to walk amongst people and beautiful lakes. A dream city would also care about the environment and try to develop recourses that depend on solar or wind energy. My city would not be covered by ugly block of flats and grey cement. My dream city would be able to breathe.

In a dream city my neighbors would feel less scared and they would go out more often. My dream city will have some lovely people that don’t turn their look away when you look at them; scared. They would also be more open-minded, more relaxed and they would not judge someone easily. They would not care about political parties but they would be political and environmentally aware. They would not be so scared to love and be loved and they would hug others more often. My dream city is an actual dreaming city because people have dreams that drive them to creativity and they rarely see these haunting nightmares. It is a city that is dreaming because it has a future and because people have a quality of life.

How should I create my dream city? I think I would start using my color pencils, some fairy dust and a lot of positivism. And I would need some habitants to live with me.

I will start right away…my dreaming city.

(art by bellalee)

Fortune and misfortune

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose. (Quote from the film Match Point)

This brilliant movie by Woody Allen made me contemplate a lot on how important luck can be in ones life so much that a man preferred to be lucky than good. If you think about it in many cultures when a baby is born they wish that the baby is lucky in their lives. Not only in African and Indian tribes but also in our culture there are many superstitions concerning luck. Finding a penny or finding a four leaf clover is supposed to bring luck whereas a black cat crossing a street and breaking a mirror is supposed to be unlucky. I don’t believe in superstitions but because they exist for so many centuries I can only assume that for many people throughout the years luck was considered to be fundamental.

There a lot of things in life that we can not control and many times no matter how hard we try we can’t achieve our goals. This is where luck comes into place. Being at the right place at the right time and vice versa can be defining. Avoiding an accident or a disaster by simple luck can have an effect. Winning money in a lottery, meeting by chance the love of your life, finding by chance the opportunity of your life whereas others are working hard for the right opportunities during their whole lives can all be caused by luck.

What part do you think that luck plays in one life and what if someone has run out of luck? There are always people in our lives that we consider them unlucky and misfortunes happen to them all the time. What about them? Why do you think disasters attract some people and others not?

Rationalist philosophers deny the effect of luck and they believe that it’s only poor reasoning. Statistically speaking a person will get some luck eventually. Psychology also emphasize that believing in luck is derived by the need to be able to achieve a greater control in ones life and disguise the fear of the unknown. Jean Paul Sartre believes that people who believe in luck just try to avoid responsibility on things

For me luck was never an issue as I always believed that life is what you make of. However I can’t deny that luck plays some part and influence the cause of events. But I don’t believe that this is always an accident. My name of luck is positive thinking that when you have it you can attract good things happening to you not out of superstition but because you are positive to situations and bad things are not viewed as disasters. Moreover, maybe someone is not lucky but really capable and he doesn’t know it. When I think about a friend that attracts disasters she is always so negative and miserable. Or maybe because I am lucky I never thought about it before.
Then one day comes where luck comes to refute you and look you in the eye when by luck you escape from an accident or a natural disaster.

What are your thoughts on luck?

(art by pesare)

Surreal conversation

The phone rang.
Who are you he asked me?
Who are you I answered, you called me!
I am someone that you used to know 10 years ago.
I have your telephone number in my phone book and I can’t get some rest until I find out who you are.

This person is someone I used to know 10 years ago. So I checked my old phone book and I had his telephone number but not a clue of who he is or how I met him. Now he lives abroad and for some reason it is important to him to gather his memories and gather all his friends that he used to had. But I was never his friend as if we were close I would remember who he was. By talking to him I realized that we used to go to the same places and that we used to know the same people and listen to the same music. Nothing more comes in mind and I surely can not recollect his face. He asked me to send him a photo of how I was 10 years ago so that he can get some rest as he told me that my name is haunting him for the past years. Talking about a surreal conversation!
In the end I realized that he was just a person feeling lonely and homesick, trying to gather all the people that he left behind in case he comes back.

Any strange phone conversations that you want to share?

(art by incolorwetrust)

Interpreting or misinterpreting?

There is nothing neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so

Shakespeare

People carry their own personal history, their own personal constructs, ideas and personalities. This is the reason that there are always different views and interpretations about the things that happen around us. This of course is something beautiful when you realize that human psyche is so complex and unique but it can shock you when you realize that you can be a victim of someone’s interpretation of facts.

I don’t know if you have noticed that one day you describe to your friend, to a family member or an acquaintance an incident and at the time they express that they have comprehend what you said. Days later you realize that they have made their own interpretation of what you said and they got it completely wrong. Imagine then what can happen when you explain to a group of people something and later the whole group makes their own interpretation of facts.

You can tell me that this may happen because you did not explain something well and in a consistent manner. However, I have come to realize that the way we view things is very subjective and that our personal distortions interfere with our judgment. For example you may have said to someone that you don’t want them to see them right now because you are tired and let’s assume that you mean it. A person may think that you don’t want to see them and feel bad because they think that you try to avoid them, another person might think that you are actually tired, another person may think that you don’t know how to say no so you find an excuse etc. But remember you were actually tired but a circle of misunderstandings can occur.

This is when our own personality constructs interfere with reality and blur our judgment. The way that we think is that makes all the difference and not the way that we feel. For example when we believe that we are boring or uninteresting then when someone is saying no to us we blame ourselves. We forget that this person that says no might actually be tired and their denial has nothing to do with us. Of course there is the chance that we are boring to some but for others we will be interesting and we make overgeneralizations that harm us.

A way to be come more objective I think is actively listening what the other person says and ask if unsure. Similarly, in order to become more objective is to minimize the hypothesis that we do and try to view what someone says through their eyes not through ours. Because we would feel and think in a certain way does not mean that the other person will.

We are so complex and unique as personalities and I think that this is our beauty. It helps when we try to perceive someone’s experience from their point of view and forget ours.
Let me show you the world through my eyes...


(art by thundercake)

Time Heals

Seeing my friend not being able to cope after her break up I remembered this initial feeling of emptiness and abandonment that one feels when they separate from someone they love. We have spent the whole week driving in my car at night, going from one place to the other while she is crying and I comfort her. She has cried for a thousand rivers, she is desperate and the entire human psyche is exposed. All the vast variety of human emotions is there: Anger, sadness, fear, doubt and despair all in one.

I always believed that nothing and no one in this life should be taken for granted. What happens when you devote your whole existence into someone’s hand is that if they leave you your world collapses. Besides that the relationship becomes unhealthy and dependent. This is what happened to my friend. She stopped going out with her friends and everything she did revolved around him, never for herself. When she met him she stopped evolving and nobody should ignore their wants and needs.

Now the desperation is followed by desperate acts. She is calling him every day, she is following him and she is disturbing his friends. I am too proud to do something like that and I tell her that this is not helping her situation .For me, if someone says then its over no matter how I feel inside.

No matter what anyone says to her I know that only time can heal. You don’t realize it at the time as you believe that it’s impossible but after sometime the healing begins. Then you realize that you are stronger that you thought.
Have a little faith my friend and I am here for you. Time heals.
Trust me. ..


(art by marti)

The illusion of voting

Lately when I go out I see many people outside their house sitting and talking with others. They left their house and start socializing and this is not because they decided to do something about the alienation in the big city. They are there with a cause: winning votes for the municipal elections that will occur.

Everyone is so social lately and nice. They come to you with their business cards and ask you to vote them. There are young candidates that have started talking with this wooden language as if they are in politics for years. They come and they promise so many things that they can not deliver to the point that it gets ridiculous. But somehow many people believe them. Maybe it’s the hope they have, their arrogance or their blind support to a political party.

The slogan lately in the advertisement campains is directed at youth and asks them to vote because their vote counts. Does it really count? I have never seen anybodies vote making a difference because all the candidates are the same. No matter what believes they say they have (right wing, social party, left wing, ecological parties) when they get elected they act in the same way. Greed for power, money becomes their only drive. They try to exploit their chance of gaining easy money, they get rich and then the next one that gets elected does the same.

In theory in the municipal elections a person that loves their town could make a difference by making a few things that are needed like making parks and reconstructing roads. However, the candidates of the municipal elections always have the support of a certain political party. Even those candidates that are supposed to be independent ask the support of both big political parties in order to get elected because they are clever. And they all pretend to strive for their town problems and say that they are ideologically flawless.

The illusion of voting for me at all kinds of elections is that your vote really counts. I believe that it only points which individual or party is going to get rich at the given time. Nothing else. Hypocritical people, empty words and promises and fancy suites are what elections is all about. They want you to think that you are actually having a freedom of choice when you actually only can choose the same thing. The illusion of living in a democracy.

One step further...

There are times that we all become indecisive of what we should do concerning a matter. Every day we are all faced with small or big decisions that we have to take in our lives. But for some making a small step is perceived as being a giant leap that needs to be calculated over and over again. I felt that even though people are faced with uncertainties in the end they become clear and can solve every day problems. Lately I have realized that I was wrong as I can see that we have become hesitant to solve even the smallest things, we are often unclear of what we want and leave the decisions to others.

A friend is searching to buy a house for the last three years. For many reasons it is eminent that she moves as soon as possible but buying a house has become the biggest risk of her life. She always finds an excuse or a reason for not buying the house that she has just seen. She has even started to believe in omens that tell her that it will be unlucky to buy a particular house. When she decides to buy the house and gives a deposit she regrets and loses her deposit. She is stuck and can not move on because she is too afraid that she will regret it in the future if she realizes that she did not make the best choice. Therefore she is stuck and tormented with the mere thought. She is the person that can not study because she thinks she will fail or the person that stays with her boyfriend because maybe no other person will love her. And it’s not just her.

The difficulty of taking decisions and risks is intensifying. Hesitance has expanded like a virus. We seem unable to trust our instincts and logic and ask everybody of what they think in order to do something. I think a reason that people do that is in order to shift responsibility to others. If something goes wrong then we can blame someone else as others have influenced our decision. And usually always something goes wrong when we are hesitant.

Taking risks and making mistakes is what living is all about. I think that this is how we learn about ourselves, how we develop coping mechanisms and grow. This is what life is about and this is called living. Indecisiveness can lead as to a vicious circle from which we can not escape and become dependent and unable to rely on ourselves.
When has it become so difficult making mistakes and why our every choice has to be so damn perfect anyway?
One step further is all that's needed.

(picture by adnil)

My life in a blog

This blog has become a part of my life.A recollection of my thoughts,feelings and ideas are reflected in these pages.I thought that writing a blog was something like a hobby but I was so wrong. It has become an expression.
I realised it today that I lost it.

Today I lost my blog.
Something happened and I could not open my central blog page.The posts were still in the edit page but they couldn't be republished from the start. As a result I had to delete my blog and copy all my previous posts into a new blog with the same name. Notice that all the posts are archived in September but I started in April. I was certainly lucky that the posts were saved!

When I lost the blog I felt I lost a part of me. What bothers me most is that I lost the comments of my blog friends.I know that more will come in the future but I wanted to be able to read them and reflect on them.Its strange that you never know some people but you look forward to hear their views even though you have not met them. How did I get attached to this?

My life in a blog. A part of my life now.
How do you feel about your blog? What if everything got lost?
I think that we do give more of ourselves than we really think we do!

(image by krecha)

Are memories ghosts of the past?

Our memories form any recollections that we have about our past.
They can take the shape of incidents, emotions, smells and can be relived in the present. Memories can be both pleasant and unpleasant. They come to visit you without warning; they occupy your mind and fill you with a variety of emotions. They come to visit like ghosts that lived in a past that’s gone and sometimes they can be so unpleasant that they haunt you. They often remind us of unfinished businesses with our past, times long forgotten and pleasant moments wished to be relived.

I don’t forget easily and my memories keep on reminding that. I carry with me the people that I have loved and liked in my life and I remember little details that for me are significant. Some of the people that visit me in my memories are away as the distance keeps them far. Others had to be away as this is how sometimes we humans manage to continue with our lives. They do come and visit me though and I don’t let go. Sometimes I am filled with a bittersweet sensation, other times I feel sad but mostly I feel lucky and alive. Maybe moments matter to me more because I know that they can fly away easily. I think that even sad memories can be a drive to help humans achieve self-actualization and grow emotionally.

I have a good memory; I remember smells, sounds and details that to some may seem trivial. A song can make me sad or happy or nostalgic as it is filled with memories. I think that I live in the present but I like to carry my memories with me, to take them out of the dusty closet and take them for a walk. If I was given a day to travel in the past I would go to all my memories and give them a big hug even to the unpleasant ones for being so lucky to have them come and visit me.

In the end I feel that humans are made of their memories the little moments that at the time that we live them seem trivial. But I know better so I try to live life to the fullest. I am going to hug everyone I love just in case they become memories one day and it will be too late.


(image by freckledfaced 29)

The City of Sinners

Sin City is the city of sinners and it’s a black n' white comic that was created by Frank Miller. He was working for Marvel comics for years but in Dark Horse he created one of the darkest comics in the comic industry.

Sin City is one of my favourite comics of all time as I love its haunting crime stories, its dark artwork and brilliant story telling. Sin City is a corrupted city where you will find crime and punishment, corrupted cops, mysterious people and dark secrets. Sin City has no heroes as they do not live long enough to become heroes. The characters have weaknesses, battle with their inner soul and seek revenge. Frank Millers drawing and storyline is unique and is influenced by film noir and Japanese manga.

A central character in Sin City is Marv Statue, an outlaw that kills in order to find out who killed the hooker Goldie. Goldie is his undying love. Frank Miller said that Marv was his study of the abyss of the human heart. Marv said:
"When I find out who did it, it won't be quick or quiet like it was with you," he promises dead Goldie. "No, it'll be loud and nasty, my kind of kill. I'll stare the bastard in the face and laugh as he screams to God and I'll laugh harder when he whimpers like a baby. And when his eyes go dead, the hell I send him to will seem like Heaven after what I've done to him.
I love you, Goldie."
Sin City was recently adapted for the big screen and was directed by Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and Miller himself. Therefore the fans of the comic were excited to watch that the film was identical to the comic series and for me it is the best comic adaptation in the film industry so far. I have heard that a second part will be directed with more of Frank Miller stories so watch out.

Apart from Sin City, Miller has created Wolverine one of my favourite comic characters (X-Men), Elektra and Daredevil.
However, Sin City is a pulp-fiction classic and its so worth reading!

The Last Potrait

I remember that last year we went to Thessalonica to a photography festival.
The gallery that is still carved in my memory was titled the Last Portrait. It was a series of real photographs depicting deceased people just before they were buried by their relatives. It was like a family portrait but the deceased was in the centre of the photograph sleeping in the coffin. This was happening until the midst of the 20th century around the world; even in Greece. The reason is that they wanted to keep the last photo of the person that died as a reminder that would comfort them as they would remember his face as it was when they last saw it

Now this sounds so macabre and strange. In the past that was therapeutic as the photo was comforting the relatives. But times were different as it was easier to accept the death of a loved one and they viewed death as a part of life. It was a transition and not the end. Now death is something that happens to others. People avoid going to funerals, they don’t see people dying next to them as now this happens inside the hospitals and after that a funeral service handles the rest. A photograph would be too macabre and we even throw sometimes the belongings of a deceased.
According to Ksanthakis “death creates a contradiction between the need of the society to let go of the deceased and the need to keep him alive”.

Today was the funeral of a fellow student in my photography class. My teacher phoned me to inform me of the funeral but I was in Santorini traveling back to Athens but could not make it on time.
I was shocked when I heard about his death and I felt numb. I did not know how to react as death scares me. He was 37 and died of a stroke. I did not know how to feel, I did not know how to act. I did not know him well, he was in one class ahead of me but every time we said hello and exchanged some words. He was a brilliant photographer and a person that always smiled. I was thinking how young he was to die and that I did not get the chance to get to know him. I felt sad and scared.

But what scares me most is whether we feel sad because a person dies or because we are reminded of our own fragility.

Why I love the summer!

From all the seasons undoubtedly summer is my favourite and there are several reasons for that.
In the summertime:
We swim in the sea and enjoy the sunlight!
I love the sea!The blue color of the sea and the sensation of being under water!
We are wearing less clothes, we feel more liberated and more comfortable with ourselves.
We can escape from work and go for holidays in a nice island.
Even when we work during the summer we feel happier as we look forward for our holidays to begin.
The days last longer so we can enjoy more the sunlight and because of that we go out more.
People smile more and look less miserable.They watch less television and take long walks.
We can enjoy more icecreams, cold coffee and drinks.

All seasons are beautiful and the autumn is going to bring this beautiful orange-red colour in the leaves that I love so much.
But right now I am still left with the memories of this summer.
If I could describe it with a word I would say that my summer was blue!
What about your summer?


Welcome back everyone!

Lebanon is burning...

And the circle of violence does not seem to end. When you think that times have changed; that war is something that can mark the black history of our ancestors and that lessons will be learned, another war begins.

Lebanon is burning and its innocent inhabitants are wondering why this is happening to them-they are humans too. They did not kill, they did not harm anyone but they lived they little lives like us, going to work, falling in love...Always in a war the biggest casualties are children but no one cares; war is business. The terrorists that they are looking are allover the country so of course they are going to drop bombs everywhere. Since the war in Iraq, I had started to realize that “terrorism” has become another excuse to start conquering countries. A small country like Israel but very powerful has started the war with the guidance of another more powerful country that wants to take control of the Middle East with the Israelis becoming the moderators.
Europe is silent; nonexistent; looking at the casualties that the war will leave behind.

Sometimes I feel so vulnerable and small. I can't believe that with such an excuse tomorrow someone can say that my country has terrorists and bomb us while the world remains silent. I can't imagine how it is living your life in the Middle East with the fear of everyday being bombed. It is sad, cruel and inhuman. But now I have started to feel fear seeing all these innocent people dying helpless. What has the world come to? How can we watch and do nothing? Enough is enough!

(image by Miftahur Rizka-a photographer)

A second chance at love?

One day you meet someone that matters so much to you. You meet a person that you thought that he or she was the one and that you could not believe how lucky you are. You always believed that you only love once and that this is your chance to happiness. Everything is so right and perfect when you are with each other. This person has everything you ever wanted and you love even his/her little imperfections. This person brings the best out of you and your heart beats faster whenever you meet. It is more than falling in love; it’s a feeling profound and stable over time.

One day this relationship ends and it wasn’t because you wanted to. You have to move on, to go on with your life and this is what everyone tells you. They tell you that you will meet someone else, you have to. They tell you that you are stuck in the past and that this love is destroying you. But this someone else that everyone tells you that you will meet you know in your heart will never be this person you loved so much. You want to stay in the past with your memories that are so real. Years go by, meaningless after meaningless relationships and you stand still cherishing the memory of the lost love. You believe that you had your chance in love and you just live knowing that you will never feel the same way again.
I had my chance!

Do you believe that you only get one chance in happiness? Have you ever loved someone so much that you were never really able to move on?
I have my own views on this but first I want to hear yours.

The article was inspired by life and Tony Parsons beautiful book ‘one for my baby’ and I can’t tell you what the characters resolution was as it’s a story worth reading.



(Listen to the classic 'one love' on the player)

Survival of our species

I don’t know if you have heard that in a research it was found that Greeks work more hours and are far more underpaid compared to other countries in the rest of the world.
From all the species on earth we are the only ones that work more. All the other animals when they finish hunting and finding shelter have plenty of time to have some fun and play but we seem to be running out of time.

Lately I just feel that there is not enough time after work to enjoy life. Most of us work for more than 8 hours because our employers keep us overtime (sometimes without pay) and some of us have a second part-time job in order to cope with the expenses. Even the ones that work for only 8 hours waste more than 2 hours driving or being inside a bus in order to get to work. As a result many people suffer from work related stress. Enjoyment and creativity has been taken out of working and work becomes a daily routine and inevitably slavery. What is then the future of our survival? Are we going to turn into working robots that are not even appreciated?

After living for more than 4 years in the UK when I returned home I realised that I had lost something very important-my independence. Apart from the fact that it was difficult to get a job when I did find one I realised that the salary was just enough to pay the bills and the rent and then there was nothing left, I could not buy the food of the month. For this reason many people stay at home with their parents because they can’t afford to live on their own. As a result they lose their self confidence and self worth as they become dependent.

Sometimes I do feel like wonder woman. I work all day during the week and then I have the weekend to rest but I end up doing all the things that I couldn’t do during the week. At least I am lucky to have the energy to do creative things that remind me that I am actually living my life. I remember that I read somewhere that work is when you wish you are somewhere else. I try to minimize this feeling!

Three recommendations:
-Find a job that you like if possible-then you don’t really view it as work but as creativity that can give a sense of self-achievement.
-Try and have hobbies so that you don’t feel that you postpone life

Is this a moody blog?

As a person I am very optimistic, always having fun and making jokes and I am also so content with my life.However, to some that categorise easily this might be a 'moody blog' and they are not really wrong. If moody is talking about serious things that affect everyday life I am so proud to have a moody blog.The thing is that when I have the urge to write is when there are things that trouble me in the world and have nothing to do with my happiness.I want to express my thoughts of everyday things happening in the world in my society, around me and I am interested in the view of others that have different experiences in their culture-this is why I write in English and not Greek.I don't want this to be a personal diary of my life but rather my thoughts and instead of writing them on paper I write them here.I don't have the need to share my daily happy moments and I don't think that would really interest anyone, I just want to share my thoughts moody or not about issues.In every article I share a bit about myself (normally as a result of sharing my thoughts) and I might share more stuff in the future depending.But I usually dont have the need to write my happy moments, I just jump around the room and talk to my friends.I also like to read blogs that write profound stuff-not always- but some of the people that have commented in my blog are such original individuals that give a second thought when things happen.Those people I respect them a lot even though I don't know them just because of their thoughts and if you take a look at their blog you will see that- like half-blood phoenix,optimus, epidia garcia, anastacia, rebecca and new blog friends.But mostly I have this blog for myself.
Moody or not here I go!



(image by jesskajuice)

Fairytales...

Fairytales are full of witches that are evil, grandmothers that are eaten by wolves, girls that are locked inside towers, kings that are strict towards their daughters, parents leaving their children in the woods, boys climbing a beanstalk, and princesses sleeping in a glass coffin in the woods. Even though they can be scary and many have said that they don’t convey “good messages”, I do love them. There is mystery, anxiety and there is always a resolution in the end.

I still buy fairytale books when I see in a book a story that I don’t know as they remind me of my childhood and it is a way of understanding things about the time and culture that they were written. I like fairytales so much so that when I was little I used to read to my brother that was 3 years younger. When there were no books left to read, I used to ask him to tell me a word or a phrase. From that word I invented my own fairytales so we never run out of stories. I still wonder what to do with all this spare imagination!

My favourite stories where the peculiar, dark and mysterious stories written by the Grimm brothers. Their stories are more than fairytales they are folk stories and describe a lot the era in which they lived in. One of my favourite stories as a child was Hansel and Gretel. If you remember it is the story were a poor woodcutter abandons his children into the depth of the forests as his wife suggested. What I liked most is the house that was built with candy and belongs to a witch (that can make a big impression on a child). The children manage to return safely and there is a happy ending but not for all the characters (the wife died-she did not leave but die). Now what I like the most about the stories of Grimm brothers is that they are more realistic and introduce the realities that parents want to protect children from like death and other themes-in my opinion doing more harm than good. The photo represents how I imagine the witch (she is a pretty witch) that captures the children in the candy house.

I wonder what your favourite fairytales were as a child and are still?



(picture by dunkelgold)

on depression

(This article was inspired by a blog friend who is wondering...)


Depression has affected most of the creative people in this world and makes no exceptions as noone is immune to depression. Statistics indicate that 1 in 4 might suffer from depression at one point in their lives. It is true that the term depression really does not say much about what a person goes through and can not describe the severity or intensity of the symptoms.This is why psychologists talk about different types of depression: mild depression, moderate and severe.

The warning signs of depression are feelings of hopelessness,loss of interest or pleasure, insomnia or excessive sleep,fatigue, suicidal ideation, anxious or empty mood, irritability, changes in weight or appetite e.t.c
This does not mean that anyone that has these symptoms is depressed as they need to be persistent for a month at least 5 of these symptoms, to be present most of the day and to affect the quality of life of an individual.
Really the best thing when recognising these symptoms is getting some support, usually those with severe depression tend to ask more commonly for help as the ones with mild depression often think that it will pass without support or that there is nothing wrong and usually they don't look depressed so other people don't get alarmed.

I think it is a shame when people view the term depression as a stigma as it can happen to anyone, there comes a time that coping is too difficult and there is nothing wrong with asking for a little help.It is worse suffering in silence. As I said before many great thinkers, wonderful personalities have suffered from depression...Does this mean that they are not strong or important?

Of course not!!

(image by krecha)

The world we live in....

Most of the times I am happy, positive and content but sometimes something reminds me in what a cruel world we live in and I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach.

One of these times was yesterday when we went with my photograpy class to view a photojournalist exhibition in Athens airport that has received an award. This exhibition made me question if this world that we live in is really a place where in the future I could raise children and made me realise that a lot of things happen around the globe that we remain unaware when we lock ourselves inside our little flats.

In the exhibition photojournalists have captured events that have occured in recent years and involve suffering provoked by man like war, violence, exploitation and natural disasters as well.
Horrors of mankind like the war in Iraq, the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo where four million people have died in 6 years, Sierra Leone where 50,000 people where killed in civil wars and child workers in Bangladesh.
The natural disasters were about the hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Kashmir and the Indonesian province of Aceh that was most affected by the tsunami.

Personally I could not have the strength to take photograhs of events like these (when I can see people sufferring near by all I want to do is help them) but I guess that without these photos people would not be reminded that there still so much poverty, violence and exploitation around the world even in 2006.

I could not post the photos as they are copyrighted but you can see all the exhibition from the following site:
http://www.worldpressphoto.nl


I often think that I live in a dream world because I have such a positive attitude and I smile a lot but sometimes
I wake up terrified.


(image by freckledfaced 29)

Repetitive dreams

The world of dreams is of a particular interest to me because I often feel that what we dream can reflect they way we feel about things and a lot of the times even our own sentiments are hidden from us. I have such a wealthy world in my sleep that it often amazes me. It is like a new different world in which I am living when I close my eyes and I do like to dream. When my friends tell me that they don't dream I know that they just mean that they can't remember their dreams as everyday we all dream. I guess that I tend to remember them more often. I have a dream in my life that is repeating. It is not that I dream of the same thing rather that I have a theme that repeats. My theme is a boat. Since I was a little girl I used to dream boats. When the sea was calm I was happy travelling somewhere nice but other times I was just drowning .I have seen a thousand different ways to drown and a thousand different ways to travel happily in the water. Usually it is a boat although a few times I can see that I am floating with my bed on the sea or other objects that are a substitute of my boat. Well I think that through these dreams maybe I can pay attention more on my feelings when I am sinking maybe something bothers me and when I am travelling in a calm sea everything is going well.
The dream that I have with the ship seem also so symbolical as I think that this life resembles a ship in which we travel at a sea that is called life. I love to dream and this picture depicts how I feel when I dream even the saddest of dreams.
What about your dreams?

Watching others living their lives...

The latest fashion in television is making shows where famous people gather and talk about their lives.The new element is that they don't only talk about what they have succeeded in life but they drink, eat and dance together. The studio looks like a club and everyone seems to be having so much fun! The strange thing is that these shows have very high ratings which means that many people are watching those shows.
I feel it is so sad that people don't have money to go out and instead they stay in and watch these shows of other people having fun. But even without money there is surely so many better things that one can do inside the house.We can relax ,we can communicate with each other, we can create and we can do trivial everyday things that make life meaningfull. But instead we have learned to live in a lie and we have forgotten that we too have a life to live.

I have a friend that he is the complete opposite. He is always outside on the street. He is at my age and when he finishes work he goes to the square and hangs out with his friends. He is going through Athens with his bike and almost every day he watches an underground music concert. I was always telling him that you can not be all the time outside, it's impossible, and that you can have fun inside the house as well.Well he told me that when you stay inside the house you don't meet new people and you forget to communicate.You don't learn about life inside the walls and this is exactly what society wants.
Mindless people watching TV.
Although his lifestyle is a bit extreme it is better being outside sitting in the square all day than watching other people to live their lives on television.Watching famous people selling a plastic lifestyle and fake emotions.


(image by krecha)

So Perfect.

I had a conversation with someone that wanted so badly to be perfect.' I can never achieve perfection, everything about me is not good enough and I want to
be perfect '.

However, this person with all the little weaknesses that posesses I think that is so charming
and I could never imagine that would strive to be something else than they are.


What is perfect and who is perfect?

I think that these ideas of what we are supposed to be are imposed by the society that we live
in and from the people that we know.Life is beautiful and so we are even with our little
imperfections.How could we separate one another and understand our uniqueness if we were all identical.
When I am in love apart from the nice things that attract me to an individual
they attract me his little flaws that make him special and I have learned to love that.
There is a lyric of Leonard Cohen that conveys how I really feel and he says:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that how the light gets in.
So....So perfect!




(image by anne julie)