Dear reader, stranger or not -including myself- welcome.
I’m starting this third blog, in the third decade of my life, many years after the second with the primary goal of just writing. Mostly for me, I think.
Beginnings are difficult
Starting off, I had no idea which language to go for. My life has been predominately in English for the past 3+ years. Although sad for my Greek roots, English has been the language I communicate with others and myself. Switching to Greek sometimes makes me feel like a George Papandreou meme, struggling to get the right syntax.
Remember him by the way?
(Parenthesis opening)
George Papandreou Ex-Prime Minister of Greece, a tall boy with pristine English who liked biking. He said the infamous “There’s Money” in 2010 right before getting elected and right before the country descended into an economic catastrophe that left my generation and the future ones future..less. But how could he know? It wasn’t that the Papandreou political dynasty (father and grandfather) had ruled Greece on and off since the 1950s. Or maybe it was. Anyway
Some months after taking office he made that speech from Kastelorizo, a distant island at the very edge of Greek borders, and marked the beginning of the Greek crisis, one that we would remember for many years to come. He addressed the nation and foreign powers and allies declaring bankruptcy and asking for rescue from those who had initially put Greece in the game, with the blessings of his father, Goldman Sachs, and cooked our books.
I happened to go to Kastelorizo (a magnificent place, subject of a separate post) and I made my re-enactment of that famous speech. During my autopsy and comparing the photos from the triad of “Mountain in the background, political party, boat” only the boat is still standing green.
To summarise, George Papandreou (sorry, I got carried away) left all politics after 2010 but made a comeback in 2020, 10+ years later with a new brand (Greeks have a short memory, one of our virtues) but he lost those elections danced some Zeibekiko and left once again.
So long and thanks for all the fish 👋
(Parenthesis over)
Back to language
I would ideally like to write in both languages and maybe I do that. For now, I will start with one and figure out the rest ahead. New machines or some universal language might solve these translation problems in the future (introducing new ones) but for now and since Elon Musk is still taking some time to make us all interconnected via Neuralink I shall choose a language.
So if you cringe at my writing style let’s blame it on the language and ignore the fact that I try to make everything fit in 1 post.
Traveling Thoughts and 30s.
So with this blog, I’d like to capture thoughts around the second coming of age, the passage to the 30s.
I think it’s a slow continuous shock as one keeps being exposed to the world and getting used to how it works. Learnings come again and again, sometimes slow and tender like caressing one’s skin but often sudden and painful like blows, strong impact but short duration – you have to move on. And so you get used to the tides more and more.
You learn to look for joy and appreciate it – things you’ve seen before may now look different.
You soon realize that time is the most precious thing you have. You may reconsider where you give it.
Or keep some more for yourself.
And other stuff like that.
Work Work Work is fun fun fun
(Like the Beatles said)
I’m very blessed as my work has given me the flexibility to travel a lot in the past years. I started working remotely in 2019 and although I know it sounds cliché I feel travels have played a significant role in my growth journey. And my therapist. Mostly my therapist. Ok, moving on.
Getting exposed to different cultures, daily habits, tastes, and smells, going out and experiencing different nature and landscapes, and most of all, interacting with different people has been instrumental for me and there are thoughts and experiences that I simply need to document somewhere.
Mostly because I’m afraid I’ll forget.
So this is how it goes more or less.
Thoughts, sometimes coherent others not, parenthesis over parenthesis, quotes, links, trips, advice, and photographs & music, and videos. All sprinkled with some 90s nostalgia shortly before I cross the doorstep of being a boomer.
If you made it this far in a world where people read in memes thank you. I’m asking for love and compassion in this venture as I don’t write thoughts down in the most logical order.
That’s it for now –
Next up a series of posts for breathtaking Iceland
