My Worlds in Words

Με μεγάλη χαρά ανακοινώνω το νέο μου site Myworldsinwords!

Ελπίζω να επηρεάσει δημιουργικά όσους αναζητούν την έμπνευση!

Τα σχόλιά σας είναι ευπρόσδεκτα :)


It is with great joy to present my new website  Myworldsinwords!

I hope that people who seek inspiration will be creatively influenced by it!

Your comments are more than welcome :)

Is this desire?

I feel like playing with my sins.

Is this desire?

I long for electric nights.

Is this desire?

I yearn to dance, when trouble is taking place.

Is this desire? 

I want to spin as if I am the prettiest mess you’ve ever seen. 

Is this desire?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v93nQvWAZc8

The resilient house

The theatrical play "Imitation of Life" by Kornél Mundruczó was on stage these days in Athens. Yesterday night I was among the spectators. In reality, I felt more like a witness and not a spectator. The realistic scenery in front of our eyes was filled with raw life events. Several crimes took place in that little house. Violence, cruelty, hate, alienation, racism, loneliness...

The house turning upside down on the stage created shaky vibes in the theatre. It reminded me of the earthquake. The trembling earth is above our human control. We surrender to its power and pray for peace. But what happens when the earthquake is a private event?

The moment we experience the emotional turmoil of depression our heart is transformed into shaking soil. Collapsing steps and sweaty hands of a wobbly body ready to surrender to human suffering. The most horrible crime arises, when we feel imprisoned in a ruined house. The ceiling is heavy on our head and the floor becomes fragile under our feet. 

Trapped in the fusty odor we actually believe that there is no way out. Being suffocated behind sealed windows we actually persuade ourselves that there is nothing out there. Our faith that the ruins inside are scattered in the outside world give to our emotional earthquake huge dimensions.

I have witnessed people with demolished internal houses in my private practice as a therapist and in my personal life. I always admire and feel deep respect for these survivors, who managed to reorganize their assets (either a room or a mansion) after experiencing a destruction.

Their resilience is such a beautiful decoration.
It makes their house so inviting, ready to host fellow guests.

Η αξία του αυτοκεράσματος

Δευτέρα 19/06/2017. Ζυρίχη: ανταπόκριση πτήσης για Σεβίλλη. Με βλέφαρα να συναντιούνται πιο τακτικά έρχεται η αναγνώριση της κούρασης. Οι 3 ώρες ύπνου το προηγούμενο βράδυ κάνουν την εμφάνισή τους. Το σώμα μου σαν χυμένη οδοντόκρεμα στα καθίσματα του αεροδρομίου ξαναμπαίνει στο σωληνάριο. Περιπλανιέται να βρει κάτι, για να ισιώσει. 

Προσπερνά ένα burger king. Μέσα εκεί εκτός από τραγάνες τηγανητές πατάτες κρύβονται αναμνήσεις άλλων ταξιδιών. Οι θύμησες πνίγονται μέσα στα λιπαρά. Μου δημιουργούν αποστροφή και ικανοποίηση. 

Ικανοποίηση γιατί τις έζησα και διασκέδασα τρώγοντας  με μανία. Αποστροφή επειδή δεν βρίσκω πια χαρά σε κάτι τέτοιο. Δεν είναι ότι υποτιμώ το γουρούνιασμα του παρελθόντος ούτε το μετανιώνω. 

Είναι που ο κύκλος εκείνος έκλεισε. Δεν υπάρχει χώρος για να βάλω παραπάνω θερμίδες. Αυτό που χρειάζομαι στο νέο κύκλο είναι να χορταίνω από νοήματα κομψά και γοητευτικά. Ίσως και εκλεπτυσμένα κάποιες φορές.  

Τα βαριά βλέφαρα πέφτουν σε μια βιτρίνα με γεύσεις από Ιταλία και πεταρίζουν ευχάριστα. Και γιατί όχι; Μπορώ να κάνω μια στάση και να το παίξω λίγο γκουρμεδιάρα. Παραγγέλνω μάλιστα sparkling water για αρχή. Τρώω ρυθμικά τις γευστικότατες παπαρδέλες συντονισμένη με τις μελωδίες που ευωδιάζουν από το ηχείο πάνω στο τραπέζι.

Μπροστά μου τα αεροπλάνα που απογειώνονται έρχονται να μου θυμίσουν κάτι σημαντικό: να ξεκολλάω από το έδαφος δοκιμάζοντας κάτι νέο. Σήμερα πέταξα για λίγο. Αφήνοντας πίσω το junk food, κερνώντας με an italian plate. 

Mi piace tantissimo. 

Στην υγειά μου :) 

Compassion games

"Will you play with us? The winner gets a candy!"
This is how my colleague and friend, Elli Tholouli, was inviting people during the Art and Acceptance Festival which was held in Athens some weeks ago.

The game:
1. Looking each other in the eyes for one minute.
2. Exchanging written heartfelt wishes.
3. Ending up with sweetness: candy and warm connection included!

Compassion might be presented in a playful way. Sometimes, however, it is hard to look somebody in the eyes. Especially when this person is suffering or evokes aversive feelings to others. Putting ourselves in the other's shoes is a demanding but rewarding process!

I was deeply touched by people who threw themselves genuinely to the compassion games. Seeing friends, refugees, parents and kids coming closer to their loved ones was like an unwrapping gift in front of my eyes. 

I would like to thank Elli for her invitation to participate in the games. The waves of love are maintained in my heart giving me ideas for the next journey of connectedness.

Special thanks to Sofia for her valuable role ;)

The art of celebrating life

Yesterday was the day that 39 years ago I was born. I chose to go to a dance theatre performance entitled “The art of dying”. Was it a paradox? Instead of throwing a party, I was about to watch "death".

My good friend Marilena accompanied me and off we drove there both feeling like it was a perfectly normal thing to do on my birthday. Was I getting a weirdo, as I grew older? Was my friend a weirdo as well?

The dancer invited us in a scenery full of rich stimuli. Although they seemed dark and repulsive in the beginning, she managed to create a ritualistic balance between existence and nothingness, between  lust and despair, between life and death.

Leaving the theatre I made a pause and I looked at the coffin on the stage. It reminded me of specific techniques I apply in therapy, when I want to make my clients think about the meaning in their life. My question may sound creepy: How would you like to be remembered by people after your death? That coffin functioned as a reminder of the values in my life and my mission for this year of my existence.

At the core of my mission is to be surrounded by people who will accompany me in my dreams, who will respect my weirdo-ness and will be in tune with my wild and soft parts.

I am sending much love to all the beautiful people who remembered me yesterday! Their wishes gave me new ideas for life celebrations!

I am*

I am more than my name.

I am more than my origin.

I am more than my age.

I am more than my sex.

I am more than my profession.

I am more than my hobbies.

I am more than my body.

I am more than my experiences.

I am more than my writings.

I am more than my thoughts.

I am more than my emotions.

I am more than my inheritance. 

I am more than my present.

I am.

Myself. 

The expanding ubiquitous timeless me.

I am a contextual frame defined by my functions and my relations with the temporal and spatial contingencies in this world. 

I am the cues or the stimuli in specific contexts.

I am the context into wider contexts.

I am the influential consequences for some human beings.

I am.

I-here-now.

I-there-then.

I am in this world.

I am in my world.

I am in your world.

I am around you.

When you think of me.

When you see me.

When I sit next to you.

I am

Je suis

Ich bin

Jag är

我是

Ik ben

Tá mé

わたし

Jestem

Minä olen

Io sono

Yo soy

Εγώ είμαι

I am the same me. 

I am the various ways I am pronounced in different parts of the world.

I am in quest of the “I am”.

*Aftereffects of reading a book about Relational Frame Theory ;)