The Unidentifiable Beauty

Sometimes you need to think a while about comments that are made on statements one shares on well-known social media platforms. Whether it is sharing a photo of an achievement you are happy with, or expressing a thought on a certain subject. Often the first reaction that comes to mind, might be a true reflection of your feelings, but will in most cases lack the necessary nuances. After classifying one's thoughts, and taking a deeper look into the reasoning for the fundamentally different view than the comment you received on such a post, it might become clear that a short reply won't get the extended reasons behind a statement across. In some cases, it takes an essay on the subject to illustrate one's well-considered principles. The whole process of trying to put one's view into words can turn out into a time-consuming undertaking, which in this case it did. It's been a long time since I wrote a piece (on this blog or elsewhere), but the latest experience with movin...

Do you remember where you were at the moment the Mona Lisa was smeared with cake, or when the Sunflowers of Van Gogh was attacked with a can of tomato soup, or liquefied mashed potatoes were thrown on Claude Monet's Les Meules? Mostly people remember time, location and what they were doing when a terrorist attack took place. (Terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims) Don’t get me wrong, I am concerned about humanity on this planet, in contrary to the planet itself, who wouldn’t mind the extinction of the human race. There is however a growing concern on how to protect cultural legacies and the artifacts that were left in our care to be saved for future generations. One could subscribe that 36 year old individual, that has been arrested and placed in psychiatric care after he entered the Louvre in a wheelchair, dressed up as an elderly woman and smeared the Mona Lisa, as a terrorist. He called it a protest against artists not focusi...

“So what, it is our country!”  This is a phrase, and different versions of it, I heard a few times last week, said by people during several documentaries I watched and a few essays I read. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any connection between a film about the missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, a series about immigrating to Andalusia, a series called “Far from home”, and the papers I read after seeing some episodes of the TV series “George Gently”. Somehow though, the misconception of historical rights evolving into believing the concept of supremacy and finally sprouting as racism looks to be a common nominator regarding the defending one’s own uncertainty and lack of education. It doesn’t come as a surprise that the solution to most problems in society lays in democratic compromising or – this seems to be getting rather popular – a pyramid construction with a narcissistic puppet on top. The most obvious solutions are frustrated because of conservative pro...

Sometimes I get a response on my writings like; “you are mixing up too many subjects, it is confusing”. I must admit that I probably need a few words more than others to express my thoughts and mostly that is because I don’t like “twitter-like” statements without describing its context and historic background. Keeping concentrated while reading a few thousand words, understanding metaphors and recognizing irony are among the abilities that slowly get lost in this modern world of fast news, social media and small screens. It is proven that most people are losing interest fast if they have to scroll down more than just a few times on their device of choice. I know a paperless way of communicating is good for the environment, but it certainly has its limitations. After one year of living in Portugal – 2007 – I shared my experiences by using paper and restricting myself to a maximum of 2 pages per anecdote. Maybe it sounds “cocky” but I’m proud to say the book sold well. Now, at the ris...

One of the first remarks people make about immigrants often is that integrating should be the top priority when they come to live in their country. Immigrants should learn the language and adjust to the historical and cultural fingerprints of the country they have chosen or, for some Geo-political reason, were forced to live in. That may sound reasonable but it isn’t that obvious for a lot of reasons.  We, as an example, choose to leave our home country and start the adventure of a new life in a small hamlet on the top of a lonesome hill in Central Portugal. The country obviously is built on Catholic traditions and the influences of a dark period of dictatorship, poverty and a dislike of authority are still noticeable in all kinds of daily situations. Throughout history, societies changed and gained, as well socially as economically, broader views by influences from foreign people that brought their skills, culture, and knowledge. Controversial however is when people, considering...

I do realize that it’s not a bad thing in general. It could even have a rather positive influence on reaching the goals you’ve set, that stubbornness that is probably hiding in all of us. The choice of taking advice from people with more experience, however, could be a better option. It’s absolutely normal to be blessed with stubbornness as a student or a young adult, but at some point in life there comes an end to forgiveness of all the stupidly made mistakes just because you thought you knew better. I’m not a big believer of the educational system, as designed ages ago, in which all should learn the same things in the same way. Sure there’s a need for schools to teach the young ones to read, write, calculate and some basics of biology, physics and history. When these basics are taught with some enthusiasm by an inspirational teacher, the interest in learning more will become a natural effect. The things that really matter are better learned from people with experience, even better,...