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  1. Honne and Tatemae

    I use the subway almost every day, so I've learned not to pay attention to people, I'm used to ignoring them. That morning was no different, I had a pretty long commute so I was on the subway for quite some time. People entered, exited, wagons emptied and refilled. When I moved away from the central stations however, the crowd began to thin out and a calm prevailed. After a few stops, an old man entered.
     
    He was old, very thin, and looked disheveled. I didn't pay much attention to him though, he leaned in the opposite side from where I was. A few stops passed and suddenly he knelt down, covered his eyes and tilted his head down. I was startled, mostly because I didn't really understand what he was doing, but I quickly went back to staring into the abyss outside the wagon.
     
    A few minutes later I glanced in his direction, he was still on his knees. Was he tired? Was he dizzy? Did he want any help? I wasn't sure, but without a second thought I continued to stare into the abyss. After a few minutes he got up with some difficulty and I saw that his eyes were filled with tears. Without making the slightest sound, he grabbed his stroller and went outside as he cleaned his eyes.
     
    For several days this man was on my mind. What was his story? What had happened to lead him to cry at that moment. I will probably never find answers to these questions.
     
    I remember a while ago reading somewhere about two Japanese concepts. Honne(本音) and Tatemae(建前). In Japan there is social pressure to always be liked, not draw any attention and follow the rules. This is the Tatemae: That which is built in front. And then there's the real you, the things you're afraid others will hear, your deepest thoughts, Honne: The Genuine Sound.
     
    At the end of the day, how well do we know the people around us? Can we say with absolute certainty that they are happy and satisfied with their lives?

  2. The Gunslingers of the Old West Have Long Abandoned Us

    The concept of ​​eternity is something that scares me a lot. I look into the future and see only a bottomless well staring back at me expressionlessly. Perhaps this lack of any emotion scares me more than anything else. It is not some malevolent entity, an enemy with evil plans. No, things are never that simple in the real world. On the contrary, it is a force that no one can defeat, that comes closer and closer without anyone being able to stop it.
     
    But what I always felt could hold it back were heroes.
     
    The heroes scattered throughout the centuries of humanity, who forged their own path and like fire their actions and what they stood for spread throughout the world. With their lives becoming legends, which remained long after they themselves died. In a way, they conquered eternity, if only for a short while.
     
    Today, there are heroes, but they feel smaller, less mythical. We glorify charlatans and jesters who compete with each other to do the most ridiculous and outrageous thing for the world to see, and we reward their struggle with glory and wealth. And as for the monuments to the heroes of old, what still remains feels hollow. As if the very reason they were built has been forgotten by time.
     
    I wonder if the people before us said the same thing about their own time. I remember once reading a Babylonian stone tablet from 2,800 B.C. in which the author said that the young people of that time had lost their way, that there was rampant corruption in the land and “the end of the world is clearly approaching”. It seemed so funny to me, it seems that we are at a permanent end of the world. We may not have changed as much as we would like to tell ourselves. After all, five thousand years is not that long of a time.
     
    Since we seem to live in an era without heroes and ideals, where seemingly everything is permitted in the name of profit and social advancement, we ourselves must become the heroes of our time. We ourselves must stand up for the ideals in which we believe and be an example for those around us.
     
    We must be better than those who came before us.
    The concept of ​​eternity is something that scares me a lot. I look into the future and see only a bottomless well staring back at me expressionlessly. Perhaps this lack of any emotion scares me more than anything else. It is not some malevolent entity, an enemy with evil plans. No, things are never that simple in the real world. On the contrary, it is a force that no one can defeat, that comes closer and closer without anyone being able to stop it. But what I always felt could hold it back were heroes. The heroes scattered throughout the centuries of humanity, who forged their own path and like fire their actions and what they stood for spread throughout the world. With their lives becoming legends, which remained long after they themselves died. In a way, they conquered eternity, if only for a short while. Today, there are heroes, but they feel smaller, less mythical. We glorify charlatans and jesters who compete with each other to do the most ridiculous and outrageous thing for the world to see, and we reward their struggle with glory and wealth. And as for the monuments to the heroes of old, what still remains feels hollow. As if the very reason they were built has been forgotten by time. I wonder if the people before us said the same thing about their own time. I remember once reading a Babylonian stone tablet from 2,800 B.C. in which the author said that the young people of that time had lost their way, that there was rampant corruption in the land and “the end of the world is clearly approaching”. It seemed so funny to me, it seems that we are at a permanent end of the world. We may not have changed as much as we would like to tell ourselves. After all, five thousand years is not that long of a time. Since we seem to live in an era without heroes and ideals, where seemingly everything is permitted in the name of profit and social advancement, we ourselves must become the heroes of our time. We ourselves must stand up for the ideals in which we believe and be an example for those around us. 











We must be better than those who came before us.
    The concept of ​​eternity is something that scares me a lot. I look into the future and see only a bottomless well staring back at me expressionlessly. Perhaps this lack of any emotion scares me more than anything else. It is not some malevolent entity, an enemy with evil plans. No, things are never that simple in the real world. On the contrary, it is a force that no one can defeat, that comes closer and closer without anyone being able to stop it.
     
    But what I always felt could hold it back were heroes.
     
    The heroes scattered throughout the centuries of humanity, who forged their own path and like fire their actions and what they stood for spread throughout the world. With their lives becoming legends, which remained long after they themselves died. In a way, they conquered eternity, if only for a short while.
     
    Today, there are heroes, but they feel smaller, less mythical. We glorify charlatans and jesters who compete with each other to do the most ridiculous and outrageous thing for the world to see, and we reward their struggle with glory and wealth. And as for the monuments to the heroes of old, what still remains feels hollow. As if the very reason they were built has been forgotten by time.
     
    I wonder if the people before us said the same thing about their own time. I remember once reading a Babylonian stone tablet from 2,800 B.C. in which the author said that the young people of that time had lost their way, that there was rampant corruption in the land and “the end of the world is clearly approaching”. It seemed so funny to me, it seems that we are at a permanent end of the world. We may not have changed as much as we would like to tell ourselves. After all, five thousand years is not that long of a time.
     
    Since we seem to live in an era without heroes and ideals, where seemingly everything is permitted in the name of profit and social advancement, we ourselves must become the heroes of our time. We ourselves must stand up for the ideals in which we believe and be an example for those around us.
     

    We must be better than those who came before us.

  3. I Do Not Remember Where I Took This Photograph

    I've been looking at this photo a lot lately.
     
    I must have taken it on a road trip, at one of those rest stops that are every few kilometers on the main roads of Greece. But even that is a guess, because I have no recollection of this photo. I don't know how long ago or where I was going when I took it. The original file that had all this information is long gone.
     
    It's a picture that makes me feel lonely. There are many times in my life where I feel like I have everything solved, that everything is crystal-clear. Black and white, nothing in between. But other times I feel like I'm balancing between two points. Everything suspended in the air, everything uncertain. Similar to the photograph itself, uncertain of where to aim its gaze.
     
    Then I think about my life. The good, the bad, the in between and I miss all those moments that are now long gone. And then I think about the moments that haven't come yet, the ones' arrival I fear and the ones I pray will someday come.
     
    I don't know why the photo gives me this nostalgia, even that is a mystery. But one day I might wake up and find all these questions answered.

  4. What a Beautiful Mess I've Made

     

    Στον κινηματογράφο, στο θέατρο αλλά και στα βιβλία, το σκάσιμο από το σπίτι παρουσιάζεται συνήθως σαν κάτι περιπετειώδες, γοητευτικό ή ακόμα και κάλο για τον έφηβο. Παρουσιάζοντας το συνήθως σαν ένα “ταξίδι προσωπικής αναζήτησης”. Στο τέλος αυτού του ταξιδιού, το παιδί πάντα επιστρέφει στην κανονική του ζωή. Ώριμος και σοφότερος από πριν, εκτιμώντας τα πράγματα που έχει. Ακόμα και αν αυτά είναι λίγα.
     
    Στον πραγματικό κόσμο όμως, τα πράγματα σπάνια είναι τόσο όμορφα. Ή τόσο απλά.
     
    Οι λόγοι που ένα παιδί μπορεί να το σκάσει από το σπίτι του διαφέρουν πολύ ανάλογα την χώρα, το κοινωνικό στρώμα, την οικογένεια ή ακόμα και τον κοινωνικό περίγυρο του συγκεκριμένου παιδιού. Αυτό το γεγονός κάνει απίστευτα δύσκολη την στατιστικοποίηση αυτού του φαινομένου. Αλλά ενδοοικογενειακά προβλήματα και κοινωνική απομόνωση είναι ανάμεσα στις πιο συνηθισμένες αιτίες. Στην Αμερική, 1.6 – 2.8 εκατομμύρια έφηβοι το σκάνε από το σπίτι τους κάθε χρόνο (national runaway switchboard). Όσο για την Ελλάδα, 299 έφηβοι εξαφανίστηκαν κάτω από διαφορετικές συνθήκες το 2018. Από αυτούς, 42 ακόμα αναζητούνται.
     
    Που πηγαίνουν όμως όλα αυτά τα παιδιά όταν το σκάνε; Τι γίνονται οι ιστορίες τους; Τι γίνονται οι ίδιοι; Βρίσκουν άραγε την ευτυχία που βρίσκουν οι πρωταγωνιστές της μεγάλης οθόνης και των μικρών γραμμάτων;
     
    Έχοντας αλλάξει πολλά σχολεία στην εφηβική μου ζωή, θυμάμαι ότι προσπαθούσα πάντα να χωρέσω σε κοινωνικές ομάδες που μπορεί να μην εκτιμούσα απαραίτητα. Κάθε φορά με διαφορετικά επίπεδα επιτυχίας. Κοιτώντας πίσω όμως, μπορεί και εγώ να ήθελα να το σκάσω από την ζωή μου. Έστω και για μία στιγμή.
    1. Plan
    1. Plan
    2. Laces
    2. Laces
    3. Skin
    3. Skin
    4. 1:09
    4. 1:09
    5. Dazed
    5. Dazed
    1. Plan
    1. Plan
    2. Laces
    2. Laces
    3. Skin
    3. Skin
    4. 1:09
    4. 1:09
    5. Dazed
    5. Dazed
    6. Can I Play With You Guys
    6. Can I Play With You Guys
    7. Regret
    7. Regret
    8. A wizard told me that things could've been different
    8. A wizard told me that things could've been different
    9. Sanctuary
    9. Sanctuary
    10. Deception in the light
    10. Deception in the light
    11. Imaginary prisons
    11. Imaginary prisons
    12. Dawn
    12. Dawn
    13. It's over only if you say it's over
    13. It's over only if you say it's over
    • 1
      1. Plan
    • 2
      2. Laces
    • 3
      3. Skin
    • 4
      4. 1:09
    • 5
      5. Dazed
    • 6
      6. Can I Play With You Guys
    • 7
      7. Regret
    • 8
      8. A wizard told me that things could've been different
    • 9
      9. Sanctuary
    • 10
      10. Deception in the light
    • 11
      11. Imaginary prisons
    • 12
      12. Dawn
    • 13
      13. It's over only if you say it's over

  5. People that Aren't Really Here

    Humans spend most of their lives indoors. Be it their home, school, coffee shops, office, a person’s life is defined by the places he spends his time in. 
     
    Happy are those who understand these spaces they are surrounded by and unhappy are those who do not understand them. If a person does not accept a space, that space does not accept them either. So a person must be in alignment with the spaces that surround them. They whisper to them, and those who do not listen are doomed to live in darkness. 
     
    One can understand much about someone from the place they occupy. If the space is messy and dirty, their soul is messy and dirty too. The one who does not care for his space is condemned to live like an animal. 
     
    Both man and space have the power to influence each other. They share a symbiotic relationship. If there is no understanding between them, the human is doomed to live in misery. 
     
    In a world where the sky is becoming less and less visible, covered by concrete giants, the relationship that man has with spaces may be more important than ever.