Personal Essays & Opinions
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What has 2020 taught me about work, love, family and myself
With increasing data to support the idea that the pandemic aftermath will be as bitter as the pandemic itself, we have to ask ourselves where do we go from here. Not only as a world and society, but also personally. Setting our priorities right; taking care of our physical and mental health; developing the mindset that will enable us to deal with the post-pandemic crisis that will follow in 2021, or possibly in 2022, are the habits that will determine whether we will not only adapt, but also thrive.
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Fake positivity is doing us more harm, than good
The first step is simply saying: it is fine to struggle. It is fine to feel pain, anger, disappointment, sadness and three billion other spectra of negative emotions. Moreover, embracing these emotions, together with the good ones, and anything in between, is what helps us build the emotional intelligence and emotional agility that can carry us through life in the healthiest possible way.
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Everything I wish I knew before I reached my 20s
1. Not all friendships last a lifetime Friendship – as any other relationship – is a two-way street. You cannot maintain it if the other people are not willing to put in the effort to do that as well. There are countless of reasons why a friendship can fall apart. Some are truly serious – such as betrayal or lack of trust or communication; but others cause people to simply naturally drift apart without any serious fight. No matter what the reason for your broken friendship is, please remember this: knowing whose fault it was and what you did wrong might not always be helpful. If you think you “need…
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The quarantine stories, part 1: Love in the time of corona
All happy relationships are alike; each unhappy relationship is unhappy in its own way. – Leo Tolstoy Tolstoy actually talks about families, but this is irrelevant now. For what I am about to tell you, the quote would serve me better if it said “relationships” instead of “families”. My literary ingeniousness thinks I have the right to alter quotes from Tolstoy, so please do not disagree. Here is why I need this quote. I consider my relationship with Felix a happy one. Of course, we have our challenges; I sometimes shout hysterically at him to get the f*ck away from me, and he sometimes tells me I am a crazy…
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8th of March: celebration of women or a reminder of a still-present gender inequality?
I must have been in my seventh or eight grade when I received a flower for the first time in my life for the 8th of March. A boy in my school approached me and gave me a rose while mumbling “Happy 8th of March”. Instead of “thank you, that is very kind of you”, I said “please give it to a teacher, I am neither a woman nor a mother”. I wish I understood the importance of celebrating this day back then a bit more. Also, I wish I got the chance to thank him properly and to tell him that it is wonderful that he is recognizing the…
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When hopes collide with reality: what did I learn from having a blog?
Deciding to put myself out there, means that I am putting efforts into building something of my own. Not really a product, but maybe a mild version of a brand. Although the focus is still on the writing, I am shifting from the "diary" to the "book" mindset. And books are made to be read by more people other than their author.
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Ten years in fifteen minutes
I notice people my age all around me being perplexed: not only in the field of Physics, but everywhere. On the one hand, millennials bridged the gap of a world without technology to a world fully dependent on one. They left the World with closed borders and entered a globalized one that gives the promise you can go anywhere and do anything. Yet, all of these chances seem to paralyze many of us. Confronted by the infinite number of scenarios, we end up staring in the mirror and realizing we are just confused. We end up asking ourselves: why is everyone doing so well, but I cannot seem to figure…
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Living with your partner: challenges and solutions
Communication is the key in a relationship. If your partner cannot understand what you are going through he or she will never be able to give you the empathy or sympathy you need.
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10 reasons why “alone time” is important
“If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself.” ― Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
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Can you create a home far away from home?
Since the people back where you come from have started to treat you as a foreigner, and the people in the country where you are currently residing have always been treating you as a foreigner - and most likely will continue to treat you as one - is there a way that you can create for yourself a home far away from home?
