YOU...

YOU are present in my life each day. You always make me think of you and manage to stay in my mind even against my will. I thought you'd get better as time passed, but my expectations were in vain...You got worse than a naked beggar on the frozen streets, asking for relief from his excruciating pain. My soul is tormented whenever I think of your deeds and how they affect every single person you have under your cruel domination. Can you see my point? If you only hurt me, I wouldn't hate you so much. I'm as insignificant as a drop of water in the Pacific ocean. But you're hurting 21 million people, including the ones I love. 20 years ago you died, but you somehow managed to come back even more powerful and evil. You say you want to protect us, but with every single step you take, we feel more and more exposed to degradation and despair. You buy yourself a 2,000$ purse, you take away a million people's breathing air. You buy yourself a fancy, unimaginably expensive villa and hundreds of people die of hunger. You go shopping in Paris and you pay with the life of mothers and fathers who can't feed their children a slice of bread. Now you're thinking of taking 25% of our lives...as if you haven't taken enough already. 

Let me tell you something! You will make us kneel in front of you and beg for your mercy. You will consider yourself victorious. You will have the entire world at your feet. And then you'll disappear, but this time for good. It will take you by surprise, but the pain will be millions of times stronger than the one we are feeling now. So enjoy the illusion you're living in while you still can. 

(dedicated to "tall" people)

Art and Life

What is art? This is a question not many people ask themselves unfortunately. I myself haven't thought of it until someone mentioned it to me a few days ago. I realized that moment that I've spent most of my time thinking about things that more often than not prove to be insignificant in one way or another, instead of paying attention to what is really important. You might find it hard to believe, but that's what art teaches every one of us: seeing what truly matters. Even at this moment, while I'm writing this post, I ask myself what is the meaning of art, and especially, what role it plays in our lives.
When I think of art, I think of beauty. When I look around me, I see ugliness, I see boredom, hatred, I see people walking down the streets looking at their feet, and when they dare to look up, I see nothing but sadness in their eyes. When I look at any of Claude Monet's paintings, or listen to Bach's Air on the G String. or when I read one of Mihai Eminescu's poems I feel I have something to live for and I can almost feel the "touch" of beauty on my skin. Because art gives a sense of dignity to our lives, creating a bouquet of the most wonderful things on Earth.
I once made the mistake of wondering if I would be able to really appreciate and understand a work of art without knowing the artist's background, what school he attended, or what other works he conceived. I finally learned that you cannot look at a painting and filter the image through your mind, but through your soul. Indeed, a work of art can only be approached by opening your soul in front of it, so you don't have to be an expert to enjoy it. It is also true that you cannot understand art more than you understand your own self. A close-minded person will have a limited view on what he sees and a barbarian will treat art with indifference.
I haven't appreciated art as I should have, I am not an artistic person, but I refuse to kill it. People kill art every day, little by little, but I refuse to believe that someday, there will be nothing left of it. Because if there's no art, there's no beauty, hence no life. I would like to say thank you to all the people who still create/appreciate art. I have the great honor of knowing an artist who is a very dear friend of mine as well, and whom I deeply admire and respect. His manuscript inspired me and made me think of everything I have written here, so thank you for keeping us alive.
Here's a song that makes my heart beat faster every time I listen to it. It truly is a work of art.

Speaking My Mind

I live in Romania, a country situated in the Southeastern part of Central Europe. I was born in 1989, the year when the concept of "revolution" was turned into reality by people living under the harsh totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. I was 6 months old when my mother was trying to make me and my 5 year old sister stop crying for fear that the communist armed forces patrolling the streets and killing people might hear us and break into our house. In December 1989 the communist regime met its downfall, but this victory had too big a price: the death of thousands of people who fought for our freedom.
I don't remember any of those, but it is quite difficult living in a country where after 20 years, communism is still present in people's way of thinking and of acting. To make matters worse, these people are those who rule the country, people who should govern Romania under the principles of democracy. Instead, the more than defective political system is characterized by corruption and some, if not many of its representatives do not even have the basic knowledge of the grammatical rules of Romanian language. These issues and not only have led to the country's present status as one of the poorest regions in the European continent.
So what I am going to do here is to speak my mind, an opportunity which at present seems more than natural, but which was prohibited two decades ago. I do not necessarily expect to make a big difference, but I'm tired of all the people who acknowledge these problems and do nothing to change the situation. The fact that ever more people are leaving Romania permanently, seeking for a better life in more developed countries and the fact that I myself have thought of doing this makes me doubt the possibility that my country will ever make a step forward. The fact that no one listens to a 21 year old student because he/she is believed to have nothing to say, having no life experience drives me crazy. I may not have enough experience, but the actions of people who have plenty affect my present and future life, so I strongly believe I do have many things to say. Have a close reading!