This book is about where we are now, how we can appreciate enough today and to enjoy the moment in which the universe brought us together, just you and me together: think about it, there is something so seductive and magical about the fact that you picked up my book and are willing to connect with me, this is the beginning of a very special, intimate relationship. This is the beginning of a whole new adventure for us. Just us two. In this book I will be discussing a lot about life, the love for life, the love for love, the fear of death and how to defeat it, the power of meditation, visualisation, the power to trust within and beyond. Techniques on how to change habits that stick, ideas that relief you from carrying that stress and responsibility, the power of friendship, of traveling solo and speaking to strangers on a daily basis. From me to you. An opportunity or like a small window from my house to yours. Stick out your head and wave back at me next time, I'll be right there waiting for you.

There’s a number of reasons why this, why now, why this form. There’s a number of people and talents that influenced my thought process, my imagination, my emotional intelligence and I am still a romantic at heart believing in the power to transform via the process of reading. In an ever visually consuming world of images of no purpose other than sensationalism and deriving pleasure from a capitalistic way of life, reading at least in my world has something pure, almost magical and even sacred at times. The pure process of writing and reading has a meditative nature to it and the feeling (in either writing or reading) is heavenly. If you engage in reading correctly and fully, I promise you, time will momentarily slow down or even stop for a magical period of time. Really. Take a moment now to breathe in over four seconds (through your nostrils, filling and expanding your tummy/belly out) holding your breath for 2 seconds. And now release. Hello there. Let us start.

“It’s not that I’ve been dishonest, It’s just that I loathe reality.” This is a pop culture phrase that somehow stuck with me the past couple of days. Loathing or hating are heavy words. They indicate frustration, anger, and thus a lack of inner peace. It means, that consciously, or, more often than not, unconsciously we are taking sides, we choose to perceive a monochromatic world of either black or white, we choose to see a world dominated by an eternal battle between evil and good. Undoubtedly, in today’s day and age, many people would jump on the occasion and say, that YES, our current reality is worth loathing.

Whether you are reading this now or later, whether I worked on this text just now or ten years ago, there was, there is and always will be a reason to despise a given reality, a current state of affairs. If this preface or prelude if you prefer, was to be written back in late 2001 for example, we would be loathing of anything close to a terrorist attack or collectively fearing to simply enter a plane. Similarly, during the night of New Year's Eve in 1999, at the age of 9 I distinctly recall of a universal fear towards the fate of technology and its limitations. In fear of the new Millennium. In fear of an automatic clock showing 00:00 : just some numbers in a wrong order and the whole system would collapse.

Right now, it’s the end of March 2020 and somehow the watch is actually stopping once more at 00:00 in a metaphorical sense. The world has been practically put on hold, the capitalist system is in shock and we are all experiencing the biggest force for introspection that our collective has faced. As a generation, we are all asked to freeze time, time as consumed in our current system of values and we are asked to free float yet confined within our own home, for an undefined time. Almost like floating in space, where ageing occurs at a much lower pace, because the notion of man-made time does not quite fit under this magical sphere of the universe or in these peculiar circumstances.

There is myriads of explanations for this virus outburst, from conspiracy theories and yogi definitions, some blaming the geopolitical masters at war, some the rise of the 5G and the uprising of AI. Some call it a biological war, some call it an awakening of Planet Earth or a shift of Earth’s magnetic field, but they, we, all call it unanimously a tragedy to humankind. And it is. This new pandemic has indeed destroyed the lives of thousands of people, it has reshuffled the economic status of many, it has ignited daily nightmares for the people at the forefront and it has raised a question mark above the notion of our rights, our very own notion of freedom. For some, this could be the perfect dystopian scenario, where authoritarian governments could rise to the occasion and regain power and withhold freedom. Yes, I hear you. The reasons of loathing our 2020 reality are plenty.

But I’m here to show you that the reasons of loving our reality, and this is in a way my Theory of Life, I guess, are infinite.

The New Wealth

It doesn’t take much to count our blessings these days. In fact, this pause on an endless economic marathon has its benefits in a way. ‘Wealth’ at least temporarily, may not be measured in cash, equity or assets, but it can finally be defined by the wealth of the soul, the wealth you can find within. It is in the very powerful now, that a ‘wealthy’ human may be defined as someone who is able to perceive the sheer beauty of what we call LIFE, in every single occasion, in every single one of the sky’s tableaux, at any moment, at any time. And the beauty of it all is that you don’t even have to leave your own house to experience that, you can just peak out of your window. Yep, that’s right, simple as that. You can be ‘wealthy’ by simply looking at the sky every single day. When the sky brings in the array of white fluffy clouds, or when the sky is covered in the hues of sunset, or when the sky is pure bright blue like some artist up there took his bluest pantone and his cleanest paintbrush and painted the sky in a monochromatic blue paradise. Because even when the sky is grey, it is not monotonous my dear reader. I always saw the grey sky somehow bright. As a cinephile, it actually reminded me of the big cinema white screen, prior to film screening, the perfect white canvas for our movie projection ‘Life’.

Our challenge for our generation or mankind, going beyond any notion of time and space, because after all I do believe that we have been here before and we will be here again in one form or another, is to ensure that we cultivate the ‘wealth’ of our sight, of our soul and our spirit. That we cautiously remove any collective or personally biased visual filters, almost like a bad pair of glasses that impairs us from seeing the world as a daily blessing. For the sceptics, this could sound like a very romantic, outmost naive way of seeing a reality that has nothing to do with what is actually happening on this bruised planet that we call home. But who is to say where reality starts and where it ends?

Don't be afraid of death, cause you and I are limitless

The challenge or maybe the gift, our gift as human beings is that, if we awaken our inner forces, we are all able to see and appreciate everything for what it is. A gift, a beautiful gift we call life and it is to be found in the hardships and the challenges, just as much as it can be found in birth but also and maybe more importantly in death. And as I am speaking to a generation of exchange I will give you this following metaphor: Consider nature like the ultimate gift store. And if you notice, it is always open and it is infinite and abundant. Yes, nature is our ultimate gift, it is in perceiving its infinite power and timeless beauty, it is by perceiving and identifying our role into it, seeing ourselves as a part of her cycle of life, that we also become infinite. And we can then slowly melt down any negative feelings, we can melt down hatred or egoism because we are all on this planet to be part of a bigger energy. A bigger picture. And just like the birds or the trees, the blossoming flowers or the roaring lions we will eventually pass away and pass on, transforming into another energy, giving back to the ground, to the soil that brought us to life. And the sooner we get acquainted with the notion of death, as a normal rite of passage, the sooner we will understand that death is a natural phenomenon.

We can finally let go and live every day on this planet as our very last and at the same time as our very best.

Because it is fear, a human emotion locked in our own amygdala, that small space in the back of our brain controlling all fear and emotion, but also engrained in our human DNA and brought to us from all our ancestors, that is stopping us in taking every moment in and forcing us to call a given reality loathsome. I was unfortunately yet fortunately lucky enough to experience death first hand by losing one of my two main creators, my mother. However her death may have been in hindsight one of the biggest blessings to our family as it shook the fear of death off my core and it made me let go of this stress we are all designed to carry. I saw her battle with death first hand and my only regret was that the woman that I love most on this very planet passed on but not in outmost peace. Cause till that very last moment she fought this natural part of human evolution, as if her mission was not yet completed. However this very act of pain and sorrow stimulated me to make it my life goal to ensure, to impact as much as possible that we live and leave this place in peace. For the ones who did experience or currently experience death of your loved ones, do not be scared, because your loved ones will be present with you more than ever. In fact they will come to you in different forms, indifferent animals, feelings, lights and sounds. As long as you are ready to perceive and receive them.

Open Your Eyes

In a way, I will try with this collection of thoughts and essays in this self discovery and collective discovery, to help us both, you the reader and me the writer be in tune with our third eye. The eye that in my way of perceiving life is being able to read the signs, that you can find clearly all around you to awaken not just the giant within but our superhuman within, above and beyond. To be tuned with everything that surrounds you and fulfils you. As a greek at heart and as one great greek author would say, it is not the destination, but the journey that counts. So this, my fellow reader, is not a one way journey to a pre defined destination. As I am writing this text imagine that I am walking right beside you, side by side on a sunny day, somewhere in a beautiful natural path. I let life lead its way and make this an unbelievable journey for you and me both. I don’t really have a format of short stories or ideas of complex characters at play, I will leave all that at the masters of story telling. I am writing this from heart to heart, so maybe I will be a times more eloquent at times simpler, but I promise to be honest with what I feel and say at this given moment. Somewhere, sometime, before an array of beautiful clouds, cobalt blue skies and all the infinite shades of green and sounds of Paradise. Cause this my friend is only the beginning. The very first footsteps to our own personal Eden.

See you on the other side.

With love and gratitude,