Another thing that comes to mind when I hear the word sponge is Bob Spongebob. A cartoon hero that has managed to make sponges…cool!

From 10.05 till 16.05 an exhibition dedicated to sponges and design takes place at TAF. 20 designers have taken on a different take on the yellow sponge. “Design is about identifying, analyzing and solving problems in our every day life”. They have used the sponge to create unexpected concepts and objects that will make you smile and from now on, look at the poor yellow sponge that is sitting next to your sink in a whole different way.

]]> http://lifeinathens.com/2012/05/15/once-upon-a-sponge/feed/ 1 http://lifeinathens.com/2012/05/14/the-courage-to-create/ http://lifeinathens.com/2012/05/14/the-courage-to-create/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 01:55:11 +0000 thalia http://lifeinathens.com/?p=6647

It had been a while since my last visit to Thessaloniki. Almost 7 years. I was there last weekend with very dear friends for TedxThess. We all arrived in Thessaloniki in different times but we were all excited as hell. Not just because we look forward to one of the most intriguing events taking place all over the world but because for most of us the weekend would be a reason to catch up with each other, relax and forget about the things that we have to do while in Athens. I have been to 3 Tedx events so far with my favorite being the TedxAthens 2011 that you can read about it here.

This year TedxThess had as a subject “The courage to create”. A very promising and inspiring title I would say. The theme was borrowed by the tittle of a book that phychologist Rollo May wrote in 1975. The courage to create is the courage to keep dreaming, believeing and perseving. Creation can be perceived and found in many forms. May writes: “courage is not the absence of despair, but rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair”. I am not going to write about all the speakers because that would be almost impossible. Or I am not going to try and describe to you the atmosphere of a Tedx event because that is definetely impossible. What I am going to do is briefly present to you what made me smile, what got my attenntion, what made me want to create.

Gazmend Kapplani
Kapplani is a story teller and what I would call a citizen of the world. He was born in Albania and after the collapse of the totalitarian regime he crossed the border in to Greece by foot. He has been living in Greece the last 20 years and he has worked different jobs so as to manage to study in the University of Athens.  He is an author, a journalist and and advocate for human rights. His life story, his will to survive and create should be an inspiration for all of us.

Eric Parks
I have the pleasure to know Eric through mutual friends. His is one of the most kind and brilliant people that I ve met in the Greek advertising industry. He studied Criminology and Law in the US and UK before focusing in Telecommunications and Advertising. What I loved about his talk was the fact that he presented the story of gipht.me and the “journey” that him and his team had in order to create that application without mentioning once the word entrepreneurship. Instead he compared his journey with moments from Ancient Greek history and that is a creative talent.

Angelos Patsias
Imagine a young person that abandons urban life to live in a small village named Fourfoura in Crete. Why? Because he chose to become a teacher and director of a primary school located in Fourfoura with only 4 teachers to cover the needs of six classes. What impressed me about Angelos was his modesty and his determination. It takes a lot of courage to persuade a small community that children can actually learn through different  activities and interactions and not just through books. Children are learing via singing, dancing as well as by doing the garden or cooking. This to me is an example of how the educational system should be. Learn not only through books but through experience. You can follow Angelos and the “School of Nature and Colors” here.

Marcie Mayer
At the beginning of her talk I was bored and I wasn’t quite sure of what she was talking about. That lasted just a couple of minutes. Marcie came to Greece for a break from her studies and she stayed in the island of Kea. launching the Hamada Icon Initiative. A project that aims at restoring acorn as an important product for the local economy. She presented to us the whole story behind and we got to taste some lovely cookies made by…acorn flower!

Edi Rama
He is an urban renovator that changed the political as well as the cultural environment in Albania. He served as a Mayor of Tirana from 2000 till 2011 and he promoted culture and arts in Albania. His belief is that if citizens are surrounde by beautiful things then they will also create beautiful things. A very simple idea but one that so far it is not applied in Greece. Color is very important in an urban landscape. A landscape that is surrounded by ugly buildings and a hectic life. Coloring that lansdcape (literally and metaphorically) will also “color” people’s lives. Think about it.

Tomas Sedlacek
I am not an expert on economics and most of the times I am not focused enough to understand values and ideas related to economy. When Sedlacek’s speach started he had my attention. He talked about the economy and how is related and influenced by history, myth, religion and ethics. A great speaker and a great mind proving at least to me that economics are basically formed by our every day decisions.

I would also like to talk about Areti Markopoulou & Tomas Diez, an architect and an urbanist and Maria Konti-Galinou, a social worker but I am afraid this is going to be such a long post and it will tire you.  I could talk for hours about inspirational people, talks and way of thinking. But as the conversation that I had on the plane back to Athens may be is time to stop thinking and discussing. May be is time to start acting.

If there was one thing to keep from this weekend would be that: I should stop discussing things. I should stop discussing ideas. I should start listening more. I should start looking more. I should act. Dreams and ideas do not come true by sitting back and talking about them.
This is your life. Do what you love. And do it often.
Getting lost will help you find your way.
Take risks. Listen. Learn. Open your eyes. Create. In other words…Wake up! 

site: http://www.tedxthessaloniki.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxThessaloniki
twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TEDxThess

Φοβόμαστε τα τέρατα.

Από παιδάκια ακούμε ιστορίες για τον μπαμπούλα που κρύβεται στην ντουλάπα ή κάτω από το κρεβάτι.
Στο σχολείο μαθαίνουμε για τα τέρατα της μυθολογίας και πόσο φοβεροί ήταν όλοι αυτοί οι ήρωες που τα κατατρόπωσαν με ζαβολιές και έξυπνα τεχνάσματα.
Μεγαλώνουμε και συνεχίζουμε να φοβόμαστε τα τέρατα που λέγονται σπουδές, κοινωνία, δουλειά, πολιτικοί και κυρίως το τέρας της αποτυχίας.

Μεγαλώνουμε, μεγάλωσα με τον φόβο του τι θα γίνει αν αποτύχω. Αν δεν περάσω τις εξετάσεις, αν δεν πάρω καλούς βαθμούς, αν δεν βρω δουλειά, αν με απολύσουν από την δουλειά, αν πω σε αγαπώ και δεν ακούσω να μου το λένε.

Ο καθένας μας κουβαλάει τους δικούς του φόβους.
Φόβους που δημιουργήθηκαν με διάφορους τρόπους. Ακόμα ξεπερνάω τους δικούς μου και ίσως να μην καταφέρω να τους ξεπεράσω ποτέ.
Σκέφτομαι όμως πως τα τέρατα που φοβάμαι μπορεί να έχουν και αυτά τους δικούς τους φόβους.

Σκέφτομαι πως είμαστε και εμείς τέρατα. Τα τέρατα κάποιου άλλου. 

υγ. την  Παρασκευή είδα την έκθεση των Beetroot  ”The Greek Monsterts” . Μια υπέροχη έκθεση από μια υπέροχη ομάδα. Αν δεν έχετε πάει να την δείτε, να τρέξετε. Όλες οι φωτογραφίες είναι από εκεί.
υγ2. το Σάββατο με αφορμή τις εκλογές και καθισμένοι σε μια πλατεία είχα μια πολύ όμορφη συζήτηση σχετικά με τον φόβο της αποτυχίας.
υγ3. την Κυριακή μετά τις εκλογές είδα μια ταινία. Από όλη την ταινία κράτησα μια ατάκα: “Το μόνο που χρειάζεται για να ξεπεράσεις κάτι είναι 20 δευτερόλεπτα κουράγιου”
υγ4. δεν είμαι από τα πιο πολιτικοποιημένα άτομα της χώρας, είμαι όμως πολίτης της. Χθες ψήφισα σκεπτόμενη ορθολογιστικά. Η αλήθεια είναι πως κανένα από τα κόμματα δεν με εξέφραζε. Με τα σημερινά αποτελέσματα όμως έχω φοβηθεί. όχι γιατί θα είναι στη βουλή άνθρωποι που είμαι εκ διαμέτρου αντίθετη με τις απόψεις τους, αλλά γιατί κυκλοφορούν ανάμεσα μας άνθρωποι που τους ψήφισαν. είμαστε ο καθρέφτης της πολιτικής μας εικόνας. και αυτός είναι ένας φόβος που δεν μπορώ να ξεπεράσω. 

I am writing and then I am deleting again. I ‘ve been trying to write this post for the last 4 days. I started writing this post with a completely different mood than the one I have now. Strange thing how our mind works…
I am trying to depict how I felt at the beginning of this week and is impossible. The reason is simple: I do not feel the same.
Yesterday I woke up with a completely different mood than the one that I have been having lately. I woke up happy.
The last couple of months have been weird for a number of reasons. I had time to think, to change my views, forget, remember again, feel nostalgic, get angry, feel sad, laugh and go out and generally go through a number of stages and phases.
Some of those moments function as mental clicks that trigger a switch and suddenly the way you perceive things changes. This week I had two of these moments.
I spend the first of May in a park with people (and a couple of dogs) that I wanted to have around me. I was looking at them and I had this stupid smile on my face. That was the first click on the switch.
Change of scenery. It is 23:00 at night in a balcony with 4 friends and one more on skype call (times like these we love technology even more). It is hot, some nachos on the table, 2 bottles of wine and 2 cats keep us company. We are laughing our hearts out. In my head I hear the second click.
It is a little bit after 3 and I am alone in the house. Everything is quiet. The only thing that I am thinking is “The simple things make our everyday life better. I am going to bed with a huge smile. The feeling is cannot be described.”
Last night I went to bed feeling “complete”. The best thing is that I woke up still feeling like this. 

Γράφω, σβήνω. Γράφω, σβήνω. Αυτό το ποστ το παιδεύω εδώ και 4 μέρες περίπου. Με άλλη ψυχολογία ξεκίνησα να το γράφω και εντελώς διαφορετική είναι η ψυχολογία που έχω τώρα. Περίεργο πράγμα το μυαλό…
Προσπαθώ να αποτυπώσω πως ένιωθα στην αρχή της εβδομάδας και μου είναι αδύνατο. Ο λόγος είναι απλός: Δεν νιώθω πια έτσι. Χθες ξύπνησα με εντελώς διαφορετική διάθεση από αυτή που είχα τις τελευταίες μέρες. Ξύπνησα χαρούμενη.
Οι τελευταίοι μήνες ήταν περίεργοι για διάφορους λόγους. Σκέφτηκα πολύ, αναθεώρησα, ξέχασα, θυμήθηκα ξανά, νοστάλγησα, θύμωσα, μούτρωσα, γέλασα, βγήκα έξω και γενικότερα πέρασα από διάφορα στάδια και φάσεις.
Είναι κάποιες από αυτές τις στιγμές που λειτουργούν σαν νοητά κλικ που ενεργοποιούν ένα διακόπτη και ξαφνικά αλλάζει ο τρόπος που βλέπεις τα πράγματα. Μέσα σε αυτή την εβδομάδα είχα 2 τέτοιες στιγμές.
Πέρασα την Πρωτομαγιά με ανθρώπους (και κάτι σκύλους) που πραγματικά ήθελα να έχω δίπλα μου. Τους κοίταγα και απλά χαμογέλα σαν χαζό. Αυτό ήταν το πρώτο κλικ στο διακόπτη.
Το σκηνικό αλλάζει. 23:00 το βράδυ στη βεράντα με 4 φίλες και μια ακόμα στο skype με video call (αγαπάμε τεχνολογία ακόμα πιο πολύ τέτοιες στιγμές). Ζέστη, νάτσος, 2 μπουκάλια κρασί και 2 γάτες να μας κρατάνε συντροφιά. Γελάμε με την καρδιά μας. Μέσα στο μυαλό μου ακούω το δεύτερο κλικ. 
Είναι περασμένες 3 και είμαι μόνη στο σπίτι. Ησυχία. Το μόνο που σκέφτομαι είναι “Τα απλά πράγματα είναι που κάνουν την καθημερινότητα μας καλύτερη. Πέφτω για ύπνο με τεράστιο χαμόγελο. Τέλειο συναίσθημα απλά. ”
Χθες το βράδυ έπεσα για ύπνο “γεμάτη”. Και το καλύτερο είναι πως ξύπνησα με ακριβώς το ίδιο συναίσθημα.

P.S. Huge thank you for you wishes./Τεράστιο ευχαριστώ σε όλους για τις ευχές σας. You make my world go round.