Life is as beautiful as you allow yourself to see it

Once Halloween is over, shopping centers don't sit on their hands but burden us with a new flow of things that we just 'have to buy': baubles, chains, sweets, Christmas decorations, toys, gifts, etc. The vicious circle of commercialism doesn't stop. On the main city streets we can already see new lighting with motifs of reindeer, snowman or snow stars. Huge Christmas trees and charming wooden Christmas markets stand in the main squares. We hear Christmas songs and even carol melodies  more and more in the radio. Store sites inform us about further sale. Every day we feel more and more 'magic' of holidays driven mainly by traders.  Indeed, Christmas decorations remind us of days off from work, delicious dishes, spending time with family, joy of received or handed gifts. That is why we uncritically accept this 'magic'. The consequences are that in November people spend their free time after work or classes in stores. We focus more on material preparat...

Last time my trip to Szczecin had a different dimension... Well, for the past few weeks I have been preparing for an international student conference 'Perspectives francophones'. The conference aimed for popularizing French language, culture and literature among young people from various universities and even countries. I study Spanish every day, I'm remembering English that has not been used for a long time, so I decided to take part in a kind of challange that would motivate me to speak French also and take up further literary studies. I wrote an article titled 'Crime et conscience: le duel des pensées entre Albert Camus et François Mauriac' ('Crime and conscience: a duel of thoughts between Albert Camus and François Mauriac'), and during the conference I had to summarize its most important elements. My lecture, which lasted 15 minutes, cost me more than a month's preparation, writing an article, making corrections, reading a dozen or so of French boo...

Every once in a while, my everyday routine is interrupted by local three-hour trips. The mentioned time is the distance traveled by train between Poznań and Szczecin- my  ‘ two homes ’. I usually try to use the time as productively and efficiently as possible; I read literary texts, take notes, do homework and writing assignments, draw up a list of tasks for the next week etc. However, sometimes there are quite different days when I simply enjoy my leisure in a way that can surprise and even scandalize… Nowadays, we are so busy, effective, efficient that we blame ourselves when we’re resting. Even when we’re not working, we want to be active. Consequently, we’re learning foreign languages, working out at the gym or, alternatively, we’re bombarding the senses and the brain with an excess of stimuli while watching movies, reading newspapers, following social networks, listening to the music or radio. These are all fantastic things, but probably not always so crucial. ...

Recently, the latest film by Pedro Almodovar (the most famous contemporary Spanish director) appeared in cinemas. I use to keep a distance to the media. I don't listen to the radio, even in the car, I don't have a TV, I don’t read newspapers neither. I know that the flow of information is always limited, biased, directed by someone unknown who just wants to earn a big money. That's why I read selected news on the Internet and I treat my meetings with culture consciously. Cinema, theater, opera, philharmonic- I'm sure that these spaces have created my sensibility somehow and I have had a special bond with them for a long time. Aldomovar's films have always impressed me a lot. Provincial, rural life, strong and resourceful figures of women, importance of relationships, taboos, multi-faceted controversial issues, human dramas. This is a cinema that doesn't always end well, it doesn't always explain everything, sometimes it doesn't impress with gra...

I have never liked Halloween, I didn't participate then. I wonder why children who collect candies are dressed up as monsters, which are not associated with death at all, in my opinion, but rather with evil, cruelty and ugliness. Why don't children who collect sweets dress up as candies, lollipops or cotton candy? I think that would be a much nicer costume. I also imagine children dressed for example as a watermelon, pear, pineapple or strawberry; in my opinion we would enjoy it more and have more fun. Such figures would be positive and give us, let’s say, a good example, instead of frighten, I believe it at least. But it is just a subjective perspective. Another face of last weekend is All Saints’ Day celebration, which I definitely like more. I don't take part in competitions for the biggest candle or the largest number of them and I don't pretend to know all relatives (or even not?) I can meet that day at the cemetery talking to them once a year - if I don’t kn...