Adrovsky http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/ en Overflow http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/549 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Overflow</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">The Hoover dam is impressive. I admired the enormous yet elegant structure as I walked around it. But the overflow structures astonished me the most. To each side of the dam, a huge pool of concrete is ready to catch excess water in case of a flood. And at the end of the pool, a gigantic spillway leads the excess water through a massive concrete pipe all the way down to the other side of the dam. The spillways are key to avoid water slopping over the top of the dam and causing uncontrolled devastation. The mind works somewhat like a dam. It regulates the events that happen all around us to a manageable stream of emotions, allowing for a calm and to a certain extent predictable everyday life. And just like the dam, the mind needs spillways to protect itself from a breakdown when everything is too much. Going for a walk. Taking a deep breath. Meditating. All of those can gulp a load of sorrows and release pressure from the mind.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/spillway.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>I shivered as I imagined masses of water falling into the deep dark void of the spillway</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Wed, 01/29/2025 - 06:50</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=549&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="l1toGSRa9W-2svs6GFEoTw75NObgu98NNr1VSWTg0-Y"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Wed, 29 Jan 2025 05:50:03 +0000 Adrovsky 549 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Limbo http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/548 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Limbo</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">Some love Christmas, some dislike it. But beyond the celebrations and consumerism, one thing is unique to this time of the year. For many in the western world, the days between the 24th of December and the 1st of January are some sort of limbo where time stops. It is almost as if life was on hold. Paperwork, projects, contracts, you name it. All the allegedly important things have to wait until the next year, which seems so far yet is so close. And as a result, we finally have time to do all those things that are never urgent enough to make it into any regular day of the year. That art project that is stuck in a box since forever. That photo album that desperately needs some care before the memories fade forever. That long hug that we always postpone because there is always something more “important”. All that cannot be bought with money and cannot be put below a Christmas tree, but makes all the downsides of this time of the year worth it.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/arbolInvertido.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Clearly, this year we were holding the instructions of the Christmas tree upside down</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 12/31/2024 - 18:46</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=548&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="goG0DCpC_Uy9ts16EjSRdOzip12r8lM4hPm7WFTcKKY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Tue, 31 Dec 2024 17:46:58 +0000 Adrovsky 548 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Magic Words http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/547 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Magic Words</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">I wish I knew the magic words. They are different for every situation and one needs a lot of experience to find them. But when one does, they can change everything. They can change how a human being perceives a situation, which means that they can change reality. Those words can stop a downward spiral of negative emotions and lead to a spark of hope towards a recovery, even if slow and tedious. Depression, sadness, hopelessness. When I meet a person who suffers from such feelings, I wish I knew the magic words that would relieve them. Yet it is so difficult to find them. It requires knowing the person better than they know themselves. But when it works, often by chance, it is the most rewarding feeling that I have ever known. The slightest smile, the comfort of not being left alone, the safety of a compassionate hug. I wish I had the talent to find the words that induce such hopeful feelings in a human who suffers.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/norwayRainbow.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>A sign of hope under a dense blanket of clouds on the Lustrafjord in Norway</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Sat, 11/30/2024 - 16:37</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=547&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="63ZgI58GOPIICc7xWs0FRpjUFqLQ4adJ96u3Lm0wxH8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Sat, 30 Nov 2024 15:37:31 +0000 Adrovsky 547 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Toxic http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/546 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Toxic</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">I dislike the word <em>toxic</em>. So popular yet so unfair. It reduces anyone to a single dimension. A label that trashes a human in one go. Dislike someone? Call him or her <em>toxic </em>and win every argument instantly. Humans have misbehaved socially for as long as one can remember yet it was never so easy to judge them. Those misbehaviors are undoubtedly wrong and society needs more education to get rid of them, but the <em>toxic </em>label leaves no room for any learning or insight. It is the easy way, which fits very well our throw-away society. Trash it and get a new one, without spending any thought on the impact this label may have. While nobody needs to bear with someone who has not learnt to respect others, society breaks more and more the less compassionate we become. Compassion is to <em>toxic </em>behavior the same than recycling is to toxic substances. Everyone deserves at least a chance for recycling. And the <em>toxic </em>label is the exact opposite of that.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/reactorBlockSix.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>A place saved from being forever toxic: the core of Reactor Block 6 at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greifswald_Nuclear_Power_Plant">Greifswald</a></em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 10/29/2024 - 00:12</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=546&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="BSXs5VSGbVojH3T6GVniRyhlvq91TaLiWuukUDKfpA8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Mon, 28 Oct 2024 23:12:11 +0000 Adrovsky 546 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Washout Lane http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/545 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Washout Lane</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">I vaguely remembered a few scenes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(film)">Starship Troopers</a>. I probably saw parts of it on TV, but never the whole movie. I finally watched it the other day. At some point, the main character is in a military camp. The movie makes fun of all the military stereotypes, and even includes a so-called washout lane. It is an exit for the ones who give up and go back home, ashamed of not being good enough. Of being weak. Of being a failure. Beyond the satire, the concept gave me an unexpected warm-hearted feeling. We should all have the right to fail. To go home. To withdraw to a safe place. I am fortunate to have a life where the chance of physical danger is low. Still, I crave for the idea of a washout lane. Too often, the military camp is not our environment or the people who surround us, but our own mind. That is great news because it means that it is in our hands to reshape that camp to a garden that allows us to learn and <span><span>flourish, without the need for a safety exit.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/notHalt.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Life should not require one of these</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Sun, 09/29/2024 - 21:50</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=545&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="yiLIqyY3NYpUpGXe6elVMXHqAilgsktBJUFWdE95Yug"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Sun, 29 Sep 2024 19:50:21 +0000 Adrovsky 545 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Overnight http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/544 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Overnight</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">The theory sounds wonderful. Traveling overnight. Board a train, bus, or plane in the late evening and arrive fresh and renewed on the next morning to the destination. I fall for this every single time. And apparently, I am not the only one. I thought I would be almost alone on that train departing at half past three in the morning, but I barely could find a seat. Families. Elderly people. Hugging couples. The station was as busy as any other time of the day. Finally I found a spot among crying babies, sleep-masked travellers, and yoginis on the impossible quest to find the right sleeping posture on a train seat. I managed to catch some rest with the expected interruptions every few minutes, entirely unaware that I would enjoy a week-long stiff neck as a bonus. But no matter how many overnight trains, buses, or planes I take, for some inexplicable reason I still do not feel the motivation to get a neck pillow. Nor to give up on the delusion of restful overnight trips.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/parisEst.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>As early as 10:30 in the morning, I arrived "fresh and renewed" in the city of love</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Wed, 08/28/2024 - 23:19</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=544&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="P0L93vzbWB84OCYNXzeOZPa_cf_P34MmmHUAu3YTPrs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Wed, 28 Aug 2024 21:19:34 +0000 Adrovsky 544 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Sun Jackpot http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/543 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Sun Jackpot</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">I love the rain. Finally a break. A true relief. Now I can stay at home without feeling guilty. <em>The sun is out, how come you’re not enjoying it?</em> In a region where summer means an endless sequence of sticky days and heavy thunderstorms, sun on a weekend day is like a lottery jackpot. <em>You should go out. You must go out!</em> On that one day where one could finally sleep long and get all the urgent house work done, that damn blue sky and unbearable bright sun feed my remorse. All these people going on hikes and crowding the outdoor seats of the restaurants make me feel even more guilty. <em>You are missing out on the summer!</em> The problem is that the summer is too nice here. It is warm enough to enjoy the great outdoors yet not hot enough for a heatstroke. The pressure to enjoy that is enormous. Rain is the only way out. And when will it rain again? On the exact same moment that I am done with the housework and I get on the bike to go somewhere.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/candleSummer.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>In summer nights, I light this candle that magically stops time while I sit on the balcony</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 07/29/2024 - 00:29</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=543&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="Gd9wKsUDuHikxfBUzhaKYOKILrwziK6_n-KBFx6vMBA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Sun, 28 Jul 2024 22:29:31 +0000 Adrovsky 543 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Eight Hours http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/542 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Eight Hours</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">I try to sleep about eight hours every day because I dislike feeling tired, but I have to admit that the dreamy, headache-prone state after a short night also comes with some advantages. The mind is too tired to think. Most importantly, it is too tired to overthink. Anxiety costs energy. If one barely has enough energy to move, anxiety becomes an unaffordable luxury. Too tired to worry. Too tired to consider all possible outcomes. Too tired to make one's own life more difficult than it needs to be. And, unfortunately, too tired to fully enjoy the benefits of that state. Lack of sleep is certainly not the way to get there, but it offers a preview of a life without all the self-imposed stress. I believe meditation can help to get there in a more sustainable way. Lately, my meditation practice is at a minimum. On many days, it is just one minute. But that one minute feels like a tremendous relief. Almost everything can wait for one minute. That one minute is mine, and only mine, to truly do nothing.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/potCat.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>I should learn from this cat. It stayed in that pot all day doing nothing, and no problem.</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Sun, 06/30/2024 - 21:24</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=542&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="C34658H9i9p5dxYH6h0_-mk1cJ-GGntu0A-wgsySVjk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Sun, 30 Jun 2024 19:24:27 +0000 Adrovsky 542 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Pause http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/541 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Pause</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">So far, I am lucky to never have had a bad experience on a plane. I like flying. I like <a href="http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/index.php/node/418">the views out of the window</a>. I like realizing that I am safely sitting thousands of meters above the ground. But what I like the most is <a href="http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/index.php/node/470">flight mode</a>. Not just on the phone, but also in the sense of disconnection. No tasks. No to-do lists. Nothing. It all has to wait because I am literally crammed into an airplane seat and anything other than reading a book or watching a movie is just not feasible. For the duration of the flight, life is on pause. And that is wonderful. Down on the ground, I fall back to a priority-based existence like I guess most of us. A life in which something needs to be top priority among all other urgent tasks to ever be done.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/rainMunich.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Rain pours on Munich in the background after take off from runway 26L</em></p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Wed, 05/29/2024 - 21:54</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=541&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="XCyO8C5E4sQiza4Okw5lvqaYhT8CB_7YE5VYq1-JJWU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Wed, 29 May 2024 19:54:49 +0000 Adrovsky 541 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web Last Times http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/540 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Last Times</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align: justify;">First times get all the attention. First time swimming. First time riding a bike. First time flying. A mix of excitement and fear for a new experience. But we almost never notice last times. The last time hiking a beautiful scenery. The last time talking to a friend. The last time hugging a loved one. Most last times are sad as they mark the end to a phase. The phase may have been better or worse, but it has shaped our life. So did my little appartment in Munich, which I had to vacate due to personal needs of the owner. As I emptied the 40 m2 that had been my home for almost six years, I remembered the feeling when I first moved in. It was a time of excitement for a new start full of opportunities. I had tons of plans and ideas of all the things I wanted to do. Everything seemed possible.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="/drupal/web/sites/default/files/inline-images/flatDoor.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>I passed the door so often, yet I had never actually looked at it</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">As I looked back one last time to the empty appartment, I realised how little of all of that I had actually done. I left behind the place that had stood for all my aspirations. <a href="http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/464" target="_blank">Minimalism</a>. <a href="http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/502" target="_blank">Zero waste</a>. <a href="http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web/node/487" target="_blank">Meditation</a>. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/adrovsky/p/CbBcwDpNvF4/" target="_blank">Design</a>. All those things. I closed the door, walked down the stairs for the last time, and thanked that place for the dreams it helped make a reality.</p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span lang="" about="/drupal/web/user/1" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Adrovsky</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 04/29/2024 - 21:52</span> <section class="field field--name-comment-node-blog field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper"> <h2 class="title comment-form__title">Add new comment</h2> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderForm" arguments="0=node&amp;1=540&amp;2=comment_node_blog&amp;3=comment_node_blog" token="rq8-mvX7Su2Za5IUZtX4fXwbfz480c4HqRpKXeINGkA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </section> Mon, 29 Apr 2024 19:52:53 +0000 Adrovsky 540 at http://adrovsky.3pas.org/drupal/web