Over a year ago, I was forced to make the most radical, painful, and transcendental decision of my life. I had to abandon the place I used to call home. I could bring with me only three suitcases, leaving behind almost everything I owned. I must say that, ironically—in my overwhelming emotional process— this epiphanic exercise was particularly healing and liberating. I realized that we place high value on material things, forgetting what really matters in life, and that was just what I could not pack up in my luggage: my family, my friends, and my home.
Category: Transformations
The Interview
I’m from Germany, and I lived the last 10 years of my life in Berlin. My wife, Naemeh, is from New York City. She was born and raised in Jackson Heights, Queens. We met in 2005 in Berlin at a massive techno club called Berghain, in Friedrichshain, East Berlin. It’s now a world famous club. …
This Is My Story
I was born and raised in Russia. It’s a beautiful country with a long, interesting history, but not everybody can enjoy this beauty or even feel safe in Russia. For example, people like me—gay people. As a gay man in Russia, I am prohibited by law to tell people about my sexual orientation. I am …
Soul Shattered
I’ve been broken down within an inch of my life, Karma has stabbed me with the sharpest knife. I’ve lost the essence of who I was, Played with the devil and ended up in his jaws Fought many battles that left my soul bleeding, Like a warrior, never gave up and ended up winning, But …
Chavelita
Dear Isabel, I remember the day I took you home. I was scared because I didn’t know anything about how to take care of a baby. I was only 14 years old. I was a child myself. The first day you went home, you had a seizure. It was the most frightening day of my …
An Impossible Experience
My grandfather, my best friend and mentor, had a stroke. He could never walk or talk again. He and my grandmother moved to another city, and I was left in the house with my uncle and his family. My cousins soon began to bully me and even beat me because I was the smallest girl …
Universe
Every time I fall into depression, I think about the universe. “The beauty and clearness of the dynamic theory, which asserts heat and light to be modes of motion, is at present obscured by two clouds.” This was said by the physicist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) on April 27, 1900, in a speech that pointed …
I Stop for a Second
I stop for a second/ and I delight in the flashes/ of my aspirations, but then/ day by day, the demanding society/ chains me, enslaves me,/ to allow me to live in it.
Breathe, Smile, and Live
Sometimes in life, there is a point where you are forced to stop and take a moment to look back and review all the things that you have been doing in your everyday life. It is in this moment that you are granted the space of realizing the truly important things in life: to breathe, …