One of the things I enjoy most in life is getting to know people. Like, really getting to know them. What’s in their minds? What’s in their hearts? What do they care about? What brings them joy and what makes them sad? What has been their journey? Where do they want to go from here?
In this section I would like to share a bit of who I am.
I come from Greece. I have not been living in Greece since 2008 but if you ask me who I am, the first thing that comes to my mind is that I come from Greece. A sunny place, with stunning natural beauty, rich cultural traditions, and amazing cuisine. Also a place with long and troubled history. Since I was a kid, I was dreaming of living abroad. I was drawn to diverse and multicultural environments and Greece did not offer that.
I have been very lucky to have lived in places I fell in love with: Berlin, Paris, Potsdam, Boston. Moreover, my job has allowed me to travel extensively and meet and befriend people from all over the world. Still, for many years I avoided listening to Greek music because it made me feel homesick. It struck a cord in me that reminded me I am not at home.
I feel at home when I am in nature. I love being at the mountains and I love being by the sea. I love animals and trees and the song of birds. I like to gaze at the sky and bathe in the sun. I like to go for runs in parks and around lakes (I don’t get it when I see people running on the streets, next to the cars, I’m like why do you do this to yourselves?). I like hiking and riding my bike. I like sitting on the grass and leaning my back on trees. I like swimming and I dream of learning how to surf.
I also love staying at home. There are few things I enjoy more than reading a book, with my cat sleeping next to me. I love sitting in silence and being introspective. I enjoy meditation, writing my thoughts and doing yoga. I like cooking, and having friends over. I am known for feeding my guests too much but I think my friends eat too little. I like to play the accordion and I dream of playing in a band one day.
I also dream of the day that humans will learn to live in harmony with each other. I am very troubled by the condition of our world and have always been, since I was a child. Right now my copying strategy is to remind myself that we are billions of people living on this planet, each of us with our own perspectives and desires and a very limited time span on Earth. Getting along is not an easy feat. According to Plato, the people that rule should be the ones that don’t want to rule. I think that would solve many of our problems. I hope and wish that a new generation of leaders will emerge, leaders that don’t enjoy power but show up out of compassion. Given the current state of affairs, we have to accept that we do more things wrong than we do right and therefore we have to be very willing to re-evaluate and change.
One of the reasons why I like being a scientist is that it gives you a voice. People trust scientists. Ok, not as much as we would like to, but still. I want to use my voice to bring people together, although I am not sure how exactly I am going to do this. I believe that there is room for everyone and I think that zero-sum games eventually end up being lose-lose ones. I think that there is enough if we take only what we need and leave the rest to the others. I think that we need to learn to share power and resources. I have read one phrase several years ago on the wall of a coffee shop in San Francisco and I still remember it. It said: “Everyone will do better when everyone will do better.” If only we start to fathom the depth and wisdom of this truth.
Thank you for reading and looking forward to meeting you.