"Look at your life as you would look at a landscape of Barcelona"

It took me a while to come back with a post on my blog.

In the meantime, since my previous post I have:
- applied for two responsibilities in AIESEC but didn't get selected
- applied for a traineeship in Bahrein, didn't get it
- finished and turned in my diploma thesis, but didn't pass the accounting license exam
- twisted my wrist

Some might say: "Oh my God! You're cursed! Look at all the bad things that happen to you!"

Well, I must add as well:
- I am living in Viena (Austria) now
- I work in IBM starting with June this year (2007) and I will do so until July (2008)
- I work in the Regional Marketing department
- I've started doing sports again as I did some 2 years ago
- I've started learning German and an IT Service Management certification
- I have attended some very interesting and useful trainings in a 2 week preparation "conference" within IBM
- I have tighten my relationship with my family, as never before

So life is still going exciting and fast, as always.

But the purpose of this post is another one. 2 years ago, in spring 2005, I have hitch-hiked with one of my friends back home in Romania, from Arad (Romania) to Barcelona (Spain), covering a total distance of 2197 km. We took this trip because we wanted to go traveling abroad, and what better way of traveling if not: hitch-hiking, to a country we have never been to, without knowing how exactly far it is (we realized that in Arad that between Milano and Barcelona it's a longer way then we initially thought).

To make a long story short, we arrived in Barcelona after 2 days, spending one night in Klagenfurt (Austria), Milano (Italy) and France (we took a night train between Nice and Perpignan). Funny stories, moments of fear, but all in all finished good.

In the first night in Barcelona, our friend whom we were visiting (and that was kind enough to offer us a place to sleep) took us to the National Museum in Barcelona.
It was friday. Back then, every 2 weeks (I might be mistaking) the fountains at the bottom of the hill, on which this Museum was located, had a beautiful show:

I was going through my previous posts, thinking of what should I write next. Should I write about my daily life? Should I write my opinion about certain happenings around the world? None of them was motivating enough to make me wanna write a posting... maybe I will write such postings in the future... but for now I want to share with the world one of the things in which I believe in, when it comes to attitude towards life.

While up on this hill, with my friends Vlad and Visi, being amazed of the beautiful view of the city, I have started developing one of my philosophies in life: "Look at your life as you would look at a landscape of Barcelona":










I will refer to this landscapes, the ones that are photographed millions of time per year. You see families taking pictures of this views, individuals, couples, kids, adults, elder people.. everybody enjoys the view of the city, even though they can hardly distinguish a lot of it, except the famous sites: Sagrada Familia, Nou Camp Stadium, Tibidabo etc.

From up there, where they sit, everything (as a whole) looks amazing, and as you stay there, you suddenly have the feeling that you don't want to leave, if only your apartment would have a view like that :) However, there are things in this view, that you cannot distinguish: due to distance, maybe the buildings / places are not so high so they are not visible to the open eye.

Barcelona is one of the most popular cities in the world. It attracts millions of tourists every year, from all over the world. They come to Barcelona for various reasons/purposes. Some that come into my mind as being the most frequent ones:
Going to Formula 1 races. However the race track was built only in 1991, whereas Barcelona has been popular long before that. Personally I wouldn't go anywhere in this world because of a Formula 1 race.. but it's just me, as I am not a big car fan.


Tourist attractions. Barcelona is a place to visit Monday and Tuesday, if you want to enjoy a view without having to move around due to the hundreds of people that are taking exactly the same picture as you, that are in the same place with you etc. In the weekends it's a madness. I remember going to Park Guelle (Gaudi's park) on sunday and struggling to find an available bench where to rest.

Architecture. Whether it is one of the houses that Gaudi designed or it is the Gothic part of the city, the Sagrada Familia or some new building Barcelona amazes through the variety of architectural styles it gathers in one place. I know some friends that are simply amazed and in love about this classical but yet modern architecture. They read books, study buildings, visit exhibitions, publish works. Personally, the closest I've got to architecture was reading "The Fountainhead" of Ayn Rand and visiting an exhibition in Bucharest on the topic of "Rebuilding Bucharest".

Modernism. Buildings that defy normal logic, architecture that fits into the contemporary reality, exhibitions, modern art. All of it can be found in Barcelona.

Sports. Now we're talking :) FC Barcelona, the football club, was one of the things that made me fall in love with this sport. Romario, Ronaldo, Hagi, Stoichkov, Popescu, all the big players that have made "magic" in football played there. Nou Camp, the stadium that can fit up to 100.000 supporters, so many Champions League matches. That's one of the reasons I would go back in Barcelona. "El Classico" the match against the eternal rivals from Real Madrid, is said to be one of the matches one real football fan must see in his life. It's similar to visiting the Louvre for an art's fan, listening to Mozart for a musician etc.

History. A cradle of history, a true river of stories from the past that let you know about the present, Barcelona offers to the history lovers a lot of things to visit, see, experience. Whether it is going to a museum, visiting the Gothic part of the city, walking down the streets, going to antique shops, it's all there.

Fun. Concerts, the beach, the Mediterranean See... everything is there to make your staying in Barcelona comfortable, fun and exciting. Rather expensive I would say, but hey, it's not like you go to Barcelona everyday. Walking down La Rambla is another fun thing to do.

So, nobody will do a mistake in saying that you can find more or less, everything you want in Barcelona. And watching all the city from the hill of the National Museum was a delight. You could see the entire city, and standing proud within it, the famous, "must see", in Barcelona: the houses of Gaudi, La Rambla, The Sagrada Familia, the Gothic part of the city, Nou Camp.

But in the same time you are enjoying your view of the city, someone is born, maybe someone else is dying, somebody gets robbed and somebody wins at the casino, two cars crush, somebody buys a new bike. A student fails his exam, whereas another one falls in love.
As well, on the streets of Barcelona you can find: homeless people, garbage that remained from the hundreds of tourists, immigrants that try to build up a new life in a new country, mothers that have lost their children, ugly sides of the city filled with illegal workers.

You know what? From the National Museum, Barcelona looked amazing! I couldn't see just a part of the city, I could only see the beautifulness of it as a whole. A landscape that attracts every year a lot of people, for different reasons, even if you can put it all under one name: tourism.

How does it translate into my philosophy?

Well, during your life you have some experiences, events, stories that make up your "personal tourist attractions". This attractions are the superficial ones, that a person meeting you will realize in a short time. Myself? Most of the people that have met me know that: I played basketball, I was a football hooligan in high-school, I did a lot of hitch-hiking internationally, I was supposed to become a priest (sang in a church for a couple of years), I was a member of AIESEC for nearly all my university time, did a lot of partying in the last year of high-school first 2 years of university.

Of course, if somebody has and takes the time to "walk" through my life, he /she will understand reasons behind everything I did. What was my motivation for doing things? What was my driver and what is it that makes me who I am today? How many times haven't you been in a city, where you run to see the most popular sites, but do not know all the story behind them? I think this is valid as well for human beings. We are not taking the time to see a person, a "city" in it's hole.. Why is that? Because there are a lot of "cities", other human beings to get to know. So we find ourselves in a rush for knowing, but find ourselves in realizing that we do not know many things about ourselves as well.

However, being able to have a holistic view of yourself, of your past, with goods and bads, it's what makes the difference between a person with a healthy attitude and one without.

Looking at your life as you would look at Barcelona, means for me, looking at what you are, at what you have lived, at where you come from and put it all together. Not because it is hard, but because usually human beings tend to deny the bad things in their past and keep only the positive. Sure, there will be people that will find your life exciting but as well people that will find it awfully boring. In the end, if you have experienced a lot, and build your own "Sagrada Familia", "Nou Camp", "Mediterranean Sea", "Gaudi Houses", you will have something that different people will find interesting.

And because of this attitude, of accepting the goods and the bads in your life as making up a whole, a whole that has a higher meaning then just a simple existence, you will attract people, that will come to you over and over again, to visit the famous sites. And you will truly be able to look at your life as you would look at Barcelona, when people coming and leaving, would be willing to do what it takes to build up their own "cities and landscapes".

"The world is like a book, and those who do not travel read only one page".
St. Augustine


Mugur

"Do not burn the bridges..." and Michelangelo

"When you take on the journey to follow your dreams, make sure you do not burn the bridges".

Paul Nuber - GM Nestle Romania

This has been a quote I have heard in one of the events we have organized last year, "Access to Leadership", in AIESEC Bucharest.

Time has passed since that meeting, almost 3 months already I guess. Since then I've took a lot of decisions have been made (personal, professional, small/big, important/useless). Now and then I remeber the quote written above and I remember that any decision shouldn't be made while having everything behind you collapsing.

In the last post I was sharing my decision making process. I guess that without this quote I would have chosen differently (or not). But a simple sentence, made such a big impact. I understood that one cannot take a decision that will influence only himself. Context and external factors must be taken into consideration as well (but not so far as taking a decision 100% because of what is around you - this is called pleasing others and not yourself, and it is one of the best ways I know of going towards the "Excuses land" - where everything that turns out bad is "due-to-anything-something-everything-else-but-me").

Consolidation. The year ahead is dedicated to consolidating the "bridges" that I have already crossed. I am now standing on one. I've asked myself what do I want to understand from this quote (as I think that people usually use quotes that they like, understand, relate to).

- "when you take on the journey to follow your dream..." - I like it first of all because it assumes that you are ready to take the first step towards your dream (there's the other quote saying "Every big journey starts with a single step"). since it doesn't say at any point that "if you take", "if the thought of taking on the journey is strong enough" - NO - nothing of this crap. This words are for people that are waiting for "something" to come from up above or whatever other side to make them follow their dreams (some call it manipulation, influence, etc.). But they are all external.

I like it because it is only for people that are courageous and understand the freedom that is given to them. The freedom to choose, act, fail, fall, cry, scream, dream, fight, lose. It is freedom as long as you take benefit of it. I like it because it talks about "me". If I am ready.

But even if I am ready to take this first step, the question is still there: "How far is this dream?". The answer is simple and concise:"Journey" (and there are other two quotes that I like here: "Success is a journey not a destination!" but I guess this is a cliche right now; another quote is the slogan of a football club in Denmark, I've heard it from somebody I've met at the Sziget festival in 2004, Ronnie Abergel - "Success is temporarely, loyalty is forever!"). So what is the answer? I guess I don't know and I didn't found an answer yet (still if somebody knows, add it as comment to this post). My answer (up to this moment is), It doesn't matter! If you are loyal to your dream, then it will last forever.

"make sure you do not burn the bridges!"

Think about it. I did. I will be crossing bridges... from a country to another, from a group of friends to another, from a close friend to another. It will be a time when I will want to go back, just for a short period of time, to smell / taste/ feel the past. I won't say "there's no turning back!". Life thought me that people are bound to live together (some will laugh about the simplicity of what I have just wrote, but think about it, how many times did it happen to you to meet someone for the second time, someone that you have told yourself you'll never meet ever in your life? In the end, how far can they go? We are still on the same planet :)).

Conclusion?

I love this quote. I am gratefull for the decision I've taken to attend that edition of the program "Access to leadership". I am more and more a fan of the "at least a one degree change" (search for making at least a one degree change in the people you interact with, and make their lives better, even though on the short term you cannot see the results).

But how about the dream?

How to recognize the dream, the ideal you fight for? Heard a really good analogy in one of the recent conferences I have attended. Seems that Michelangelo, when asked: "How did the idea of s

culpting came to you? And more then that, how did you pictured it like it ended?", he replyed:

"I saw the angel trapped in the stone, and I have carved until I have set him free".

This is an answer that I am willing to accept. I am willing to accept that the only thing standing between me and my dreams is "the stone", no matter what it might be. But I am willing to carve in "it" until I set my dreams free.

Because in the end, I am free to dream... or not to dream.

Mugur

2007 - the year of consolidation

The second week of December 2006

I came back from Cluj Napoca (a city located somehow in the center of Romania) from a strategic meeting. I have planned to go to Istanbul between the 15th and 17th of December, as I was about to spend my holidays at home and do no travelling for Christmas (and I guess that somewhere inside there was also this feeling of travelling to a new country in 2006 - the first one of the year was the Czech Republic).

The third week of December 2006

Probably one of the most consuming in terms of energy and hours of sleep in the whole year.

I came back from Istanbul on monday morning at 06:00. The first "career planning" interview was at 09:30 (the first out of 13 that week, happened only 12). That week meant: finalizing some contracts, sending the evaluation of some projects, creating "B" plans for people, arranging what was to be arranged before going in holiday.

Friday the 22nd of December

As I was finishing all the things in the office and heading home (22:00), I thought I will never make it... or if I make it, I just want to lye down in my bed and rest. When I got elected, one of my AIESEC Friends told me "I wish that when I look at your eyes at the end of the term, I see a tired person". I've send him an SMS reminding him of his wish and telling him that he should see me then to have it fulfilled.


Decision time:

During the month of november, we had several talks in the team and outside the team meetings regarding our future. What shall we do? What is it that makes you wake up in the morning? What will be making you wake up in the morning for the rest of your life, no matter the job you take and path you follow? Simple but yet complex questions.

What is the pattern?

The first question I have asked myself. After several days, in which I forgot about the question itself I came to a conclusion... or better yet, two patterns, since the so called conclusions brought some other questions as well:

a) My main purpose:

When I was just 5-6 years old, my parents were sending me every summer for three months to live with my grandparents. Their place is located somewhere in the north-east of Romania (40 km away from Dorohoi to the NE). It is a village with 4000 people, and in the time I was going there, 2 TVs and 3 phones and 30% of the houses without electricity (not because they couln't afford but just because the people there were used to live as they have been living in the past decades). The name of the village is Dimacheni, and as it is really hard for me to describe it, the least I can do is to show you a picture that reminds me of this place, the colour of my youth hapiness.

Back then, I used to love wathing sun sets by myself but I hardly can remember what was going through my mind while watching them. What I do remember though is that I was dreaming of becoming a cow-boy [Romanian "ciredar", "vacar"]. Why? Because I was considering an incredible job, to take the cows from the village and walk with them alone on the hills and plains that were surrounding the villages, on territories that were unknown to the village (or so I believed). And in the evening, the cattles were brought back to the village, feeding the entire community with milk.

It seemed unbelievable how one person was getting the trust of every villager that had a cow (or more), that was giving it away for the full day and knew that the cows are going to come back in the evening, safe and sound. The cow-boy was repaying the trust he received (and the small amount of money he received in return) with a sustainable source of food and life - the milk.

My main purpose: I think is not to be the cow-boy that I have seen when I was 5-6 but to be a modern cow-boy. To travel to "places" where people do not travel on a daily basis, to get the trust of people around me and repay it back sustainable and for the good of life. While this got clear, it made my decision even clearer, regarding my future years. I know now that travelling must be an important part of my life in the near future and that I have to do something meaningfull for humanity.

b) Values:

Coming from the story written above, I guess it is clear: my work should have a meaning for humanity and I should have the freedom to decide. I guess this two values can become perspectives of life, way of seeing things, as I have noticed and received feedback that I give meaning to apparently meaningless things. I believe that I am free... and I know that for as long as I will believe in this thought and feeling, I can loudly say that I am free.

I have understood that I am a connector, because I have the ability to socialize and to recognize talented people, so I will use it in my life, to meet people all around the world and connect them in different ways (life, business, learning).

The pattern of decision?
In my 23 years of life, there is the same pattern appearing in personal life path decisions: When in situations of facing a decision that has two dimensions:"known path" /"unknown path" always<choose the second one".

When I was 14 years old I had to decide if:
"Known path" = go to the orthodox seminar and start studying for becoming a priest. Take advantage of the connections you already have in the churches and life a long and wealthy life.
"Unknown path" = go to a mathematics - physics highschool and study. What would come out? Hardly have any idea.

Decision taken: Joined the "Gheorghe Sincai" Theoretical Highschool - "unknown path"

When I was 19 years old:
"Known path" = go to the orthodox university and still become a priest and with this all the known benefits and traits (get support from an existing network)
"Unknown path" = go to an economical university (none of my family members has economical background) and we'll see what would come out (mention: I didn't have any idea of what accounting means. In few months I will graduate accounting).

Decision taken: Joined the Academy of Economical Studies - "unknown path"

When I was 20 years old:
"Known path" = join VIP (a student organisation in my university) and use the existing network (my sister was in the middle management position in the organisation), and I knew some other people there
"Unknown path" = join AIESEC (I wasn't accepted the first time), an organisation that was an entire mistery for me.

Decision taken: Joined AIESEC

When I was 22 years old:
"known path" = Join a training company that was offering me a job and a clear career path (thank you for that).
"Unknown path" = run for the position of Local Committee President - and do one year of totally new things (found myself in the position of not knowing what to expect since I hardly knew what it meant)

Decision taken: Became Local Committee President

It seemed that the pattern was about to lead most of my decisions in my life. The "unknown path" seemed to be the "right decision". But as I was in my winter holidays one questions popped up in my mind or I think better said, heart. If in most the decisions I took this year, I have learned to trust my feelings (my inner feeling, sense), why wouldn't I use the same thing in this situation.

The context was the following:

"Unknown path" - running for MCP in AIESEC Romania / MCVP abroad [Brasil, China]
"Known path" - finishing university, learning at least one new foreign language, rebuilding the trainers pool in AIESEC Romania, getting a job in training - in one word consolidating my 23 years of life.

After intense thought and inner talks, I have decided to follow my feelings.

2007 - the year of consolidation:

I will finish my President term on the 30th of April 2007. Will take forward all the things that we have started in our team's term and make sure we leave a healthy organisation. With the help of the National Trainers Team of AIESEC Germany will rebuild the trainers pool of AIESEC Romania in 2007. Will create a direct link between the Local Trainers Team of AIESEC Bucharest and the training market in the city. Will finish university and graduate with a diploma thesis on "Sustainable Development in microeconomy". Will hike on the highest mountains of Romania for a full week in august together with a group-like minded people. Will facilitate at You!Can and NALDS.

In may 2008 leave my job and continue following my dream: of working on all the continents by the age of 30.

But until then, I must understand what are the "cows and the milk" in my main purpose :)

Mugur

Moving to mugur.nomadlife.org

Starting today, 27.12.2006, I will move my blog from mugur.myaiesec.net to mugur.nomadlife.org.

In 2007 I will be posting more messages and thoughts ;)

All the best in the years to come,
Mugur

A circle has closed..wonder what's next?

I have been thinking about this next post since almost 2 months ago, when on the 18th of December I was elected President of AIESEC Bucharest, the organization in which I am involved as a volunteer since november 2003..

"A circle has closed.."

It all started in Poland, in spring 2004, when during an evening plenary, one powerpoint presentation was promoting a conference "You!Can" that was taking place in Germany in august. Back then I had nothing in mind, no thought about applying for it. On the way back to Bucharest I've had one of the most influential discussion ever, with one person that later on became a model for me.. I've continued school and AIESEC as motivated as always.

In june I received early in the morning a message from one of my close friends saying that I was accepted as part of the organizing committee of the You!Can conference in Germany. It was an impossible dream, since I was a young member and this conference had some high requirements (I still believe that the 20 persons I've talked to helped me a lot in gaining the motivation for this conference.. thank you Pode, Geta, Albert, Carl, Prue, Alexis, Paul.. and the others I don't remember now).

The first thing that came into my mind was to check on the map and see where is Hannover... and then realised that I cannot afford taking the train/plane/bus to Germany (since my parents had given me a lot of financial support during that year). Then I've started to hitch-hike. The first experience was from Bucharest to Sibiu with Paul (the President of AIESEC Bucharest 2004-2005). The second experience was from Bucharest to Vama Veche (by myself). The third experience was from Bucharest to Hannover :D I got into You!Can after a long journey (Stopping in Budapest for the Sziget Fesztival... I still miss a close friend from Budapest, Zita, that gave me all her help during my stay there).

It was incredible for me, since this conference was happening in the same time with International Congress (and together the conferences were gathering almost 800 people from 84 countries). To cut the long story short, my organizing committee experience was shorter than expected due to a situation in which I decided to get involved in (the story is really long and not worth being written here, maybe I'll tell it over a beer). Even if I cryied 2 days afterwards, I learned some really important lessons that are still helping me in guiding my life and found my mentor... the person that was going to be next to me in some key moments in the next 10 months, both for me and for him. In You!Can I decided to go to Austria for a CEED (Cultural Envoy for Exchange Development.. kind of an internship inside of AIESEC) for 3 months as Vice President People Development.

I had the time of my life...and understood what is really important for me. I had the chance to work in an international environment, to run a recruitment, to do every mistake possible in intercultural communication, to be helped by close friends... to get the international experience I dreamed off since I finished highschool. I made a promise before arriving in Romania. I promised that I will work for at least 6 months in AIESEC Bucharest.. for a better organization.Coming back from Austria, I applyied for Vice President Marketing on the 18th of december 2004 and wasn't elected. I continued a year as a Trainers Team Coordinator.. and boy was it a cool year. A dream started in Macedonia, in a place very close to my heart at that moment, even though I feel this place has lost it's magic since then, but as the time will pass I am sure that it will sure feel the same when I'll come back there... Ohrid. I decided to run for president in AIESEC Bucharest.. and after a recruitment that made me realise that I am not that weak as I thought I was, after running for 3 months after a goal, the one of recruiting a generation that will once again give a fresh perspective to the organization, I stopped in a national conference in december, on the top of the hotel we were staying in, drinking the bottle of wine that I have received from a very special person of mine while back in Macedonia.. Tga Za Jug (Sorrow for the south). It wasn't the taste of the wine, or better said, not the taste but the people that were around me then made it really amazing, they were the people that really touched me in the past year, that were next to me at some small moments even though they weren't realising it.


And finally I faced my dream.. a dream that was in my mind for months, the one of getting the trust of the people around me and willing to follow me for one year.

Challenge -> SYNERGY -> Believe

This was my committment for 2006-2007.

Challenge: we must stop running and start facing the challenges that we encounter in our lives, because this was what I have learned in my experience. That no matter how far will you run or no matter where you will hide, the fears will never dissapear, but even worse, will strike you when you don't even think or expect.

SYNERGY: because only together we are going to move to the next level, the level where in an synergic way we are going to unite all our strong points and overcome fears, challenges, the unknown. This word summarizes the way I dream and lead everyday AIESEC Bucharest. This is my committment... because this is what I want to learn, how to put all the trust in people and share my all the strong points with the people around me in the same time with the weak points, just to show that I can develop and learn no matter where I am (position or age).

Believe: we are individuals facing life every day, and every minute of our day is meant to be under a question, "am I right or wrong?", "am I in love or not?", "am I doing the right thing or not?". My answer is:"Who cares?". Believe that it is right and it will be, believe that you want to do the right thing and you will start doing it. Believe that you are made up from emotions, and you will be in love with yourself, the people around you and nevertheless with what you are doing.

And the last one was to represent Romania in the best way I can wherever I will go and whatever my role will be. Because after almost 28.000 km of travelling I am proud to be a Romanian. I am proud of my country and people no matter how many "small bads" we find in both of them. I am proud of my parents that don't have high education, but have managed to raise 2 children just with the education they've got in a village in the north of Romania, where even today the modernism and hightech are unnecessary for the simple life they are living, because as somebody very dear to me said once:"Life is simple but with every day passing we are complicating it more and more".

This was my legagy and thing I will strive to leave and inspire the people around me with, because this is who I am. My application and presentation represented me.

I was elected.. and the next week, while I was walking home, I felt an imense pressure on my shoulders, coming from the huge amount of questions coming from all the directions inside:
My brain was asking me: "What will you do next?", "What is your next step?"
My heart was asking me: "Do you understand what you feel? Do you feel what you understand?"
I was asking me: "What is happening to me?","What will happen to me?"

I decided to give an answer to all of them: "Time will tell, I need to just be.."

This answer came in the same place where it all started, where the impossible dream appeared, where the circle opened.. in Ohrid, Macedonia.

Somebody asked me some days ago, if it has the same effect on somebody else as well. I don't know, and probably it has not. Not because we are different people, or better yet not only because of this, but because you need to find the place that connects with your feelings in the perfect moment at the perfect time. This was the second time it happened me in less than one year, and strangely it was the same place.. next to the lake of Ohrid, next to the church on the cliffs.

A circle has closed...wonder what's next?

Just be...

Mugur

One year ago.. this picture was taken right after one of my trips to a football match.. Parma - Steaua (when I was in an intership program inside AIESEC called CEED). After it I wrote "24 hours of my life". Amazing moments with a high value to myself as an individual, bringing me courage, and demonstrating once more that whenever I want something, I just need to make a first step and the rest will follow.
Snapshot of a feeling...

"Macedonian born Romanian".. strange as it might sound, I feel that I belong to that country, that being the place where I was reborn.
Snapshot of a feeling...

The hardest part is inside me...

Last friday I was at a concert.. Tiesto CEE Tour. Being one of the biggest music producers in the world, it was abvious that a lot of people were going to attend it. But nobody thought that 10.000 people will be there, 10.000 souls together, listening to the same music and having different thoughts and feelings in the same time...

I've started reading "The Celestine Prophecies" once again. I wanted to be able to attend this concert but unfortunatelly wasn't capable of buying a ticket. With less than 24 hours before the event my sister called me and let me know that she just won an invitation for 2 persons for Tiesto... coincidences? Well.. for those of you who read the book, it all makes sense..

In 2003, while I was working as a sales executive in a pharmaceutical company, I was capable of buying myself the entrance at most of the house events that were taking place in Romania, as the time passed, priorities changed. Though I still listen to house music, I attend less and less this kinds of events, but I still enjoy listening house music not hearing it.

One song I enjoy most from Tiesto.. "Just be" :

You can travel the world
But you can't run away
From the person you are in your heart
You can be who you want to be
Make us believe in you
Keep all your light in the dark
If you're searchin for truth
You must look in the mirror
And make sense of what you can see
Just be
Just be

They say learning to love yourself
Is the first step
That you take when you want to be real
Flying on planes to exotic locations
Won't teach you
How you to feel
Face up to the fact
That you are who you are
And nothing can change that belief
Just be
Just be

'cause now I know
It's not so far
To where I go
The hardest part
Is inside me
I need
To just be
Just be

I was lost
And I'm still lost
But I feel so much better

'cause now I know
It's not so far
To were I go
The hardest part
Is inside me
I need
To just be
Just be

This song contains a lot of beliefs that I have in life.. starting from the fact that I do not believe travelling changes you as a person, but more reveals who you really are.. to the fact that we have to love ourselves before loving somebody else. Even though we say most of the times, after a long journey.. that with the time spend away we have changed, I deeply believe that we are just discovering who we really are.

Self discovery while being away is similar with packing your luggage when leaving for a trip. When you have to pack your things for a trip, you are being told, and you are aware that you have to take what is extremely important for the travel itself and the staying away from your home:
- identity cards (without which you cannot pass the borders)
- clothes (that must keep you warm)
- money (that you use to buy souvenirs, food.. etc)

Right after you have exited the doorway, you say to yourself :"Have I taken all that I need?", and most of the times you did, or you didn't, this is not so important, the feeling is what matters, whether you are anxious for the trip or for letting something behind.

But.. have you ever thought about this packing in this way?

- identity cards (without which you cannot pass the borders)

The "necessary things" are the elements that define YOU as an individual: values, principles, dreams, ambitions in life. When I left for Austria I took a lot of "luggage" just to find out there that from all the things that I took, only few of them were really necessary for my life. The rest...? Were just impressions of myself, or things that I wished were extremely important to me.

What I did use in the end? Enthusiasm, Living Diversity, Introspection, Love, Friendship, the power of dreaming on a daily basis, the ability to take what was bad and accept it as a part of my life, and so making it more complex.

- clothes.. you find out that they help you but you can live without them..

- money .. you find out that they might give you a huge advantage, but if you do not spend it on something you love, it will not count


I was at this concert on friday.. Tiesto.. "Just be" album.. louzy music.. amazing athmosphere.. 10.000 people present.

I make my reality.

A lot of noise, a lot of smoke, a lot of freedom. I gave myself the freedom to dream while being awake. I was listening to some songs I 've already heard, hundreds of times, but I was projecting me on some screens right behind Tiesto, my past 2 years in AIESEC.. my past 22 years in life.

I was willing to share it all with 10.000 people... years of playing basketball, years of running through pubs, fighting away the prejudice of being a priest because I had to, and making my own path in life, travelling around the world.. all just for a reason: to find out who I am.

And I realized (as a Romanian nouvelist wrote in his book, and I thank a good friend for sharing it with me) that the minute you start searching for yourself, is the minute when you start knowing yourself. The journey of self discovery starts with one single step, with a simple set of questions:"Who am I? What do I really like? What is important to me? What makes me go forward each day?".

Then again..
"you can travel the world,
but you can run away from the person you are in your heart
you can be who you want to be
makes us believe in you
keep all your light in the dark
BUT YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM THE PERSON YOU ARE IN YOUR HEART!"

It's sunday... and I come after a weekend of drinking red wine, dreaming, writing down ideas for the future, making mental connections with some good old friends, and last but not least, flying while staying in my room, to 2 different places where I had the same feeling: a castle in Ljubljana, Slovenija and Gaudi's park in Barcelona.. the feeling that I need to JUST BE and the magic of life will always surround me... as it did on friday, and as it will next week, next year.. and for the rest of my life.


As a close soul reminded me this year..

"we must dare to think unthinkable thoughts, because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and actions become mindless"!

JUST BE...

Mugur

The journey begins...

The world is like a book, and those who do not travel read only one page

When I first thought about having a blog, in which to post my own feelings,so that people all over the world see what I go through, I had this statement in my mind, because I trully believe it is making much more sense than all the other personal sharing quotes I've been reading on professional websites.

The world is like a book...

Where the "books" are the people, all the people that cross the street together with us, or that are going to the same school, workplace, shops we do, but in the end, not the cover matters the most, but the content, the story inside that can captivate you or can leave you as empty as before reading it.

Day by day we are living in a huge library, in which books are surrounding us, present there to be "read" so that one can have a first glance of an experience even before going through it in reality.

...and those who do not travel read only one page!

By choosing to "travel" you choose to "read" more "books", to listen and capture more stories, experiences, knowledge from the people around you. If you choose not to do it, not to travel from human being to human being, and searching for the beauty that lies in the content, I congratulate you for being another cover reader (and just say hello to the other eighty percent of the human population that strives to travel in life from tourist site to tourist site.. and not to understand the history, the past, the mistery lying behind an experience).

This blog is meant to capture the experience that I have in preparing for the next year, while looking for the past learning experiences that I have already gained. I invite you to share with me your thoughts regarding my ideas, opinions or remarks, but in the end do not forget that all the things that I will write here are just meant to be an example not something that you should take for granted.

I am who I am...

Mugur