Life with Nena

 Sometimes, I feel like we’ve forgotten what pure happiness actually feels like, not the kind we chase or expect to arrive with big moments, but the quiet, fleeting kind that sneaks up on us, those few seconds that pass before we even realize we’re smiling. Moments that seem small, maybe even insignificant to others, but feel like everything to us. Happiness is different for each person. It might be that one song you haven't heard in years, and suddenly, as it plays, something deep in you stirs, memories, emotions, a strange sense of comfort that you didn’t even know you were missing. Or maybe it's the way a smell or taste brings you back, like a dish someone dear to you used to make, and for just a moment, you're there again, wrapped in warmth. Sometimes, happiness comes in unexpected words from someone you don’t even know that well, words you’ve been longing to hear from someone else, but never did. And yet, when you hear them from a stranger or in a random conversation, ...

 When I realized that my most-read blog post was the one about sexual assault, I felt a strange mix of emotions. I was glad that people cared enough to read and engage, but also deeply unsettled by the fact that this had to be the topic that got the most attention. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t still need to talk about sexual violence. We’d be living in a reality where these crimes are rare, not common. But the fact is, we are not there. We live in a world where rapists and pedophiles walk freely, often protected more than their victims. What horrified me even more was something I saw during a public debate. A grown man, from a so-called progressive Western society, asked another speaker to prove why sexual assault is wrong. Yes, he actually asked that. I remember going completely silent, overwhelmed by a wave of anger and disbelief. How can someone even ask that? How is it possible that in 2025, we’re still having to explain this? Victims are constantly asked: Why didn’t you fig...

 Let’s talk about something I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately: schedules, to-do lists, productivity systems, all those things we’re told will help us “take control of our life.” I’ve met people who organize their days down to the minute, every task color-coded, every hour accounted for, and still, somehow, they don’t get to the thing that actually matters to them. And then, on the other side, there are people who float through the day without writing down a single task, and yet they manage to accomplish everything they set their mind to. It’s weird, right? I’m probably closer to that second group. I’ve had those days where I wrote out a perfect plan, and then just one unexpected thing was enough to throw the entire structure off. That’s the problem with rigid systems: life isn’t rigid. It’s unpredictable, it breathes, it moves, and no matter how good your plan is, you have to move with it. Personally, I don’t really write out to-do lists anymore. I kind of organize my day in my ...

Ola amigo :)   You know that feeling when you’ve had a dream for years? Not something you think about every single day, but something quietly living inside you, patiently waiting, never fading. It’s just there, like a whisper of hope, until one day, it finally becomes real. People often say, “Good things come to those who wait.” And honestly, you might not believe that, not until you find yourself in the very moment you’ve been dreaming about for so long. For me, that dream was Greece. It may sound simple to some, just another country. But for me, it was the dream. A place that lived in my imagination for more than seven years. Can you imagine carrying that excitement for so long? The night before leaving, I couldn’t sleep — the kind of sleepless joy only a child feels before Christmas. And then… waking up at the Greek border, with the first light of morning sun pouring in… it’s almost impossible to describe that feeling. That exact second when you realize: this is it. It’s happeni...