Good night!

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.

Alcohol-related harm

Next time someone offers me a bottle of rum arguing that, as I have a big and half-empty suitcase, I can easily carry it, I will remember this trip to Bucharest... After spending the weekend in Berlin at the YFJ Bureau meeting, I travelled to Bucharest through Warsaw; I landed in Bucharest at around 2am and checked-in at the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel at 3am. I still needed to work on the presentation that I will make tomorrow morning in the context of a Corporate Social Responsibility conference... but I decided to unpack first. The problem was that the above mentioned bottle was broken and all its content mixed with my clothes... Now, I knew that leaving the preparation of my presentation for the last minute was a big mistake... but what does one do without any clothes? Well, the right answer is "thanks God that I'm staying at the Marriott"! I took one of the three phones available in the room, hit the key "at your service", explained the situation to a nice woman and five minutes later another woman came to pick up my clothes with the promise to bring them back, cleaned, at 10am. I think that all hotels should have laundry/dry cleaning services available 24 hours! Or that I should always stay at the JW Marriott Grand hotels! Just in case...

The Way of the Samurai

Believe it or not, I spent one entire week working in Brussels. I don't remember when was the last time I did so... Spending one entire week in the office is nice, as it allows for a better short-term planning and to get small things done. It is also useful, as it allows for face-to-face conversations and to spend time with people both in working meetings and in purely social moments. And, last but definitely not the least, spending the entire week in Brussels also allows me to take care of househusband stuff, see friends, and spend time enjoying the comfort of my sofa while watching good movies and new addictive series. Seating in front of the computer, writing a post at the end of another sunny day in which I was able to sleep until late in the morning, clean the flat and get things done at home and at the office, makes me feel good and in peace with myself and the others.

It wasn't an easy week though... Things have been easier in my professional life, and it definitely affects my personal life... maybe because I was never totally able to distinguish completely between one and the other... I don't take it as a negative thing, because I know that I need to be satisfied in one level in order to deliver up to what people expect from me in the other. I guess it happens to many of us. My problem is that people expect a lot from me... and I don't like to disappoint them. People who don't know me well sometimes think that I will or already gave up on things. But to give up is something that doesn't even cross my mind... When I want something to happen, I don't wait for it to happen: I make it happen. It has always been like this, and I don't want to change it now. It's not a matter of faith or karma or whatever one might call it: it's a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side. I have that spirit. I don't do it to prove something to the others; I do it for myself. I do it because I can, and because I believe that if I can, I must do it. I get my motivation out of doing the right thing, and once I start doing it, I can't be stopped.

I believe that matters of small concern should be treated seriously... A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment; if one fully understands the present moment, there is nothing left to do, and nothing else to pursue. That's why I enjoy the moment!

Rainy Mollina, sunny Brussels

I've spent most of the weekend in Mollina, at the University on Youth and Development. Mollina means a lot to me. I've been there for the first time in January 1993, and since then was there so many times that I can't even remember how many. But it's not only about the amount of times I've been there; it's about the events I've experienced there. Since that very first time, every time I go to Mollina I learn something, and come back a little bit different. I guess that Mollina has that effect in many, many other people. It's a very special place, where very special events take place. In that sense, and in the global youth work field, Mollina is like a sanctuary where people go in search of something mystical... and they normally find it. Over these almost 15 years of pilgremages to Mollina, I've grown up as a person and as a youth leader. And I've met people who became my friends, people I admire, and people I love. My debt towards Mollina is so huge, that I don't think I will ever be able to pay it back. I have to confess, however, that when I went there on Tuesday, I wasn't very excited about the idea of spending 4 days there. And yet, I also have to confess that it was once again great, that Mollina keeps offering the same mystical experience after 15 years. And that's why I want to go back there next year!

Now, Mollina has a reputation of nice weather, with sun shining over blue skies almost eternally. In that sense, Mollina this year was a flop... and the most troubling aspect of this is that, when coming back to Brussels on Friday, I was welcomed by beautiful sunny weather that lasted the entire weekend. I know I complain a lot about the weather in Brussels... so, I think it is fair to say, for once, and while I can, that Brussels' weather can also be very nice... and that I actually like being in Brussels on a sunny day... and that the city even looks nice on those days... If I can make a wish now that I have made such a rare compliment to Brussels, please let the sun shine for a few days more... nobody will get hurt, I promise!

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

This text was originally written last Tuesday. When I finished writing it and tried to publish the post, I found out that the storm not only left the CEULAJ without electricity, but also without any communications’ means… I therefore could not post it at that time, but decided to do it now.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but the truth is that in the last few months I've been experiencing a strange phenomenon: rain seems to follow me, everywhere I go. Brussels doesn't count, of course. But, really, I was in Greece in August and it rained; I was in Macedonia and, after two months of extreme hot and dry weather, it rained; I went to Zagreb, and the day I came there it started raining. Now that I think of it, even in the evening I was in Matsee, it rained. Today, I just arrived in Mollina and guess what... yes, it's raining... a lot! Such a heavy rain and big storm that the lights just went off! After such a perfect week with such a wonderful company, I wasn't exactly expecting sunshine... but all this rain is a bit too much! Hope that the participants of the University on Youth and Development don't find out that this is my fault...