Not on the 1st of June!

The first of June, meaning Child's Day is on Monday. And also on Monday is the beginning of my exam session. I am almost 20 years old, but there still is a child within myself and that child is not happy receiving an exam as a gift on the first of June :).Childhood is a biological stage in our lives, but it is also a state of mind. From the first point of view, childhood is ephemeral, while from the second one, childhood may last a lifetime. I will give you a few reasons why it is desirable to listen once in a while to the child in us.

Children are more likely to enjoy life and every single detail of it. They cry as easily as they forgive, because they are not used to keeping the bad feelings inside. Children trust one another and all the beauty that surrounds them, without thinking that something might come and take their happiness away. Friendship is instinctual for them, as they are not interested in getting anything out of it. They just love, without asking themselves why and without thinking of sorrow or disappointment. Their eyes show the light of their

souls, and that’s why they look so happy. Whether they are crying, or playing happily with their friends, their life is never dull. They are spontaneous, noisy, and “wild” in a good way, because they act naturally, according to their own senses.

While we grow older we become more and more afraid of showing our feelings. We sometimes try to hide them as deep as we can so that we would not seem vulnerable. That’s why the light from our eyes gets weaker as we grow. A child is not afraid of his feelings, nor does he try to control them. He cries, laughs and smiles with all his heart. When you’re a grown-up you have a lot of doubts, and though you become aware of many things, everything seems even more complicated than before. A grown-up sees the world according to some schemes that he has created, or that society has created for him. A child acts instinctively, he lives the way he wants to, and not the way some clichés tell him to. His world is simple, because he sees it with his bare eyes.

I am not trying to say that we should all act like children. I'm only suggesting that we should sometimes run the risk of expressing ourselves freely. We should let ourselves enjoy the little aspects of our lives and not restrain ourselves, only because society tells us those things are insignificant.

There is still a child within myself and because of him, exam session shouldn't start on the first of June! As on Monday I'll be busy with my exams, I wish you all in advance Happy Birthday!

My grandparents' house - the house of my childhood - nowadays.

Enigma - The Child In Us

The past is always gold tomorrow

Why is it that the past always seems brighter and less painful than the present reality? Through memories sorrow becomes less stronger, happy moments seem even more joyful and embarrassing moments become funny. Looking back makes you feel nostalgic, it gives you somehow the sensation that back then things were easier, although your present life might actually be better. Memories have a strange power of putting things in a better perspective. They are like a soothing rain for the past events; they wash away all that has been wrong and painful, transforming them into nice aspects of our life. Memories are like isolated islands where we can escape from reality when we feel lost; islands that only we can access through the power of our mind. And comparing to our present life these memories seem sweeter and nicer.
We can heal the present by using our past. Memories can make things seem better and prove us that we are able to overcome any obstacle and that no matter how hard life is today the past will always be gold tomorrow. So once in a while it's good to open our jewelry box, our box full of memories. We might be surprised that delicate facts from our past, that we have hidden somewhere away from our daily conscience, have more polish than dust. Once the sorrow, the anger, the stress have gone away, time adds polish and not dust to our memories.

I have opened my jewelry box and found this song...last summer' s song...
Zero 7 - Distractions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygq44M4xyIQ

Review

I haven't had time to post lately as I've been busy with a lot of things. Firstly, after the EUROPAfest festival ended, I had to catch up with some activities at school. Surprisingly I had a lot of energy left for those activities. I had thought the festival would leave me exhausted, but, on the contrary, it was a very refreshing experience.
Secondly, some friends who are now studying in Iasi came to visit me and my flatmate. I have spent a lovely weekend with them, which proved me that old and strong friendships do not fade away for the simple reason that there's a distance between the friends. We all have other new friends now, other new activities, yet our connection is the same.

The third important thing that I have done lately was to take part in an important event - UNESCO Forum on Higher Education. I had the chance to see important political persons holding speeches and also people working in the educational system debating about problems and solutions concerning higher education. Our public relations teacher, Remus Pricopie, asked 50 students to offer some help at this event and I am glad that I took advantage of this opportunity. It was interesting to be a part of an international meeting, to have the chance to hear and talk to important people. What I have particularly liked and appreciated was the speech held by the Prince of Iordania. Imposing, yet warm, serious, yet with a sense of humor, this man managed to make the audience to stand up and applaud in the end. Furthermore, the venue of this event was a very imposing one - The Palace of the Parlament, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon and I must say it truly is large. I have got lost a few times in it. Maybe some people would think that those two days of conferences were a loss of time for me, but I'm sure they were not. When you are eager to observe things and to learn, such an experience cannot be useless. The important thing in life is to try to extract a meaning, a lesson from each and every thing you do. This way you will have neither regrets, nor will you feel lost.

Last but not least, during the time that I haven't posted I went through a change of perspectives. I have previously talked about hope, changes and the necessity of taking a bend when you are going towards a dead - end situation. I have talked, yet I haven't applied it to myself. I don't know how it happened but during EUROPAfest I have finally taken that bend and got over some old feelings and thoughts. This is another reason why the festival was a refreshing experience. Still, cancer like, I moved one step forward and then two steps back, as I remembered even older feelings. I will talk more about my nostalgia in a future post. This post was just a review to share the diversified activities that I have got involved in lately.

P.S It is difficult to chose a song for this post. I have compressed many thoughts and moods in this post and I can't find a song to fit them all. I have chosen TRIO ELF - 746 as this was one of my favorite songs performed in the EUROPAfest jazz concerts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APa2EJ0zsLo
Also try TAMARAZENE - When I LOOK IN YOUR EYES, which you can find on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/tamarazene

Can't explain

I have been already working for Europafest for a week now. A lot of excitement, but also headache. I'm very tired, but also very satisfied. As I have already said I am working in the team for classical music and today I had the chance to listen to 3 of the semi-finalists of category D (age 18-30) and I'm very delighted I had the chance to hear some wonderful pieces live. Nothing compares to hearing talented and hard-working musicians playing; the atmosphere of the competition enhances the beauty of the performance even more. All the three contestants played wonderfully. Their love for music and their willingness to share their feelings with the others made the pieces simply outstanding. Of course they had a lot of mixed emotions because of the competition, but just as my former piano teacher used to say "it's not good if you don't have emotions, you can't play without emotions".
Today I have listened Mozard, Beethoven, Brahms and Enescu. My favourite was the piece composed by George Enescu, Sonota3, performed by a girl from France. This will be the song for today's post, in another interpretation, of course.
In a previous post (Silent Conversation) I've talked about nonverbal communication and that sooner or later words are needed. Things change in the case of musical communication. I cannot explain what I've felt during the girl's performance. It is something that can't and needn't be put into words. Chords are enough...
P.S. Not my picture, found on the internet.

George Enescu - Sonata 3 for piano and violin

Refreshment

Lately I've been very busy working as a volunteer for Europafest. Though I have been working for about 10 hours a day when I come home I am happier and more energetic as usual. All this is more as a refreshment for me, and not tiring and killing work. There are many reasons more or less personal why I consider this experience a refreshment. Firstly, I've met wonderful people among the other volunteers, hard-working, responsible young people, willing to give a helping hand for free. Secondly, the festival Europafest offers good quality music: jazz, blues, pop and classic. I am working in the team for the classic competition and classic music has always been a part of me, since I have studied and played piano for 10 years. It is great to experience the thrills, the emotions, the rough feeling of being in front of a jury and also the joy of giving into the music you are playing. For me it's a deep breath of fresh air only to see all these at the contestants so I can catch a glimpse of what I used to feel once. I haven't been at their level, an international level, but I've had their feelings. Last, but not least, I had the chance to practice my German with a German band called Trio Elf, who are, by the way, very talented and nice people. I can't explain but I always cheer up when I have the chance to speak German. There are other reasons too why I am very excited about this experience as a volunteer, but for now this is all that I can say. Putting aside other less pleasant aspects, at the end of this day I feel like a new happy person.
I feel refreshed and I have to thank my old love named music for that.
P.S: Not my picture in the beginning of the article. It's from deviantart.com. It' s perfect for what I am trying to say, it shows how much one can see and feel through music.

This is the link to the site which offers complete information about Europafest Festival and the events it offers.
Europafest site:
http://www.jmevents.ro/index.php


The song for today's post is a classic piece. A child participating in the competition played it today and he is less than ten years old. Congratulations! I simply fell in love with this piece when I heard it.
Massenet - Meditation from Thais:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXuzLRVi6qk