Lotz of thoughts

 It was only a couple of years ago, and after a lot of questions, we decided it was time for Dimitri to know. I took him for coffee, and we discussed the magic of Christmas, the blessing of celebrating the birth of Jesus, and eventually, the meaning of Santa Claus – and the fact that he is more of an idea and expression of love than a real person that travels the world and gives presents. For him, it was a factual recognition. Of course, that makes sense; otherwise, why do we collect gifts and money for kids who don’t have? If Santa were real, he would take care of that. Extremely mature reaction, if I may say so myself. He took it with pride, and being the eldest, he promised to let his brother enjoy the fairy tale. I think it was worse for me. It was a realisation that my firstborn baby boy was growing up and that we would enter a new era in our family. Fast forward, Philippos started asking questions and again, the decision to have the talk with him before going through a festive se

If you have gone through it , you know what I mean. This year many of my reflections and decisions were filtered through this lens…the 40- lens…. Reaching the age of 40, I experienced a range of emotions. There has been some reflection, reflecting on the ups and downs of life and understanding how much everything has changed. It did evoke feelings of nostalgia as well as a serious pause to examine where I have been and where I am going. At the same time, turning 40 feels like a time when I can have more confidence and self-assurance. There is a sense of being more at ease with oneself and that it is good to be myself, regardless of cultural and societal expectations. It is a time for introspection and perhaps a gentle acceptance of the knowledge that comes with age, all while looking forward to what will come. As I turned 40, I have better understood what genuinely counts in relationships. Genuine friendships have taken on new meaning. Quality has surpassed quantity in my life,

  It is the year of reflections; I am turning 40 this year - another blog post might deal with that...It is my year to have a proper, justified reason for everything I choose to spend my time, efforts and energy. Things and people that do not make the cut, I might have to bid goodbye...Yes, you can call it decluttering, but it is not only that. It is about living my life with an intention and a purpose... So, I have been doing bellydancing for a few years now. I started when I was a Masters student, although I have been informally dancing on top of chairs and tables my whole life.. Then the PhD and the pregnancies and the babies became the reason for having a break. And then? I missed it much, and I found Ioanna and her sisterhood.  But why do I really dance? I dance... To find me through the melodies and reconnect with my true self through the rhythm. To savour every step, every spin, and every connection with the music. To explore my emotions and embrace my vulnerability. To laugh fr

    “It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.” L.R. Knost   Our world is cruel and harsh at times. Injustice, violence and poverty have become pictures of our everyday life all fueled by pain and suffering. Our environments have become competitive – survival instincts take over and hurt from our past and backgrounds take over. Look around, ask how many people are on antidepressants and medication for their mental health – do we solve the cruelty of the world that is painful or we learn to live with it? All doom and gloom?? If you have read my blogs before, you know that I tend to recognize the bad but focus on the good – maybe to help myself too… Our hope is our kids – cliché, right? The current theme in our family recently is kindness. It started some time ago with a “kind challenge” – which we are reintroducing now. We all get together

(World Science Forum 2022 Cape Town )   Scientific and technological progress is a reality; sometimes, in some cases, faster and in others, slower. The question that comes to mind and is of concern is why these technological advancements do not reach society fully and how we struggle to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  In typical Global Young Academy (GYA) and Science Leadership Programme (SLP) practice, we see all challenges as opportunities for change, and our discussions for solutions start with "how might we...?" and "how can we...?". Then the power and responsibility are on us to make the change. So, how might we unblock the channels of influence of science and technology to unblock or assist more than we already do with greater societal challenges?  ..or how might we overcome the hurdles? I am sharing here two thoughts: 1) Communication of science And as soon as we read/hear this, we all tend to focus on how we, as scientists, communicate our fin

  Yes, I am an academic                                           no,  I am not only that Yes, I am a mother                                                 no, I am not only that Yes, I am a wife                                                      no, I am not only that Yes, I am a friend                                                   no, I am not only that Yes, I am a daughter                                              no, I am not only that Yes, I am a dancer                                                 no, I am not only that Yes, I am a woman and I am all these and so much more  More to explore... More to experience... More to feel and sense.... More to see with my eyes... More to laugh loudly about... More to cry tears about... More love to run through my veins... "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Aristotle