I would like to thank @Amalia Kyparissi for writing it and @Jenny Balatsinou for hosting this lovely article on me and my beloved art.
Feel free to read it here in greek language.
Below you may read an unofficial translation in English
Never stop surprising the people around you. Never stop surpring yourself! Follow your dreams at any cost. They are the force which keeps us alive. It is never too late to make changes in your life… no matter how big or small they are! Live every moment as if it were the last one.
Change all the things that stress you, all the things that “drain” you. New beginnings at the age of 40 are more than welcomed, they bring happiness, joy and fulfillment. I know what you are thinking, what you are feeling: you’re scared. Scared of not being able to pull it off, scared that it is too late to make any changes, of the risks… Fear, however, can be productive, sometimes it can even be creative. You just have to find what pleases you. It may be as simple as cooking, gymnastics, gardening and ceramics. It could even be a …plastic surgery. Anything that makes you feel better with yourself, about yourself!
There are many stories of women who have pushed the restart button later in life. One of those stories is that of Vasso Giannakopoulou. For Vasso, the change came with painting. In 2014 she started using a brush almost by chance. Then she bought her first colours and started painting. What started as a hobby, evolved into psychoanalysis. Eventually the canvas became the new chapter on her life book, the colours reflected her emotions. What started as a random journey became a steady path. It transformed into a new course. A new life. Like a resurrection. She made a restart. Not from scratch, but from the starting point, her own starting point. She is now preparing for her first art exhibition. This is called self progress, self awareness, self-improvement.
No change is easy. Change involves risks, perhaps dangers… but it does not matter. This is its beauty. You do not know what you will face a few steps ahead. This always keeps me excited. That’s why I was never afraid of change. I accepted it, I embraced it, sometimes I even got tired of it, but this is also part of the game. Change has to be conscious, it has to be our own choice. But even in the case of inevitable changes, those that come in life unexpectedly, those you cannot control, you should accept the fear of the unknown, embrace it, live with it and eventually surpass it!
For all those women in the fifth decade of their life who want to change but they are afraid to do so, they should recall the words of Nikos Kazantzakis: “Take a long stare at fear and the fear will be afraid and will go away”.
In 1969 the Rolling Stones sang “You cannot always get what you want” in the album “Let it Bleed”. As Jager said, it is one of those songs that he wrote in his bedroom with an acoustic guitar at hand. A song about love, politics and drugs. Ituana made a cover that is also heard in the last scene of the popular “Big Little Lies” series. The words in the chorus urge us to try to find what suits us, what makes us feel good: “You cannot always have what you want, but if you try enough you can find what you need.” #keeptrying #keepmoving