Five Things I like

February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Marina Mexploring6 Comments

Today I want to start a feature on my blog which I really enjoy – to post regularly 5 photos of things I like in the moment. I have been doing it for a while on my other blog (Russian-speaking), and I find it a great way to share, especially in the moments when I am not sure what I want to share about :). Like right now, when I am traveling. I expected to be posting a lot during this trip – you are full of impressions and emotions, so what to do if not to share them on the blog, right? Wrong, I have discovered. Or just not for me. I get so overstimulated by impressions and emotions, that when I come home all I want to do is to fall on my bed and rest. Resting can mean reading or watching Russian bloggers on Youtube 🙂 But there is no energy for creating a lot – my maximum effort is to post a pic on Instagram, and that’s it.

It has been a month since I started this blog, and I know how much energy is needed in the very beginning, just to get the thing up and going (I have read that the airplane uses a lot of its fuel just to get off the earth), to create a momentum. This trip has set my blogger plans on a pause. And while I am writing a list of posts I want to write, and getting big ideas – I have to admit that I need to find a quiet time for those ambitions, and right now I can just play 🙂 Just keep on going with some smaller things. So if you experience that your grand plans keep you procrastinating – start doing small things, just get going, get writing. This is my discovery so far, and I am grateful for it. You never discover such things unless you start taking steps.

Back to the post idea, though. I find it a great way to keep the positive focus in my life – by taking photos of things I like. Not for Instagram or other social media – just for me. Like a moment of appreciation. And later when I scroll through my photos and see how many nice things are there, it is like writing a gratitude journal 🙂 Admitting how beautiful and colorful my life is. I hope, my sharing would inspire you to try this little life-hack. So now I want to share my 5 things of the moment, taken on my way from Norway to Spain.

Just Share It

February 10, 2017 Marina MexploringLeave a comment

Lately I have seen that all the discoveries I was coming up with were kind of obvious things. I would get that aha moment and the light bulb in my head would go “I need to share it!”. But then I would start thinking and suddenly see that my idea is not really my idea, that I have read about the thing before, and I have even known it for a while. I was writing posts on my Russian-speaking blog, and felt like I was expressing very obvious things.

At first I felt like I hit the showstopper. So what do I do now? Do I sit around and wait for a really original idea? And indeed, are there so many original ideas that are shared out there? I guess, it is just my big ego that wants me to come up with something genial and groundbreaking, but that – instead of motivating me – keeps me procrastinating and stuck.

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A dreamer in Barcelona

February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Marina Mexploring2 Comments

I was so used to call myself a dreamer through all my life. And lately I have seen so many of my dreams coming true, that I don’t know what to call myself any longer. A dream catcher? 🙂 Here I want to share my Spanish dream.

My first visit to Spain was to the city of Barcelona, six years ago. Anyone surprised? Me not :). It is definitely the most visited city in Spain (and then you discover the difference between Catalonian and Spanish mentalities, but it comes later…). My friend has been to Spain before and wanted to spend every morning on the beach – “because it is our summer vacation” (and coming from Norway where the summer weather is unpredictable, you’d better use those sunny days wisely). So our beach mornings were long, stretching over into late afternoon. Then we would take subway to get back to hotel, tired from the sun, jump (or crawl) in the shower and stroll out in the open arms of the city waiting for us. It was the time to do some sightseeing and eating tapas. Drinking sangria became a habit too (of course 🙂 ). We did it all: walking on La Rambla and buying tickets for a flamenco show, taking pics in Parc Guell and partying in the club. In the infamous style “been there, done that”.

bcn — a postcard from Bcn (I took this pic during that visit 6 years ago)

Honestly, I didn’t care much about the beach. We had only six days in this city and I was hungry for meeting the soul of Barcelona. I believe, that every city has its own vibe, its own soul – and I was very curious about The Great Enchantress, as they sometimes call her, Barcelona. My wish was to wander through its narrow streets, where light falls mystically from above, to look into windows of the bars, to sip coffee in a local café and listen to the locals sharing their daily life. This is my passion. I always want something more than a touristic experience, hopping on and off through the place like in the theme park. I want to get under the skin of the city, to feel its energy, to watch, hear and feel its people.Read More »

Is Norwegian culture lonely?

February 1, 2017March 14, 2017 Marina Mexploring15 Comments

I hope, you will disagree with me and prove me wrong. Really. I am here not to drive any point home. I am just wondering: is it just me or is it true for others? So here is the thing. Is Norwegian culture lonely? Or just very independent? And where does the difference go? Sometimes extreme independence and freedom can look like loneliness (but is it so?).

To begin with, I appreciate the independence and freedom a lot. A LOT. I was born and grew up in the Ukrainian city, with the social control like in a village. Our culture was (and I guess, still is) very collective oriented. The people around you can support you, and they know you well, but it can also feel suffocating. As a kid, I knew all the neighbors in my block, and the most in my backyard. You could borrow salt, matches and money from your neighbors, and you could babysit for them for free. At the entrance to every house there were benches, occupied by the old ladies of the block. They functioned as a daylong news station. They held all the information about the neighbors, they knew who didn’t clean her house, and whose husband was drinking too much. Sometimes I wonder if they were bribed by KGB for keeping the information up to date :).

Where I grew up, it was normal to be asked by your neighbors “Why are you not married yet?” and get a dating or relationship advice. It was normal for people on the bus to start a heated discussion of politics and bring it almost to the point of fighting. It was normal for people to ask very private questions about your life. So it was a relief to come to Norway where people respect your privacy over everything, and where it is not normal to ask about your salary and which party you are going to vote for in the next election. It was like a breath of fresh air. Freedom.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — picnic on the lake Sognsvann, Oslo

Love for a Place

January 28, 2017January 29, 2017 Marina Mexploring6 Comments

There are different people with different talents and passions out there. I have this weird ability of falling in love with places. I am sure, that am not alone in this, but I wonder, if it is a quality of everyone. Do you think all of us share the same passion for a place or do we differ in this matter?

For me it is really a passionate affair. I get excited about a place and my blood fills with bubbles, I tend to idealize its qualities and ignore its downsides. I get attached and it hurts to leave it. They say that when you come first to a place you do it because of the place, when you come more times – you do it because of the people. I can agree because it happened to me. I was returning several times to a place because of friends or romances there. But it is not exclusively so. My formula is: you return to a place that has given you a strong emotion, a feeling of love, adventure, freedom or whatever what is precious to you.

What is success for you?

January 22, 2017January 22, 2017 Marina Mexploring19 Comments

“This is my mind, and I want it to work for me, not against me”, my friend said. “Let other people say to me negative things, I can ignore them. But why should I say those negative things to myself?”

We have our thinking habits, and my habit is to focus on the negative. To see my past as a disadvantage, to look into future and catastrophize, and interpret the present events in a negative light. But all the habits are an object of change, if you want. It takes time and effort, but it is possible to change the thinking patterns just as it is possible to change lifestyle habits like eating and exercising. This is a period of my life that can be named “change”. I have always been interested in self-development and growth, but it seems like right now this process is even more intense than usually. There are many tools and ideas that inspire me to change and I hope to share some of them here on the blog. And today I want to share some thoughts about success.Read More »

Art de Vivre

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017 Marina Mexploring12 Comments

My favorite kind of profile on Instagram is a travel profile. Once I was showing my new finds to my friend: girls in floating dresses being photographed in beautiful and exotic sights. My friend replied: “Yes, it is cool, all those faraway places and adventures. But right now I prefer the exploration of the everyday life. When you can find something that makes your life here and now more wonderful. Like when you taught me once to enjoy staying at home, infusing it with chill-out music and relaxed attitude. This is more interesting to me than traveling”.

That got me thinking. How often I see pictures of sandy beaches with palms, or canyons and waterfalls, or old Italian streets with colorful houses and think: “This is the life worth living”. While the everyday life in my city, right now, seems gray and boring in this light. But is it so? Or better say, it is not the matter of proving that thought wrong or right, the question is: is such thinking good for me? Does it make me feel like I want to feel?

Isn’t it a good subject worth exploring? The art of everyday life. Art de vivre, as I like to call it, inspired by the French who gained their fame for knowing how to live the life with ease and pleasure. I want to devote myself to study of this art, as I believe it can be learnt just as all other forms of art. For me it is more than eating breakfast in hipster restaurants and taking photos of shoes, bags and Starbucks cups, or whatever is trendy now among the lifestyle bloggers of Instagram.

It is OK to be on pause

January 12, 2017July 17, 2018 Marina Mexploring2 Comments

Last summer I joined a yoga retreat. Which has been my dream for the couple of years. At last, here I was, in a tiny village in the heart of Croatian island of Hvar. On the first night of retreat, after a dinner and a welcome circle, we were doing the guided meditation. Lying on the stone floor of the terrace, under the stars blinking through the terrace roof, listening to the sounds of the village, so unusual for us, city people. A dog barking in the distance, someone playing football, mosquito buzzing. Listening to the voice of Russelle, our yoga teacher. Guiding our breath and our focus. “Pay attention to this pause between breaths. Something has ended, new hasn’t started yet. It is called Standba”( not sure about the spelling, to me it sounded like “stand by”. Which makes a good sense).

This is when the light bulb went on in my head. THIS IS THE PERIOD IN MY LIFE THAT I AM GOING THROUGH NOW! Something has ended. New hasn’t started yet. Nothing is happening. So don’t rush it.

Dress to Impress Vs. Scandinavian Relax

January 9, 2017February 7, 2017 Marina Mexploring19 Comments

Some time ago I stumbled upon blog post by a Russian make-up blogger where she was discussing natural aging and surgery methods for staying young. Her position was firm and clear. The blog had a compilation of celebrity photos: those aging naturally versus those who use plastic surgery and the botox injections, – and the former seemed to be losing the game. The author argument was like that: there are many natural processes in our body, like body hair, which we don’t accept and fight, by epilation or shaving. So natural aging is not better, and should be fought by all means. In her comments a man supported that point of view: “It is the strongest that survive. So if you can find the means to look young and beautiful – of course, you should use them!”

My reaction was strong and emotional. I had a recollection of the culture where I grew up, the culture that believes in “survival of the fittest”, and for a moment I felt thankful for living in a different reality. I was born and grew up in the city in Eastern Ukraine (Soviet Union then), with the strong Russian culture and language traditions. It was that kind of place that make (Western) Europeans gasp and wonder. Why do they do it? Why – in the country with an unreasonably low wages – do the guys have the latest versions of smartphones? Why do girls look like they just got out of manicure salon, balancing on high heels in the mess of bad pavement?

Because this is Eastern Europe, I would say. A place where you must impress, you must fake that you are richer and cooler than you are. And since people don’t have enough money to impress with houses or cars, they would impress with phones and clothes. The streets can be messy, but on every corner there would be a barber’s shop, a beauty parlor or a solarium. And nowhere else but in my city will you see a girl on high heels, with a party make-up and sexy gear, heading to her usual office job on a Monday morning. heel

The Fresh Start

January 5, 2017January 12, 2017 Marina Mexploring11 Comments

Outside my window the snow is falling. Such a peaceful moment. It is the first snow of this winter. I live in Norway where winters are long and can start early, with heavy snowfalls in the middle of November. But this winter has been different, mild and snowless. So the snow feels like a good sign right now. Like setting a blank white page in front me, ready for my story.

My story is about new beginnings. It is about a girl finding her voice. Learning to trust it. It is about new dreams. New freedom and new lifestyle. Perfect for the beginning of the new year. I feel like 2017 will be something special in my life (and the horoscopes say the same thing too :)).

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Me Exploring

exploring the world, my place, art de vivre and myself