The question I’m most frequently asked when meeting someone new is “So, how do you like living in Portugal?”. It’s also something I’m repeatedly asked when I visit my Polish home or friends in the UK, and despite my efforts to give as exhaustive answer as possible (for it really isn’t a matter of a…
I happen to be one of those people who enjoy working from home. I have no problem with discipline, motivation, or solitude — in fact, I probably focus best when I’m alone. But working from home, as I’ve discovered over a number of years (and apartments), only works when you have a special place dedicated…
Many years ago, as part of a part-time job hunt in London, I applied for the role of a digital retoucher. I considered myself a fairly proficient Photoshop user and the company’s boss must have thought the same, as he responded very enthusiastically to the portfolio I sent him, and gave me a task: to retouch a…
All spice & zero sugar. Be the feisty 5-year old you once were.
I was 5 years old when my Mum took me to the premiere of one of Disney’s films. It was the 1st of June, which in Poland is celebrated as the Children’s Day, and the film screening was accompanied by special attractions. One of them was some sort of improvisation-based competition which involved going up on stage…
One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. — Henry Miller from Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957) Wiping sweat off my forehead in +30 temperatures, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks unpacking and organising my stuff in Amadora, where I’ve moved for the summer. As…
Waiting for the marshmallows: on patience & delayed gratification
It is sometimes ironic and almost amusing how life will surprise us with challenges in the areas where we struggle most. Patience has never been my forté, and while I have improved myself in that regard over the course of a decade or so, I admit that I am often incapable of waiting the remaining three seconds…
Blissful uncoolness & comfortable solitude. A weekend in Berlin.
Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting a friend in Berlin and on a Sunday afternoon found myself in Prenzlauer Berg, sitting at a lovely place with a somewhat ironic name, given how left-wing the city is, the Kapitalist Café. I was sitting there with a glass of wine, an oldskul notebook and a…
Against the tide. Element Talks conference afterthoughts
Photo by Patrycja Mic Last weekend, I took part in a conference called Element Talks, dedicated to practical aspects of working as a designer. The event, this year in its 3rd edition (though the first one to be held in Warsaw, the previous two were in Poznań), attracted hundreds of people, including students, professionals, as well…
A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous ― Ingrid Bergman The first kiss, like a job interview, can be a thoroughly nerve-racking experience. This curious way of passing approx. 80 million bacteria from our lips to someone else’s generates so many anxieties and uncertainties that the…
Coming to Warsaw after living in London has given me an opportunity to re-examine my homeland and culture. A lot has changed in the past few years, Warsaw is becoming an incredibly dynamic, vibrant and multicultural city, with lots of new business ventures, startups, and great new energy. Being a foreigner is no longer a…