OBSERVATIONS OF THE WORLD
How can i you not accept reality…?
***
In practice, there’s no such thing as laziness. The only reasons for a lack of willpower can be fatigue, lack of sleep, lack of energy, illness, or a lack of motivation…
**
I neither desire something very strongly nor want to avoid something very strongly.
And I think that’s one of the secrets to a happy life.
And I succeed..
***
Sometimes you have to take a big step back to take a good step forward…
***
I don’t just think—I, me, me, me.
I try to think about others as well.
After all, we are all simultaneously—both separate beings and whole.
This is dualism, because each of the above properties, though seemingly mutually exclusive, is simultaneously completely true…
***
My relationships with people are based on only one principle:
If I feel someone means well, I will help them.
I try to look for the good in people.
Although it’s often not easy…
***
If a person doesn’t build themselves up well (mentally), they will be a burden to themselves.
Especially in old age.
I notice this in various people…
***
When you have to make a very important decision, take your time.
Give yourself time.
Revisit this question from time to time, but don’t overdo it.
Do it gently.
Until one day, a clear answer will emerge.
It will come naturally…
***
When a person starts living for the future, he sacrifices the present…
***
The power of images lies in their ability to convey what words and sound cannot. And so, correspondingly, sound and words convey what the others cannot fully express…
***
I get up in the morning,
look at the sky,
and just go through life…
Along the way, I try to be human.
That’s my whole philosophy…
***
In the absence of ethical action and ethical intentions, a scientist may even learn scientific facts, but he will not learn the truth…
***
God doesn’t abandon me. My job is just to try to be a good person—that’s all. Wherever I am. Whatever happens…
***
My only instrument, the one I play, is my body.
I always have it with me.
That’s why I take care of it…
***
I received goodness today. From the people I least expected it from. From them…
It was others who let me down.
Those who seemed so friendly.
And then, unexpectedly, something like this.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me.
There’s something bigger about this than I can understand…
***
Can you stop loving someone you truly loved?
I know the answer…
***
Simple – does not mean easy…
***
I am aware of thinking – therefore I am… (that’s how I would put it).
***
I’m not looking for perfection, I’m looking for truth…
***
Excessive sentimentality can be a person’s downfall…
***
„WHY?”
Goodness, would I choose you if I knew you were weaker than evil?
That there is less of you in the world than evil?
That you are really only a time—and more of you are gone than you are?
Would I choose you if I knew I would gain nothing by doing so?
And I would only condemn myself to suffering.
…I know that I do.
Always do.
Is it because you are beautiful? —yes.
Is it because you are logical? —yes.
But above all, because you are goodness, that is, compassion and empathy…
***
Time spent listening to good music was never wasted…
„**
Usually, something has to really hurt us before we finally start drawing some conclusions.
Unfortunately, that’s human nature…
***
Human nature has proven time and again that, unfortunately, true values often lose out to common interests. This applies to both individuals and the world of politics…
*’*
I find that I’m interested in music, drawing, and text alike—forms that offer a degree of freedom of interpretation, as well as the ability for the viewer to add their own content.
The creator himself only directs,… indicates.
He builds, constructs the background and the path.
And the viewer also becomes, to a very large extent, a co-creator…
***
You achieved your goals.
You acquired possessions.
You proved to the world and to yourself that you could do it.
At the same time, I simply lived as best I could.
And I tried to enjoy the life I had.
As best I could…
***
I think more often about how to subtract something than how to add something to what I’m working on…
***
There’s probably not much I can do—that’s true.
But the little I can do—I will.
To the best of my ability…
***
Every day is a great unknown.
For some, it’s setting sail on the ocean, and for others, it’s simply leaving the safety of home.
It’s important to set sail on the ocean as well as leave home—with courage and good hope…
***
In practice, there’s no such thing as laziness. The only reasons for a lack of willpower can be fatigue, lack of sleep, lack of energy, illness, or a lack of motivation…
***
Be careful… because the day goes by quickly.
***
All this thinking I do is really just connecting the dots.
Seemingly loose elements into structures… into larger wholes.
To better understand myself and the world.
And I have the impression that the older I get, the more and more efficiently I connect them.
And the more I understand…
***
There are people who take photographs everywhere and say to themselves:
„We’ll relive this later, when we look at the photos calmly. There will be something to show. And something to remember. And something to brag about, of course. It will be a beautiful collection.”
They have tons of photographs.
Even when they were somewhere only briefly.
But is that really the point?
Were they there then?
Or maybe… they were never there… really.
There… they just took photos…
***
„MIND SPASM”
Sometimes we get caught in a „mental spasm” and cling to some idea, concept, or point of view… convulsively.
As if, for some reason, we can’t relax our „mental muscles.”
We spin in circles, believing this is the only solution.
We lose clarity of vision. Interestingly, at the same time, we are convinced that we see clearly. In other words, we are unaware of this „spasm.”
Only after some time, or at the right moment, do we clearly see the absurdity of our previous way of thinking.
And then we begin to see truly clearly.
Therefore, very important decisions should not be made hastily…
***
I think that not only can you never step into the same river twice, but you also can’t be in the same place twice.
Even if we traced our footprints with chalk… and stood in the exact same spot.
And it’s not just about the flow of time, but also about all the other, I would say, „random variables.”
And I see this in my writing, for example. If I had written something a few minutes later, it would have been slightly different.
What I write is, in a way, a photograph of a moment.
I can only return to it later in my imagination. Only there will the 100% reunion of feelings, thoughts, time, and place occur.
The beauty is that I can return to it as many times as I want. And whenever I want.
Sometimes, so many things are physically gone—and I still recall them in my memory and imagination.
And they are there again.
Exactly as they were then.
And that’s wonderful…
***
„CLIMAX”
There is a moment when a ball thrown into the air no longer rises… but it hasn’t yet begun to fall either. For a moment, it seems to hang in the air, reaching its culminating point.
It’s like a moment of sacred reflection on time, movement,… life.
Time then—for a moment—stops…
***
I neither desire something very strongly nor want to avoid something very strongly.
And I think that’s one of the secrets to a happy life.
And I succeed…
***
I hink a person can live at a certain pace, just as music is performed at a certain pace.
You can play very fast pieces.
You can play slower ones.
And you can also play very slow and relaxing compositions.
The choice is yours.
They decide what pace they want to live at.
This has a huge impact on how they feel and how they use their life energy.
It’s worth learning about different tempos at different times in your life.
But the most common tempo should be a slow and gentle one.
Like the slow beating of a calm heart…
***
A person truly begins to live deeply when they understand that they are mortal. While this may sound cliché, looking at people, it seems to me that only some of them are aware of this.
And only some of them have touched upon this truth…
***
Just because almost no one understands what you’re saying doesn’t mean you’re not telling the truth…
***
You’ll have to say goodbye to everything someday… sooner or later.
First to your youth, then your health, then your eyesight, your hearing,… your memory.
But it’s a natural process. And this slow farewell to everything allows you to delve deeper into yourself.
And that, too, has its value…
***
What one note is in music is one sentence in lyrics.
Both can be a complete whole…
***
Is it really so difficult to predict the end of someone’s life when you look at it?
And I’m not talking about death.
I’m talking about their choices, habits, routines, passions…
And above all, their value system…
***
Things happen in different ways, but at the sight of love, people fall to one knee… and bow their heads. They know that love is sacred…
***
Often, it’s a good thing we don’t know that this was the last time.
Otherwise, we would have taken it all so hard.
And so… it happened so naturally… and gently…
***
There is as much good in a person as there is compassion.
The ability to feel compassion for other beings is the essence of goodness…
***
The history of the world is constantly moving forward.
Every day, the world changes.
Sometimes imperceptibly. Yet this process never stops.
And we change with it.
Although sometimes we wish we could stop the flow of time, even for a moment.
And sometimes… we succeed…
***
An artist is, in fact, sensitivity.
Everything else is merely a matter of skill in manipulating tools.
Anything that is beyond human sensitivity is not an artist…
***
You can look at the same thing and yet see something different.
This is one of the differences between people…
***
Don’t slow down or speed up.
Follow a natural rhythm.
***
The essence of management:
A boss is with his employees – for better or for worse.
Employees are with their boss – for better or for worse.
***
Craftsmanship is something that can only delight us. A work of art makes us better people…
***
I simplify my life down to the smallest detail to have time for what’s important to me…
***
Someone who desires happiness and considers it the greatest value in life may unexpectedly find themselves in a depression.
Meanwhile, if someone chooses to simply be a good person as their direction, they will encounter simple, gentle moments in their life that will prove to be happy.
They will come on their own, completely unexpectedly.
Just when we least expect them.
They will sit gently on our shoulder. Like a butterfly.
This is about noticing moments of satisfaction in life, instead of striving for happiness…
***
So many people care more about the cleanliness of their shoes than about the cleanliness of their interior…
***
Sometimes you have to take a big step back.
Sometimes you have to change places.
Sometimes you have to start all over again…
***
Only a person’s character can shape and develop throughout their lives. Everything else—the body, skills, and even memory—degrades…
***
I’m not goal-oriented.
I’m direction-oriented…
***
All that’s important about a positive life direction is making the best decision possible at that moment.
The direction we choose is the sum of those decisions.
We can’t blame ourselves if we honestly made the best decisions possible.
The rest was out of our hands…
***
Just because someone is stupid doesn’t mean they are bad…
***
You have to be able to accept that sometimes something lasts only a moment – and never comes back…
***
Sometimes, after a full drum in the washing machine, I realize that a week has just passed…
***
The right balance doesn’t have to be exactly in the middle…
***
People can live in parallel in the same reality, yet perceive it completely differently…
***
We say we want to be loved, but I think what it really means is that we want to be understood, deeply understood.
We long for someone to understand our feelings and thoughts.
That’s probably the biggest component of love.
Then there are elements like mutual care… and everything else…
***
A person’s sensitivity is their value…
***
Only things of value will survive the fiery test of time…
***
I’ve noticed that the most critical of others are those who are least talented.
They do it out of simple, primitive envy,
…that’s all.
(also a revelation – someone will say)
***
That’s how it is.
Wise people tell me about other wise people.
And that’s how I reach other wise people.
And that’s how I learn about life… also in this way…
***
Do what you can best… in this very moment.
Sometimes, it’s just
going for a walk,
or taking out the trash,
or exercising,
or going to sleep…
Every moment has that one, most important decision…
***
If someone truly loves music, they don’t need alcohol.
Music is incomparably more powerful…
***
If someone overestimates intelligence and underestimates heart, sooner or later he will crash into the rocks…
***
I’ll do what I can.
The rest is up to God…
***
It’s a warm summer.
Time passes slowly…
Isn’t it beautiful…?
June 2026
***
You can live in two realities.
The first is the one you’d like it to be.
Or you can live in the one that simply is.
I accept the second, reality in all its colors, because I believe that’s the only way to build something meaningful…
***
That’s how it is.
Fate writes different stories.
And you never know which sentence… will be the last…
***
Only time will tell whether something was just a passing mode or whether it also had a greater, timeless value…
***
I’m not trying to be good at something.
I’m just trying to constantly get better at something.
And that’s a big difference in approach…
***
Interesting.
In a smooth, almost imperceptible way… and completely natural – I’m becoming less and less of a physical being… and more and more of a spiritual being…
***
What’s important?
What matters is doing what’s best to do at that very moment.
Each moment has that one, unique thing…
***
I behave like a child trying to complete a puzzle.
To expand my knowledge and understand the world.
I ask the AI questions from very different areas.
And in this way, the great mosaic of the puzzle becomes a little clearer to me.
However, I begin to understand certain areas, as if in isolation.
Then, I try to bring these areas closer together.
Or, alternatively, to expand areas around those I already understand more clearly.
Others, however, that I don’t understand – sometimes, I instinctively want to abandon.
Meanwhile, everything is connected to everything else.
And we are only human.
Despite having achieved so much, we still only understand small fragments.
And even that, not as well as we think….
***
Negative feelings easily lead to evil—if we give in to them.
These include: anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, greed.
But also—completely inconspicuously and counterintuitively—fear and suffering…
***
If an idea is good, and at the same time quick, easy, and cheap to implement—it should be implemented immediately…
***
Figure drawings without a background are unnatural. The figure seems to be torn from its surroundings, out of context.
Meanwhile, every reflection of light from objects affects their mutual relationships. These relationships result in a play of light and shadow.
Similarly, it is difficult to talk about a melody that is not embedded in a certain sonic space. There is no well-told story without context – place, setting, time.
It all forms a whole. One thing emerges from another…
***
If you improve yourself every day.
If you observe your behavior daily and manage to disconnect from the mainstream,
You will begin to understand how things really are.
And after a while, to your own surprise, you will realize that you are already living in a different dimension…
***
It is usually the small, almost imperceptible details that make us want to use one item and not another.
This is because they are well designed.
They are simple, ergonomic, and highly reliable.
Creating utilitarian objects is a great art. The same as creating tools or musical instruments…
***
We play as if in a large, human orchestra. You don’t have to be the star to have your own good and natural place within it…
***
Maximum simplicity – with maximum quality…
***
I’m playing my role in a film almost unknown to anyone, called „My Life.”
And that’s how good it is…
***
I saw a film a long time ago about the first black diver in the American army.
Robert de Niro also starred in it. I remember that when this future hero’s father was saying goodbye to him, he said something like:
„Go and break all the rules.”
What beautiful words…
***
My simple texts are like photographs of time to me.
When I read them years later, I remember exactly what was happening then.
The atmosphere of a given moment, a given moment –…all of it comes alive again.
As if a parallel story were taking place, accompanying the story or sentences I was writing.
It’s a different way of recording time.
Other than photography, film, or anything else…
***
Music isn’t a sporting event. It seems so obvious, yet even musical people fall victim to this trap. Those who hear well and play instruments.
True music isn’t virtuosity. It has absolutely nothing to do with it…
A person who truly feels deeply will see beauty in the simplest sounds.
Even in a few – even three or four.
But how played.
With what feeling and message…
***
Musical instruments, a brush, a pencil, a pen, even the human voice – these are merely instruments that express the creator.
However, true value lies in their sensitivity. In their way of feeling and thinking.
Everything else is merely an instrument of expression.
A tool that can only be mastered better – or worse…
***
Sometimes we don’t do something because we imagine it’s very difficult. Meanwhile, when we try, it turns out to be surprisingly easy and successful.
As if we were born for it.
It’s worth just trying, instead of constantly remaining in the realm of imagination…
***
Simplify and minimize.
But never at the expense of quality…
***
If I am not even my thoughts, then who am I?
I am the awareness of my thoughts…
***
The reception of a work is half a creative act, and half an act of reception by the recipient.
Both are equally important…
***
Each of us stars in our own most important film – about ourselves…
***
Music is meant to be enjoyed. To be made. All music competitions are a misnomer. They are a complete desecration of music, because they compare it to a sport. They reduce it to a pointless competition…
***
I want to be good to someone, but not by force…
***
There have been times in my life when I’ve received very valuable and kind words from someone I never expected. And those words meant so much to me. They helped me…
***
If a fool remains silent, he may even be considered wise.
However, the first moment he opens his mouth will be the moment the world learns who he truly is….
***
There is no such thing as a successful or unsuccessful life. Life is simply a person’s story.
It is the result of an almost infinite number of variables, most of which we have no control over.
Someone who thinks they control this story becomes ridiculous.
Life is meant to be lived. With everything it brings. While trying to remain human.
In reality, that’s the only thing we have control over…
***
And even if we were to deny it, pain and time are great teachers of life…
***
Everything is connected somewhere, interwoven. One thing flows from another. Even our little story, seemingly unknown to anyone…
***
Everything is connected somewhere, interwoven. One thing flows from another. Even our little story, seemingly unknown to anyone…
***
My God, it’s the 21st century.
Now the world has possibilities we never even dreamed of.
There’s so much we want to know, learn, understand,… feel.
Life is just so short…
***
Jealousy can turn best friends into enemies.
Brothers into adversaries.
Friends into rivals,
And so, envying each other, they will say one thing but feel another.
It takes a lot of awareness to get rid of this destructive and dangerous feeling…
***
Sometimes, for a long time, we don’t develop.
Sometimes, for many years.
And then suddenly something happens. And we catch up on all that lost time.
And our development becomes almost explosive.
We finally begin to understand something.
And we become a better version of ourselves…
That means that this time simply has to come.
And we have to wait patiently.
Doing whatever we can in the meantime…
***
My life is no more or less important than yours. It is just as important…
***
Andersen once said that human life is a fairy tale written by God.
So do we have any influence on how this fairy tale unfolds? Or is everything already decided?
It’s a question as old as time.
Yes, we do have influence on whether we behave like humans in this story.
I guess that’s the only thing we can (really) influence…
***
I believe that a person’s personality is formed in the first few years of life. It’s already visible then. It’s already clear what value system that person will follow in the future.
And that’s precisely what matters most.
Later, that person puts on masks… many different masks.
Nevertheless, underneath them all, they remain the same…
***
The whole problem of humanity is that it blindly honors intelligence and strength – and ignores compassion…
***
I am only a part of a larger whole.
And all my affairs, aspirations, efforts,
even my thoughts…,
are only a part of a larger whole…
***
Our lives are largely the sum of the decisions we have made…
***
Sometimes it’s very small, even ridiculous, details that make us do or not do something.
And sometimes the simple sum of these details can influence very important decisions.
These small details are not good advisors…
***
The artist’s downfall begins when he believes he’s actually done it all himself.
Then he becomes arrogant and forgets all those who came before him… and God…
I think an artist brings a lot of himself… but that’s not all.
***
It took me a long time to mature into who I am today.
I’m like a tree that has taken a long time to grow—and is finally ready to bear fruit.
That’s how I feel.
***
Some things fade away.
That’s true.
But then… new things come.
And a new life begins…
***
The ability to feel compassion is the absolute most important human quality.
Without it, there is NOTHING.
Absolutely NOTHING…
***
It’s wise to sometimes take a step back.
And reflect more deeply on what you’re doing…
****
People who are similar immediately recognize each other. This applies to both the good and the bad sides of a person…
***
The longer I play, the more I feel and understand it—that it’s not about the instrument’s manufacturer or model. It’s about the specific serial number I have. Every instrument is unique. And I appreciate that…
***
„Those before us…”
People pass on something good, something valuable.
Just like marathon runners passed the baton to each other in a relay race.
Like Athenian messengers who ran on.
Let us remember those who carried the torch before us.
I don’t rely on memory, nor do I desire it, nor do I think about it.
But I think with respect of those who came before me…
***
It’s not always „now” – it’s the best moment.
Everything has its proper time.
The trick is to feel what needs to be done right now.
And do it without rushing, well…
Without anything that only disturbs the beauty of the moment…
***
Pain is a part of life.
Just like pleasure…
***
We change, we mature, we grow wiser. I hope we become better.
And that’s why it’s worth considering whether the goals we’ve set in the past are still worth pursuing.
Because if it’s just about proving your consistency and perseverance, it’s not worth it.
You need to consider whether it still makes sense.
Don’t give up if it does. But if it doesn’t, you need to back off. You need to change direction.
***
You have to be careful with words.
Sometimes we say something and don’t even realize that we’re changing someone’s life…
The profound meaning and serious consequences they have for someone else…
But also the other way around – they can sometimes be a powerful inspiration.
Something that will change someone’s choices for good, for the better.
***
Some upside, some downside.
Just like in life.
And you shouldn’t worry too much about it…
***
Pain doesn’t destroy me.
Pain shapes me…
***
„In 6 minutes”
Once, I was visiting my father at the sanatorium in Goczałkowice. We went for a walk along the main promenade. We stopped at a small, old café, near the historic barometer.
When we left, my father told me about the now very elderly man he shared a room with. This man used to be a railway worker. He often reminisced about those times.
„Every evening he goes to dances,” my father said. „He wears his only suit, combs his hair carefully, and sprays himself with cologne. He doesn’t regret it. Apparently, the women are delighted. At least that’s what he tells me. He doesn’t miss a single evening.”
He says he has no time to waste. They’re dancing on that big, old veranda. Right here!” he pointed to the spot. „And he has one more thing that keeps him going. He remembers the train schedule. He knows exactly when his old friend will pass through Goczałkowice. He’ll pass through that narrow strip, between the water and the water. Because that’s where the railway line runs. He’s waiting for this moment as if something incredibly big was about to happen. He’s sitting on his bed, before going out to the dance, staring silently into the distance. Yesterday he’d said briefly, „He’ll be there in six minutes.” So we waited together. The minutes dragged on. Finally, the six minutes he’d said passed. And nothing. No one honked.
Then another fifteen passed. And nothing…
I left the room because I saw him lower his head. I went for a walk. And as soon as I was gone, I heard the long, loud blast of a train horn in the distance. It didn’t stop at the station. It kept going. The blast was exceptionally long. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Someone did it on purpose. Then you could hear the signal slowly fading away in the distance.
It was a greeting from his old friend. So it was exactly as he said.
He did it. He was just late, that’s all.
My father told me this banal story that afternoon. A good ten years have passed since then.
Some people are long gone.
When I pass by there on various occasions, I recall this story, which somehow stuck with me so much that I decided to write about it now…
***
Is it about living as long as possible?
Or maybe it’s about how you lived in the meantime?
Were you human?
***
It’s not about how much you did, but about whether what you did (even if it was just one thing) was done to the best of your ability…?
***
A person’s philosophy of life, or more simply, their value system, translates into literally everything they do…
***
A hidden enemy is more dangerous than an open one…
***
What someone does in life is merely a consequence of who they are.
This, however, begins to become apparent even in the first years of their life…
***
I judge someone not by their appearance or background (because they have no influence on that), but by their character.
Because they do influence that…
***
An interesting pattern – people, to put it mildly, who are dishonest, understand each other exceptionally well.
Thus, the general rule is confirmed: a thief recognizes a thief, a cheater recognizes a cheater, etc., etc.
***
Every instrument has its own unique and beautiful sound. Each one, without exception.
You just have to find it…
***
You still have to live through all of this.
Perhaps somewhere between events.
Maybe somewhere between the lines…
***
There were things in the past that lasted,… and lasted,… and lasted.
There was no end in sight.
And today… I look back on them as an insignificant episode…
***
While this may seem obvious, it’s often forgotten.
Running away from the problem doesn’t solve the problem…
***
It often happens that when someone is unable to accept the truth, they deny it… even to themselves.
And they create their own version. What’s more, they start to believe it…
***
To watch beautiful sunsets, I don’t have to go to the end of the world…
***
When changes occur too rapidly, too dynamically, they are often devastating.
The right balance between volatility and stability, where there is significantly more stability and the changes are gentle, is crucial…
***
Many people fail not because of a lack of opportunities or skills – but because of a lack of patience and perseverance…
***
Many people fall victim to their own square way of thinking.
And become its slave…
***
Sometimes, the last time – this is not the time, which was the last one.
Sometimes the real goodbye came much earlier
***
Pleasure is not the same as happiness…
You can have many pleasures in life—and yet be very unhappy…
***
What is truly important in human life never ceases to be important.
This is an eternally relevant topic…
***
A film isn’t the work of a single creator.
It’s the result of all the creators involved.
From the screenwriter to the wardrobe assistant.
Yes, I think everyone has a greater or lesser stake in this process. Although it might seem absurd at first glance.
The same is true for any other project people work on together.
Every detail, even the smallest one, matters…
***
Listening to some people, I get the impression that they live to eat. They seem to find meaning in their lives and their highest ecstasies in food…
***
„A Movie Called Life”
Sometimes I feel like I’m living my life as if I were watching a movie about myself.
And the music I listen to or play is like the soundtrack to that movie…
***
Some life lessons sometimes have to be learned very late. It’s important to draw conclusions from them. But after that, it only gets better…
***
If you want to focus on what’s truly important to you, you need to significantly limit what’s less important to you. Otherwise, it will become an obstacle…
***
if not this – there will be something else. What is the problem…
***
If something is good and important – even late,
– even for a moment,
– even at the last moment,
…, but it’s worth it.
***
To find your way in time, you have to board the train called „time.” And not run—neither behind it (chasing time) nor ahead of it (overtaking time). Simply sit comfortably in the carriage and ride… enjoying the journey.
***
An honest man will always find work…
***
There are many variables in every project.
And the biggest variable, often completely unpredictable, is people…
***
If a musician were looking for the perfect tuning, he would never start playing…
***
What’s popular begins to become intuitive—even if it’s no better than other solutions in any respect…
***
I can become familiar with someone else’s views, read about them, and reflect on them.
However, I don’t intend to convince anyone of my own.
In truth, no one can convince anyone else.
Only we can convince ourselves to change our views.
There is no other way.
And that leads through understanding what we’re considering…
***
There is a tendency to overestimate intelligence while underestimating the role of the heart…
**’
A woman’s beauty is not even half of what is most important…
„„
There was a time when life dealt me a great blow.
I had to start from the foundations,
again.
That is, from myself.
I had to reconsider my entire philosophy of life.
Now I know I can move on…
***
I’ve noticed that people are more ashamed of dirty shoes than of poor manners. And for some, it’s even a source of pride…
***
I’m withdrawing my money from the happiness bank first thing in the morning.
I’m not waiting for later.
Then,…. come what may…
***
People who love money stand in the way of people who love power…
***
So much attention is paid to a person’s skills and so little to his personal culture…
***
What seems like weakness often turns out to be strength…
***
Try to look at yourself as a third person sometimes.
It’s a very useful observation.
You’ll gain perspective on many things.
Including yourself.
And you’ll realize what you’re really doing…
***
We’re all human. So let’s treat each other like humans…
***
Everywhere is good… for a while.
But then you have to move on.
Like a traveler who has reached a well, quenched his thirst
… and moved on…
***
Just because someone is tired doesn’t mean they worked well.
And vice versa.
The best work usually comes easily…
***
„SUCH A MAN WAS HERE”
I have a rule: I try to leave the apartment in such a state as if I were never going to return…
Then someone will come for me…and say:
– So that’s what this man was like. He had those few appliances – clean and well-maintained. Ready for others to use.
He liked their mutual, simple harmony and coexistence.
I think he loved music, drawing, dancing, contemplation…
Have you ever thought about it this way?
That you might be leaving your apartment for the last time.
You’ll go somewhere far away…and never come back.
I think that every day.
I’m leaving this small apartment behind, so that someone else can move in soon.
It’s prepared, cleaned.
A simple, good apartment.
There’s greenery outside the window, silence, and sunshine.
They heat here well in the winter with radiators.
There’s even a guitar for someone to play and meditate on – early in the morning or late at night.
And a little space for dancing in this one, single room.
There are pencils for drawing… and paper.
And even ink for brush painting.
It’s so peaceful here.
There’s a kettle so you can make yourself a cup of cereal coffee late in the evening.
For when it’s nice to listen to the quiet ticking of the clock right next to you, on the wall.
And cereal coffee – there’s a supply too.
And delicious Italian coffee in a can – there’s always plenty here.
And there’s a small coffee pot – a „cafetiera” from Italy.
There’s everything you need for a simple, happy life…
***
Get up!
And take what you have…
What’s left.
Then gather it all together,
even the little crumbs.
And make the best of it.
And go on…
***
I don’t plan my life. Life itself plans it,
and God guides me.
My only task is to behave like a human being,
…in every situation,
…to the best of my ability.
That’s my entire philosophy…
***
Someone is vain when they are empty inside.
Vanity is a situation in which someone is only interested in the outer packaging. Whether something is beautiful, whether it is famous, or whether it is considered good in certain circles. They don’t feel or understand what’s inside.
So, someone is empty/vain – like a blown egg. They only look nice on the outside, but not on the inside. Inside… there’s nothing.
That’s where the word „vain” comes from…
***
I’ve noticed that most people walk just to get somewhere.
They’re often in a hurry.
And I walk just to go….
***
Those who like to compare end up falling victim to comparison themselves…
***
When you’re a child and you hear a story – like any child, you try to match the images with your imagination to what you already know. What you’ve already seen.
And this doesn’t just apply to children.
And so, when I once heard the story about the blind Irish (or Scottish) poet who went outside and scattered his pages to the wind, I imagined my great-grandmother’s old house, in front of which was a flimsy wooden fence, like in that story.
And it was early spring and mud. And these poet’s pages, somewhere out there, would fall into the mud. Sometimes, a light breeze would catch them on the fence. And they remained. Unknown to anyone. Yet the poet, every day, went outside and scattered new pages to the wind. He believed that someone would read them someday.
And so, one of them flew over the fence… and soared into the world. Thanks to this, we know that such a person once existed. And we know what he felt and thought. And we know he was one of us.
He probably wrote many such cards. And one arrived.
Maybe this one will be enough?
In my childhood imagination, I had never been further than that fence. I knew that beyond it were young trees, the sun, and the railway tracks. Beyond them – trains were traveling somewhere far away…
That’s how I imagined the world.
Today, years later – I sometimes pass that way, in the middle of the night. There are no people – they’ve been asleep for a long time.
In a sense, it’s our family home. So much of my family’s history happened here. In that one room, which served as my great-grandmother’s entire apartment.
I remember her smiling kindly at me as we sat at the table on that sunny day. She always dressed in traditional Silesian garb. Every day. She also wore headscarves. These scarves were tied in such a way that she looked a bit like a Spanish woman from old paintings.
When I walk slowly through these Silesian streets at night, sometimes a thin smoke still curls from the red chimneys.
There are low, brick houses here.
Not much has changed.
I look at that place then, in the darkness.
Today, no one lives there anymore.
I wonder what our calling in life is?
I think it’s all about trying to do something good, even a small one. And it’s not about whether anyone appreciates it or not.
Maybe it all goes completely unnoticed. It doesn’t matter. However, it will never be in vain. Not even the smallest attempt.
To do what we feel within ourselves, to do the best we can.
Like the poet in the story.
And when it’s done, to depart in silence.
…To live like this is to live beautifully…
***
Everyone has the right to choose how they want to live their life…
***
For the world to change, human hearts must first change…
***
„RIVER OF TIME”
Can you hear how softly it murmurs?
Almost inaudibly.
Yet it has its own gentle flow.
Slow and constant.
Don’t fight its current.
That’s the secret.
Flow with it.
Do now what you should be doing now.
Then—you’ll do what you should be doing next.
Don’t think about it too much.
If you act this way, in every single moment—everything will be alright.
You won’t have time to do many things anyway,
but do the most important things.
The ones that should be done now.
At least try.
And enjoy this moment…
***
What is the act of creation?
What is a work of art?
It is what the artist has chosen.
It is their sensitivity, their way of feeling and thinking.
They chose the subject and the way they present it.
The artist is like a filter through which we view the world.
It is like an invitation into the world seen through their eyes…
***
What if we could just be.
Just live…
Without striving for achievement,
possession,
long journeys
and extraordinary experiences.
Just enjoy life…
***
Life is like a dance, on a journey…
We move to different places and time passes slowly.
But at the same time, we also dance our lives.
In a true journey, only the right direction is important—not reaching the destination.
In a true dance, only the joy of the moment is important, which thus passes… into eternity….
***
I am a momentary group of particles that have materialized in the form of myself.
In time, these particles will decompose and become part of the Universe again.
This does not mean, however, that I did not exist before—nor that I will not exist after…
***
I wake up early in the morning.
Then, with my little hammer and chisel, I work the hard rock.
Often, I manage to get almost nothing done.
But sometimes, I carve something.
I don’t focus on achievements, but on the journey.
I simply try to get something done… every ordinary day.
***
You can run your whole life and have everything done on time.
You can race everywhere, rush everywhere.
And yet, you can’t be aware that you’re alive.
Even though, on the surface, everything seems to be taken care of….
***
Everything is part of a whole. This is clearly visible in a drawing.
An object doesn’t exist without a background. If someone tries to draw an object in isolation from its background, it’s immediately obvious that it’s unnatural.
This background not only highlights the object but also influences its subtle changes in lighting.
Light reflected from surrounding objects, even very dark ones, leaves its mark on the object.
Conversely, light reflected from an object influences its surroundings.
They are therefore inextricably intertwined.
Everything matters, and everything influences everything else. The degree of this influence can only vary.
This has implications for our lives, for example.
For interactions with other people.
And this is just one example…
***
„The Theory of Fluid Change”
This is a theory I came up with, and I use it to explain good changes within myself and around me.
It’s about changes that don’t occur abruptly or dramatically—but smoothly and slowly.
Like in ambient music, where sounds intertwine very harmoniously. It even seems that one sound flows naturally from another. That it’s part of it and an obvious consequence. The evolution of the piece happens very slowly, almost imperceptibly. However, after a while, we hear that we’re in a completely different place.
This resonates with words I read somewhere a long time ago—namely, that all revolutions are good when they are achieved slowly.
And this is the path to transitioning from one state to another, as free from tension and suffering as possible. Like plasma. Like water.
Like the movements of a good dancer. Like the movements of a Tai Chi practitioner.
Guided by a good inner force, one moves where one should go.
This is how I try to live.
And I see great sense in this…
***
Time is your life.
Don’t waste time.
Look at it this way…
***
There are environments in which a person’s value is determined by the value of the work they perform. Meanwhile, a person’s value is the kind of person they are…
***
It’s not about starting life over, but about continuing this one life – taking small steps and becoming a better person…
***
Music is to humans what machine language is to machines.
People understand it perfectly and very subtly.
It can express what words cannot.
It is an advanced language of emotions.
A high-level language.
It triggers feelings and emotional memories.
It is also an instrument for traveling back in time…
***
Everywhere is fine—for a while.
And then… you have to move on.
***
To achieve something, in something, you have to be consistent…
***
If you say „I’m practicing now, and then I’ll play” – that means you’re wasting time.
Play while you practice.
And this doesn’t just apply to music, but to a wide variety of things – like dancing, drawing, or anything in the arts.
Simply practice and create simultaneously.
Make sure these moments aren’t wasted on practice, but that these practices are already beautiful…
***
You’re trying to compare my life to yours.
It’s pointless.
No lives are comparable…
***
I think a person must be very anxious and tormented when they have a plan for their life – and that plan doesn’t work out. Or not quite as they’d like.
At the same time, a person who listens to the day and what it brings is very calm inside.
And they just try to live – in each moment, as best they can…
***
Eat when you’re hungry—not when it’s time to eat.
Then you’ll be healthy.
This approach can be extended to many things in life. Only then do you live in harmony with your own nature…
***
Why does a person who has a lot want even more?
***
Project completion time should also be considered an element of minimalism. Similarly, the number of elements and resources used is another variable.
In the case of minimalism, it is an intentionally short time…
***
Whoever is too meticulous – only wastes the priceless time of life…
***
Our lives – some positives and some negatives…
***
„GOODBYE”
Sometimes, a true goodbye comes much later.
It happens somewhere deep inside us, even though objectively something ended long ago.
But we weren’t ready.
So we postponed this moment.
And finally, a day comes, a moment like this.
Inconspicuous, quiet.
So ordinary.
And completely unexpected.
And then we are ready – to face the truth.
That’s when the true goodbye occurs.
The farewell within us…
***
If you can, avoid fighting.
Nothing good usually comes from fighting.
However, if fighting becomes necessary, fight to win.
With full determination and full faith in victory…
***
You can do this,
you can do that,
you can do something else.
You can do many beautiful things.
But you can’t do them all.
You have to choose.
Life is, among other things, the art of choices…
***
It may be that what is food for one person is poison for another.
Although we all seem so similar…
***
You will only become courageous in public speaking when you stop critically judging others.
Because it is criticism that you fear most.
That is why you are like this…
***
Swimming – you can’t learn without swimming. Fighting – you can’t learn except through fighting…
You can only prepare for both theoretically…
***
„Do you remember that man you helped back then?”
„Which one?” you asked.
„Don’t you remember anymore?
„But he… still remembers…
***
Enjoy the age you’re at right now.
Enjoy the stage of life you’re living right now.
Enjoy it as best you can.
Even though it’s not easy sometimes.
Everything is short-lived.
And then…
we come back to this – in our memories…
***
One of the differences between someone we love and others is that we are capable of receiving blows from someone we love that would be unbearable for us in case of other people. This is because we know that this person loves us and is telling us the truth…
***
When it comes to beauty, a very small, almost imperceptible detail can change everything…
***
If someone easily overdoes one thing, they can easily overdo the other.
Whatever it is…
***
It’s a beautiful Sunday morning.
I sit, gazing at the sun.
Calmly and joyfully, I’m enjoying my life.
Isn’t that what it’s all about…
***
The older I get, the more I am convinced that everything happens exactly when it should.
And with infinite precision.
Knowing this brings me inner peace…
***
Life has a way of writing the strangest scenarios. You’d say:
„No, that’s definitely not the case.”
And tomorrow… is exactly that….
***
There are people who see constant struggle everywhere and in everything.
They even explain the world this way. As a ruthless struggle for survival. They consider the state of struggle to be self-evident in nature.
Because, after all, there’s a constant struggle in nature, they say. Inter-species struggle and intra-species struggle. Struggle for position, for a mate, for food, and so on.
This is one possible life stance that can be adopted—and I know some who have adopted it.
However, as I see it, ultimately they too fall victim to this ruthless struggle in which they so strongly believe. Just as a thief, sooner or later, is robbed, so too, sooner or later, they are defeated. If only by life itself.
I think that the true essence lies elsewhere.
The world we live in is not one filled with struggle alone.
Struggle is not the essence. Struggle is merely a last resort.
If you look closely, the struggle in nature is for survival, not for empty domination. This type of behavior is probably unique to humans.
But then again, only to some people.
If you don’t have to, don’t destroy.
Try to coexist…
***
First, something is there… and it is there.
And then, (we don’t even know when) – it’s gone.
And no more – …it’s gone.
Even though we thought it was so obvious that it was there.
And that it probably always will be…
***
Each of us has the right to become wiser…
***
In our imaginations, we relate everything (to a greater or lesser extent) to what we have already seen, what we know, what we have understood.
However, there are things we had no idea about before.
We couldn’t imagine them in any way…
***
I think that to truly love others, you must also be able to truly love yourself.
That’s a good place to start.
Such people naturally attract others…
***
Even though every wise person I’ve ever heard says exactly that. I disagree, that only the here and now exists. That this very moment is the only one we have.
All the happy moments I’ve experienced are still with me.
How does this happen?
Well, because I want it…
***
If you don’t have to, don’t destroy.
Try to coexist…
***
If I were looking for popularity, I would be an idiot…
***
There is a total difference between simplicity and vulgarity…
***
Sometimes, when someone creates something, they think too much.
And creativity is something beyond human reasoning.
True creativity comes easily…, completely unnoticeable…
***
You can die with everything perfectly in order.
But… is that what life is all about?
***
There are matters where the details don’t matter much and should be ignored.
But there are matters where the details are everything…
***
When judging a person, one should consider not only what they say, but also what they do.
And not only what they do, but also what they say—because words are also actions.
Always consider both—not just one…
***
I write my texts lightly – and I would like them to be read just as lightly…
***
Instead of planning, I ask myself a simple question every day: „Am I sailing in the right direction as I sailed today…?”
***
To appreciate the beauty of simplicity, one must first travel many winding paths.
Simplicity is not easy…
***
Material is more important than money.
Money can be replaced – it’s an apparent, virtual value.
Damaged, destroyed material – is often beyond repair.
And raw materials are limited in supply…
***
Very often people make fun of what they simply don’t understand…
***
Let life guide you, instead of trying to dictate what life should look like.
That’s a huge difference.
It’s finding happiness in the almost-nothing that’s now in your path, instead of searching for it somewhere else… someday.
***
Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Everything.
And this is completely natural…
***
One of the characteristics of ambient music (which I enjoy) is that the harmony evolves very gently.
The changes in chord progressions (even within a single structure) occur minimally (yet audible). These progressions create a kind of melody that hovers, barely perceptible, above the harmony. I hear this melody…
Thanks to this, one feels like floating in space, immersed in an ocean of peace.
I approach all energy changes similarly, as well as my state of mind.
Sudden changes only result in distraction and a sharply increased demand for energy.
I respect my inner peace and energy. This, for me, is incomparably more important than the state of my wallet (which is last on my list of needs).
I understand and feel how movement gently transitions into movement, how state gently transitions into state.
This is good for our inner selves…
***
Sometimes, I do something—though I don’t know why…
It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, where I place them chaotically in different places within the painting. Often very distant and seemingly unrelated.
I then feel as if guided by some invisible, gentle, and kind hand.
Only after some time do I begin to understand what I was really doing. What I was preparing for. Why I was putting this puzzle together.
At a certain point, I begin to see the connections between all these areas,… fragments, more and more clearly.
I can already see the image. It emerges.
And then, everything becomes clear.
I know why I was building all this from these small, loose pieces.
Pieces that seemed completely unrelated—and yet, they formed the image of something much larger, much more important. Even more important than myself…
It’s a strange, almost mystical feeling:
– That’s why I did it. Now I know…. Now I know…
***
No instrument is in 100% tune.
It can only tune at a given, extremely short moment. Moreover, it does so more in a „random” way than intentionally. Anyone who has been interested in the nature of sound since time immemorial (even since Pythagoras) knows this.
Furthermore, any instrument can only tune on a maximum of two notes.
Even modern electronic instruments, where sound is generated mathematically, are not perfectly tuned either. Many variables contribute to this, including the fact that the sound wave is analog (which is currently the only kind we can perceive).
Measurements can be made with the most accurate stroboscopic tuners. However, even though they are so good, the problem of accuracy arises again.
However, instruments and measurement systems operate differently each time.
It’s only our hearing limitations that don’t pick it up.
But interestingly, our hearts do. Although we can’t say why.
And finally, the problem of „How (and when) to tune the measuring instruments themselves?” can border on absurdity.
– So what can be done?
What can be done at a given moment, maintaining only healthy moderation, being aware of all these imprecisions. After all, this is what makes a given performance unique. Sometimes it’s the result of a simple mistake.
If a musician were too puristic about tuning an instrument, they would tune it endlessly… and in vain. Consequently, they would never begin their piece.
At some point, you have to say firmly, like Gagarin:
– Let’s go!
***
The sheer number of options to choose from sometimes leads to doing nothing… paralysis, passivity, inaction. It weakens creativity.
When I was young, there were many things I had access to.
However, there were also many things I could only dream of. And I had no access to them.
And today, thanks to the internet, thanks to the latest technologies, I instantly gain access to certain information, results… and can even buy items that were once only the object of dreams in a moment.
But does this make us better?
Simply put, everything happens faster.
Maybe that’s all?
I don’t know… time will tell…
***
It’s not how someone behaves, but how you behave that’s important…
***
There are people who are greedy for experiences.
This, too, is greed.
They often crave them at the expense of others, regardless of the outcome…
***
I think the following fields are one:
– science
– philosophy
– art
– spirituality
***
You have what you have, and what happens to you in life happens to you—because you are who you are.
That might be the case when you’re still maybe 10 years old—but not later…
***
Sometimes I gravitate somewhere, though I don’t quite know where.
Only after some time do I discover the purpose of this gravity.
It’s a strange and yet fascinating experience…
***
Psychology is about getting to know the knower…
***
I’m not in charge of all this. My only responsibility is to play my role. To the best of my ability.
***
What we think today is one thing.
However, with hindsight, things can look completely different.
And what was unimportant may become unexpectedly important.
And what seemed so important then may become truly irrelevant.
Only time will tell…
***
How important is parental support when a child has failed?
The words of a father who says:
„Son, I am with you. I will never turn my back on you.”
With such support, a little person continues on in life and believes in themselves, even when they have been going on completely alone for a long time.
As a young man, a man, an old man…
***
„The Polar Express”
There are moments in a person’s life that resemble a scene from the cartoon „The Polar Express,” starring Tom Hanks.
You’re standing at an empty station.
Opportunity arrives—like a train.
Everything is ready.
Nothing stands in the way of getting on.
Nothing… except uncertainty.
So many people fear all uncertainty.
They prefer the familiar, shoddy quality… To the attempt at change.
And this was that moment.
That chance.
There can only be a few in a lifetime,
or even just one.
And the train departs…
With us—…or without us…
***
I have a good plan—the best. To live today as best I can…
***
Human fates.
They’re not that distant at all.
They’re right next door.
Almost the next door…
***
It’s not about living long – but about living well and beautifully…
***
I don’t so much play music as I enjoy the sound.
Even a single…
***
If you make your work enjoyable, you’ll enjoy it.
It’s that simple…
***
If your entire life’s work is your bank account, imagine losing it in a split second.
Even through common theft.
Is this really what you want to build your life on…?
Build on what no one can steal.
What no one can destroy…
***
Playing music is also listening to music.
If someone begins to approach it this way and listen to themselves—as if they listen to themselves and a third person simultaneously—then their experience of the music becomes even more profound.
Then they, the instrument, and the music become one…
***
If I lived my life solely on logic, I would become a monster. Fortunately, I also think with my heart…
***
It is a sin to rush, but it is also a sin to waste time…
***
It’s not about performing miracles or doing things beyond your strength and abilities. But about honestly doing what you can…
***
Art is not about faithfully reproducing details, but about reproducing the essence…
***
To live well, we need different feelings.
Not just joy.
They all create and build us.
Just like the seasons.
For nature, spring is not the only important season…
***
True music begins only when a musician stops playing with their hands or lips and starts playing with their heart.
When they stop playing with their mind and start playing with their whole being…
***
If I assume I’m not in control of everything in my life, then I can be completely calm, because whatever is meant to happen will happen.
And all I have to do is simply behave like a human being…
***
Women are exploited for the most grueling, tedious tasks that could easily be performed by machines.
Men exploit them for this, just as they exploit them for so many other things.
But what’s even worse is that women accept it…
***
Woe to him who raises his hand against love
***
A day isn’t made of rubber—you can’t stretch it. The same goes for a week, a month, a year, life…
***
Do the best you can—here and now.
However small.
Instead of dreaming about the future.
Or dwelling on the past…
***
He was walking along the viaduct.
From a distance, you could see from his posture and stride that someone like him walked simply to walk.
That he lived simply to live.
Not to achieve, conquer, or prove himself to others – but simply to live…
***
I think an artist is a kind of filter. It shows how they see the world. How they experience it.
When what they create reflects that experience, they consider their work finished.
If not, they search and try again.
This has little to do with mastering the craft itself. It’s merely a technical matter.
The craft exists solely to ensure it doesn’t interfere with what they’re doing.
***
Life moves fast.
If you don’t focus on what’s truly important to you—every single day—life will fly by…
***
I think people who have mastered the art of living know that the most important thing is, above all, life itself.
Everything else is secondary…
Our supposed achievements are completely secondary. What we leave behind does have some significance… but we shouldn’t devote too much time to it either.
We have to live now…
And that’s the most important thing.
If someone understands this, it means they give proper and natural priority to things.
***
There are exceptions to many rules.
Often even where it would seem absurd.
Rigid adherence to rules without leaving room for deviation is a limitation to development.
We humans create various rules to simplify reality.
But we should never forget that this is only a simplification.
Reality may turn out to be more complex than we think…
***
If a manager treats people like buttons he pushes to get them to accomplish his goals, he’ll soon surround himself with idiots.
People who are truly thoughtful and truly talented will quickly abandon him.
And consequently, such a manager will fail.
He will fail because he acts against nature, failing to respect others as he does himself…
***
Help – yes.
Sacrifice – no…
***
What you can do is merely a matter of technique.
Who you are inside yourself is everything…
***
If there is a problem somewhere, it is not the instrument, but the musician…
***
Time will slowly and gradually take everything away from you. Only that which is your essence will remain.
So it’s worth asking now – what is that essence?
And focus on that…
***
Avoid all extremes.
Even when expressing your emotions…
***
All you need to create is a feeling heart and a thinking mind.
Anything else is merely a technical skill that can be learned. Sooner or later, at most—but it’s only a matter of time.
The creator is the one who ultimately accepts their work. They release it to the world in the form in which they consider it finished.
They are a kind of filter whose properties depend on their individual, unique sensitivity and way of thinking…
***
Every instrument has its own soul.
Each one, even the very simple and inexpensive instruments, mass-produced and anonymous, one after another.
Each one is unique…
***
If someone doesn’t ask you for something, they usually don’t appreciate it either…
***
The only true judge, the only true juror, is time.
Everything else is a matter of fashion, which will sooner or later fade away…
***
When you see the end of your efforts on the horizon, rest for a moment before the final stretch.
This very moment, just like at the very beginning when you were just starting out, can be the hardest…
***
In human character, nothing else is as important as the value system…
***
Comparisons are just comparisons.
And we shouldn’t forget that.
***
Why do we so often and unnecessarily complicate our lives?
The key to happiness lies in simplicity…
***
A good man must be very decisive and sometimes even strict…
***
Very important decisions – make them very slowly (if you have time)…
***
It’s good to listen to someone, but it’s also good to listen to yourself.
And you don’t necessarily have to sit in a meditative position to do so.
Simply – just talk to yourself sometimes…
***
If you live in harmony with your good nature, you are happy.
And nothing more is needed.
You are rich…
***
Let the note fade… – don’t rush it…
Let the moment fade… – don’t rush it…
Let it flow, as it should.
Don’t interrupt.
Listen to it.
Only then can notes and moments become beautiful, full, and understandable.
If you can delight in single, slow sounds, then you will be able to delight in single, slow moments.
And both sounds and moments will begin to form a larger whole…
And they can become a beautiful melody.
And they can become a beautiful life…
***
Very often, profound transformation is painful. However, in the end, significant progress can be made….
***
A work of art is never something labored. It comes into being easily. It actually creates itself. It comes into being when the creator and God collaborate…
***
Ownership should never be a hindrance. If it is, it means you have too much of something…
***
Live like this, slowly – from beautiful moment to beautiful moment.
And then, when you look back, you can clearly see that you’ve experienced quite a few of these beautiful moments…
***
How negative emotions can sometimes disrupt our ability to think clearly.
We regret it deeply afterwards.
I hope it’s not too late by then.
It’s good to correct your mistakes, but it’s even better to simply not make them…
***
Whoever strays too far from nature condemns himself to misfortune…
***
Everything happens when and as it should.
Our only task is to behave like humans…
***
Don’t expect anything.
Just live your life to the best of your ability…
***
The history of our lives is the encounters of individual people.
And, contrary to appearances, there aren’t that many of them.
The histories of nations or contemporary events are, as it were, in the background, merely…
They are like a backdrop for these encounters.
From our human perspective, they are the most important…
***
There’s a feminine element in every man.
And this is completely natural.
However, there are more masculine elements in him than feminine ones.
And that’s why he’s a man.
Both physically and psychologically…
There’s a masculine element in every woman.
And this is completely natural. There are more feminine elements in her than masculine ones.
And that’s why she’s a woman.
Both physically and psychologically…
Science confirms this. This applies to both knowledge about fetal development and knowledge about hormones. In addition, there are at least elements concerning the environment in which a person lives and their self-image…
***
Harmony in music is like the backdrop to a story.
A melody is like a story.
If the line is simple, clear, understandable, beautiful, moving, profound, and makes us better, then it’s a good line.
That’s a good story…
***
Live each moment as beautifully, fully, and wisely as you can.
Because they flow – one after another.
And they are unique.
But they will remain in your memory.
And if you live them well – they are not lost…
***
If you asked me what I’d be doing next, I’d tell you I don’t know, but it would be the best thing I could do right now. In this place and at this time…
And it’s always the one, the only, best thing you can do right now. You just have to feel it well, find it in the moment. Nothing could be simpler.
And then, life becomes so peaceful and harmonious.
Like a sunny Sunday afternoon in September…
***
We change, imperceptibly, from week to week.
With this step, these changes are already noticeable.
Just sit quietly on Sunday morning and take a closer look at yourself…
***
Beautiful music – opens the Heart and Mind…
***
Comparisons are just comparisons – and we should not forget that…
***
Someone who cheats at work is ultimately cheating themselves…
***
Certain painful experiences allowed me to touch more deeply the essence of humanity…
***
I would never say of any person that he is a stranger to me…
***
I like to listen to wise people, but I also like to listen to myself,
my inner self,
my own mind.
Listen to what it has to say to me…
This stems from the fact that we need time to perceive what we’ve experienced.
Especially now, in such a rapidly changing world…
***
Music has something to do with breathing.
It’s a resonance with the invisible waves of the universe.
Only when someone listening to the music (or playing it and listening simultaneously) tunes into these waves—then the music, the instrument, and the player—become one…
***
You can learn many things, but not heart.
You simply have a heart… or you don’t…
***
I can be lonely – I’ll accept that.
I can be rejected by society – I’ll cope.
But I wouldn’t want to feel like I’d hurt someone innocently and intentionally.
That would be the worst feeling…
***
Be aware that you’re thinking.
Be aware of why you’re thinking.
Be aware of what you’re thinking about.
This is metathinking, not compulsive overreaction.
This is awareness…
***
I often talk to myself.
To hear myself better.
To understand myself better…
***
When dealing with unfriendly people, or those with different views or values, it’s best to use moderate language and avoid extreme tones.
Any extreme tones only further divide and provoke the parties.
Meanwhile, you should seek agreement for as long as possible—but without compromising your values.
Because everything has its limits…
***
Before you consider someone hardworking, first look at the reasons for their hardworking nature.
That’s where the real answer lies.
No one is hardworking for the sake of being hardworking.
If there’s a reason other than greed, pride, or fear, then yes, that person is indeed hardworking…
***
Leaders of states are not states.
Leaders come and go.
They last a short time.
States remain.
They can develop and change.
Over time, they may be completely different from their former leaders.
What creates a state is the consciousness and culture of its members…
***
These small, daily rituals provide us with inner peace and joy in life.
Pleasant and gentle – small things.
No matter what’s happening around us, good or bad.
If we do these things at the same time every day, then they become safe havens where we can rest for a while when things get rough at sea.
And this ensures our emotional health, even in the most difficult times…
***
It’s a great art to speak as if each sentence were to be the last.
Without prefiguring the next…
Only such statements truly linger in the memory and the heart. Statements without pride, without the pursuit of something else, without trying to convince others of your point.
Simple and honest words.
And this is because such statements reflect life itself.
We never know which words will be our last. Just as we never know if this moment is our last.
Understanding this, we begin to respect our time and our words more.
Our moments.
And therein lies the beauty of life…
***
Fill the moment with what is best in that moment…
***
Success is the sum of small, constantly improved habits…
***
Music can transport us back in time.
To places, people, events.
To worlds that no longer exist…outside.
But they are still within us.
I listen to this song – and I’m 12 years old again…
***
I don’t seek out combat with another human being, because combat only leads to losses on both sides.
***
But when it comes to combat, I have no problem with it…
Sometimes, we do something for those we remember fondly.
But really, it’s for their memory.
Because of their images from years gone by.
Although they themselves are completely different today…
***
Evil can come from anywhere and at any moment.
That’s its nature.
It usually appears right next to good.
Like a shadow, next to light.
Not somewhere far away, but right there.
We ourselves are also capable of doing evil, completely unintentionally.
Even to those closest to us and at the least expected moment.
But when we are able to realize this, we can stop evil…
***
Who you are is not your face.
It’s not your body.
It’s not even your voice.
Who you are is your own way of feeling and thinking, which complement each other and create the whole of your personality.
You could use any voice, any face, and any body avatar (today, with AI, this is possible).
And behind it all, you are still you.
One and only…
***
„PLAY YOUR PIECE TO THE END”
Does the fact that something didn’t work out mean it’s not worth playing the melody to the end?
No, …I don’t think so.
If you’ve ever played an instrument, you know how many times you’ve made a mistake at the very beginning of a piece, in the middle, …and sometimes at the very end (even though it was going so well).
And this after so many rehearsals, so many performances.
And you feel as if you were starting all over again.
As if you’d never learned anything at all.
But if you truly loved playing, you kept playing regardless.
And you listened to the notes you were playing.
Because even though the entire piece wasn’t perfect, certain parts of it were beautiful.
And you listened to those parts with delight.
And after the mistake, you knew you didn’t have to try so hard. And paradoxically, it was then that you were most relaxed
and truly enjoyed your playing – even if only in those small fragments.
And it was then that something you could only describe as a „sanctity” occurred.
It’s similar in life.
So keep playing your melody…
***
Bad and painful experiences are also necessary.
If only to prevent them from repeating themselves.
Otherwise, we might constantly consider them as potential possibilities…
***
Yesterday is still beautiful, in my memories,
in my mind.
And it will be with me forever.
Now, it is now. So it is.
Tomorrow doesn’t exist yet,
so I don’t live for tomorrow.
I live for what was – and what is now.
I only think of tomorrow as a good hope.
I do what I can today to make it that way.
But I don’t think about it too much…
***
Rigid adherence to rules limits progress…
***
Fight in a way that commands respect even among your opponents…
***
There are so many things you’ll never know in your lifetime.
So it’s better to know less, but better…
***
It’s nice to play an instrument for a while – but you have to know how long a moment is.
Because sometimes a moment becomes a whole day…
And life isn’t just about music…
***
If something is merely a matter of fashion and not value, it will fade with fashion.
What is truly valuable will stand the test of time…
***
Every performance of a musical piece is different.
You could say that this performance is good, and that performance is good.
However, each performance is unique and one of a kind…
***
A person who is emotionally destabilized is easier to control…
***
People speak different languages, but under a thin layer of culture, we are all the same… (inspired by Ryszard Kapuściński)
***
A wise man is never too smart…
***
A little bit of something can be good.
But it can also easily turn into its opposite when there’s too much of it.
The Art is knowing how much it is—taking it wisely…
***
It’s human nature to crave diversity.
Any attempts to reduce people to equality are unnatural and harmful.
We are similar, yet diverse.
I’m not talking about inequality in any social status (because that’s unnatural), but about the ability to express the natural diversity of each person…
***
Only what is truly good will stand the test of time.
Everything else, however, is merely a passing fascination, a fad, a novelty.
Something without deeper value…
***
Just because someone laughs doesn’t mean they’re happy.
They’re two different things…
***
A lack of culture is not just another kind of culture, regardless of where someone comes from.
A lack of culture is simply a lack of culture…
***
A man who truly dances with his woman doesn’t need an audience…
A woman who truly dances with her man doesn’t need an audience…
***
I believe we were destined to become the most intelligent species on Earth not to dominate and destroy, but to protect our unique ecosystem. I believe that’s why Mother Nature allowed us to do so…
***
You were born with everything you need to be happy.
It doesn’t depend on anything or anyone.
Don’t compare yourself to anyone.
Others have their own lives.
– You have yours.
This is your path.
One of a kind,
Your own…
***
If you better understand certain things about movement, you’ll feel the similarities between movement and dance.
Your own movements, in the simplest of everyday activities, will begin to resemble dance moves, where one flows seamlessly into the next.
It creates an almost effortless flow.
Where everything becomes one, understood, beautiful whole.
Where there’s no rush, yet there’s no waste of time either.
A certain harmony and synchronization with everything emerges.
Like beautiful music.
Everything happens exactly when it should—in harmony with nature…
***
I’m trying to get through this one day as best I can.
That’s all…
***
If you truly follow the path of your calling, you won’t even need self-discipline.
Everything will happen on its own…
***
We are a bit like plants whose seeds have been scattered by the wind
…somewhere…
And they try to grow where they are and as best they can
…according to their own abilities…
***
If someone treats art as income, both art and income suffer…
***
The strength of a society can be judged by how it treats its weakest members – children, the elderly, the sick, the poor…
***
If someone lives in noise, they cannot hear themselves…
I feel deeper and understand more when I am alone and in silence…
***
Good music is timeless.
Good books are timeless…
***
There is a thin line between passion and licentiousness…
***
If something is merely a matter of fashion and passes with it, it means it is worthless. It is empty—that is, vain…
***
We never know why someone is the way they are…
***
Respect time.
Do you know how it is when you fill out an official form and there are fields you have to fit in?
If you don’t write sparingly at first, you’ll run out of space later.
You know how it is.
It’s the same with our lives.
We need to respect it constantly,
so that there’s always a little more space.
Every day, every week, every month, every year…
***
In bad emotions – it is easy to make a serious mistake…
***
Under the guise of diligence, in the case of many people, there is hidden the simple, common greed that is associated with the reward for work done…
***
„LIKE IN A MOVIE”
Enjoying playing the role we’re meant to play.
The role of ourselves.
Have you ever looked at it this way?
To sometimes feel like you’re in a movie about yourself… and to play that role as best you can…
***
The thing about music is that someone who plays for the first time in their life can play better than someone who has been playing all their life…
***
As the years go by, you start to respect seconds just like you start to respect pawns in chess…
***
A person who likes to walk will go further than one who only wants to reach a destination…
***
I once saw a drawing in some old American magazine.
The boss yells at the husband, then the husband yells at the wife, then the wife yells at the child.
Finally, the child yells at the dog.
Evil is like a domino whose pieces fall from the strongest to the weakest.
How can we stop this domino?
First and foremost, realize that it exists. And often, it exists much longer than we think. It exists from generation to generation.
And the next step is to stop passing it on.
But also don’t allow this negative energy to be passed on to you.
– Don’t take out on me the anger that belongs to someone else. Deal with it with him – that’s where the source is. Not here !
However, this requires great wisdom and strength.
That’s why it’s so rare…
***
The answer is often hidden in the question…
***
I neither seek nor avoid…
***
Some stories need to be repeated many times at different intervals.
Because history repeats itself.
And people quickly forget…
***
Choosing a goal is far more important than the ability to focus on it. Some people are incredibly focused – on completely wrong goals…
***
For a true creator, the number of their audience doesn’t matter.
They do so out of a need to give the best of themselves – to others,
to the world…
***
Every action in the right direction, even the smallest, will eventually yield results.
Usually, it’s only a matter of time…
***
Love will give you strength.
Even when, according to this world, you shouldn’t have it anymore…
***
Reproducers – are plenty.
Creators – are few…
***
I think everything happens at the right time.
It’s us who have to synchronize – not events…
***
How often does a kind word bring more refreshment than a fresh summer breeze…
***
I’ve noticed that the higher someone’s position in an organization, the more clearly they express themselves.
The more clearly they express their thoughts and are understood by everyone.
This is one of the characteristics of true leaders…
***
Suffering helps us understand others better…
***
Don’t compare yourself to anyone except the best version of yourself you can become…
***
Notice that even difficult problems become easier than they seem when you start working on them.
The important thing is to start.
Then you have to break these problems down into pieces and solve them individually, while keeping the overall work in mind.
At some point, the puzzle comes together and you begin to understand the larger whole…
***
Instead of making judgments, it’s better to ask questions skillfully.
Perhaps then the other person will come to the conclusion that they are wrong.
If they are wrong, this will save them face and prevent them from becoming your enemy.
If you are wrong – change your view…
***
Limitations force us not only to be creative, but also to focus on the most important things…
***
Loneliness is an opportunity for deep reconciliation with oneself…
***
If you change nothing, probably nothing will change…
***
Jealousy is the enemy of happiness…
***
Everything that seemed destroyed will one day be reborn.
You’ll see.
You, patiently do your thing—the best you can.
Don’t give up…
***
Comfort can be good. We need it in reasonable amounts.
Luxury, and the Elitism that always goes hand in hand with it – are never good.
This is the beginning of a person’s inner decay…
***
You have limited influence over your memory – but you have a much greater influence over your level of concentration…
***
I think a well-prepared plan means that when the moment comes to execute it, everything happens almost automatically.
It’s much better to prepare everything in your own mind first. Visualize it. The mind is a powerful tool.
This saves time and energy.
You can think through certain elements in advance – like in an engineering project.
***
Inspiration is like a flash.
The rest is patient work.
***
If you approach life as a constant battle, your life will be a battle. If you approach life as an adventure, whatever happens, your life will be an adventure…
Not to fight life, but to do what you can.
That’s a huge difference in approach…
***
„Let the note fade”
Let the note fade.
Don’t be in such a hurry…
Don’t think about the next note you want to play right now.
This one is still playing.
Enjoy it.
Don’t rush it.
Don’t rush its short life…
Do you hear it?
It’s fading away already.
It’s fading into the past…
It still carries a faint reverberation behind it
and will soon fade away…
Let it play as long as it should.
Listen to it carefully,
And you’ll know exactly how long it is.
And only then the next one.
At the right, natural moment.
***
An approximation is just an approximation.
A comparison is just a comparison.
An analogy is just an analogy.
It’s so easy to forget this—and confuse it with the truth…
***
Emotion is a message.
It’s not just a nervous and hormonal reaction of the body. They are merely a consequence.
It’s a profoun message.
***
Being in nature is never a waste of time…
***
The fluidity of movements is more important than their speed…
**’
If someone was truly important to you – they will always be important.
If you were truly important to someone – you will always be important…
***
„THEN THE BEST”
Do what you can do best at a given moment.
And do it at every moment.
I think that when you look back one day, you will see clearly that you did not waste your life.
Because in every single moment – you honestly did what was best at that time.
In those conditions,
with those people,
with those opportunities,
with those skills,
with that knowledge,
… at that moment in life …
***
After a while, things start to fall into place – like shaking a jar.
Everything finally finds its place.
And we were so worried…
***
Volatility is good as long as there is not too much of it, because then it becomes destructive. It is similar with stability. However, it is good when there is more stability than volatility, in proportions of about 80 to 20.
I think that the Vilfredo Pareto rule works in this case too…
***
It is difficult to call someone a failure if they had no goal.
Such a person never fails.
What about – to simply live?
Live as a human being.
Live as the best you can be.
Experience with joy what life gives us.
And without despair, accept everything that life takes from us.
Simply, live well – an ordinary, everyday day…
***
No matter how much someone knows, if they are arrogant – they are not wise.
A wise person has a lot of humility.
They are also aware of the enormity of their ignorance…
***
To develop, we need experiences – even painful ones, even very painful ones.
But everything in moderation and proportion, so that we have time to rest and strengthen ourselves…
***
Just because someone is right about one thing – doesn’t mean they are right about all things.
But also:
Just because someone is wrong about one thing – doesn’t mean they are wrong about all things.
***
The desire for luxury impoverishes the interior of man
***
Experience shows that someone who tries to intimidate from a position of strength is at the same time very afraid of strength…
***
How our human destinies intersect – in strange, uncanny and at the same time fascinating ways…
***
How many things can be discovered when you break your daily routine from time to time…
***
Encountering the divine awakens humility – never pride. It is what was drawn on the face of Nicolaus Copernicus in the painting by Jan Matejko („Astronomer Copernicus”).
I realize (reading what I myself sometimes write) that I am more spiritual than I thought.
This is a surprising discovery for me…
***
If two solutions are mutually exclusive, do not seek a compromise between them.
Use one solution – for one situation,
and the other solution – for the other situation…
***
You are what will remain – when you are an old person.
When your body changes,
Your voice.
Even your eyes.
You are your unique way of feeling, thinking and behaving.
Everything else – is beyond you…
***
Each instrument has its own soul.
Even the simplest,… the cheapest.
They come off the production lines, one after another, and have their own serial numbers.
However, the musician knows that each of them is unique…
***
A truly loving person wants to realize the deep potential of the other person. To realize their uniqueness and unrepeatability, which are in each of us…
***
Most often, it is only time that reveals what is hidden behind the last mask that some people put on…
***
After 50 – your whole character is visible in your face. It’s worth drawing conclusions from this…
***
A person who needs the envy of others for his own satisfaction and sense of success is poor and dependent on others.
He does not do anything for himself.
He follows the path marked out by others…
***
Sensitivity is not sensory reactivity.
It is a sensitive heart that sympathizes…
***
Sometimes just one small change is enough to turn a common product or act of creation into a work of art…
***
I don’t know where it comes from that people attach so much importance to their appearance – and so little to their personal culture…
***
Don’t compare yourself to others.
They have their way.
You have yours.
How could we walk the same path when we are so different…
***
One of the reasons someone has the ability to enjoy life is because they already know that it could be much, much worse.
They know this – because they’ve lived it…
***
You are not even the one standing naked in the shower.
It is not your beauty… that will fade.
It is not your body… that will weaken.
It is your heart and your way of thinking.
They will remain.
And they are the only ones you can influence.
And that is you…
***
When someone lives a dream – they live from fulfilling one dream to another.
When they fulfill one, they immediately have to come up with another.
Thanks to this, they have a sense of progress, success, fulfillment.
But this is just an illusion…
Someone like that constantly lives in the future.
And they are constantly restless.
True peace and joy of life – are not hidden in fulfilling dreams…
***
Wisdom is much more than intelligence.
One can be very intelligent – and very stupid, at the same time…
***
There are environments in which a person’s value is assessed by the type of work they do.
This is a big mistake.
A person is not their work.
A person is their character, which they shape themselves. You can change your work many times in your life.
The path of character formation remains unchanged.
On this path, a person is constantly moving forward…
***
Try to take one small, tiny step.
The best you can do in this particular, tiny moment…
Sometimes this will be all you can do.
It may be that you won’t even know where this step will take you.
However, at least try to make it the best you can do right now.
No matter what has happened to you in life…
No matter what burden you carry – try to take this one small, smallest, but good step…
***
Wisdom is not knowledge.
Although knowledge helps wisdom…
***
Freedom is something good – but you have to know how to use it well…
***
From a distance, you could see that this man was simply walking. He wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere.
He was walking because he liked walking.
Because he enjoyed life.
You could see it in his every gesture,… in every movement.
***
There is only one best way out of every situation.
Maybe not ideal… – but optimally the best…
***
I’m riding a bus.
From my point of view, and from where I’m sitting – I’m in the very center of the universe….
That guy in the cap – opposite – probably thinks the same thing…
And that man looking for cans in the garbage can… whom we pass.
It seems to us all that the center of the universe is exactly where we are.
And that everything spreads out in every direction from us – outwards.
Each of us is equally important… and each of us has their own story, and their own future. Equally important.
***
If someone respects the laws of physics, then the laws of physics will protect them.
If someone respects the laws of ethics, then the laws of ethics will protect them.
The laws of physics, as well as the laws of ethics, are laws of nature.
And these are not relative.
We only discover them. We do not create them…
***
Before you throw something away – you have to try to fix it. This applies to many things…
***
Art, Science and Philosophy – are one whole…
***
Our evil begins with our bad emotions.
It slowly and imperceptibly takes us out of control of who we are.
We must be very careful with our bad emotions, such as:
anger, fear, hatred, suffering, jealousy, pride, lust…
***
Everything has a beginning, middle, and end.
Everything…
***
As strange as it may seem, sometimes people are afraid to succeed…
***
I do not design the path of my life.
I am not God.
I walk the path of my life…
***
„Message”
What kind of life is this,
in which you are always running somewhere…?
In which you are always not where you are.
In which you are always craving something – because you are always missing something (or so it seems to you).
A life in which you cannot stop
and simply, quietly
…sit, think, breathe.
***
All the wisdom and greatness of a man is in his heart…
***
One success doesn’t make anyone a champion.
Championship is a journey full of failures, self-reflection, and comebacks…
***
Evil eventually turns against its own host. But only when it is no longer needed.
This is how stories like this end.
And not sometimes,… but always…
***
Respect time, even if it’s just seconds.
Someday you may run out of seconds…
***
I like the days when I’m not waiting for anything the most…
***
You have to be able to take a step back in time if something is clearly not working…
***
“Life is like a dance”
Is dancing about achieving something – or getting anywhere?
Is one moment more important than another in dancing?
Or is it about getting from point A to point B on the dance floor?
I think that if someone can truly enjoy dancing – they can enjoy life.
Remember – the music of life plays for you too.
Dance your life to the best of your ability…
***
If a person only wants one thing in life – then there is a very high probability that he will achieve it.
You have to think about what that one thing in life is.
You also have to think about what you are willing to sacrifice.
Because you can’t have everything…
***
”Don’t wait for tomorrow…”
Say every sentence,
as if there was no next one.
As if my story were to end with this very sentence.
Don’t wait for tomorrow.
Breathe calmly – with every breath,
as if it were to be the last.
Do not desire anything.
Do not rush anywhere.
Accept everything
that life brings.
Lose everything – if necessary.
Gently enter the day
and gently fall asleep at night.
Pass unnoticed,
yet giving the world the best that you have in yourself.
Be, like water…
Be, like air…
Ultimately,
– we are not physical.
We are a thought.
We are a feeling.
JMakosz – May 2025
***
„We are unique”
I unbuttoned my corduroy jacket.
A warm, spring wind blew under it and blew pleasantly over my body.
I felt as if I were absorbing some good energy through my thin shirt.
Isn’t it beautiful… – I thought?
I walk slowly, and questions appear in my head…
Where exactly are we?
Where do we live…?
Where do we work…?
Or maybe somewhere in between?
Like in the seemingly empty spaces between the lines of what I am writing…?
What place will welcome us next time?
Is anything ours?
… No… – nothing is ours.
We only touch it for a moment.
And that’s how good it is…
Or maybe I will go further and ask:
– Who am I?
– When I enter our Siemianowice viaduct during a walk, am I the same person who comes down from it?
…Or maybe a different one?
Maybe a little different…?
Because I just thought something…
I understood something…
I was delighted with something…
And it changes me.
Just like the landscape of white clouds changes in today’s Sunday sky.
But in this changeability – one thing is constant.
It is something that has been in us since childhood.
Although it would be difficult to name it – it is the essence of ourselves.
It is our sensitivity and our way of thinking.
We understand them better and better – as we gain life experiences,
We are not born like a white sheet of paper that can be written on with anything.
We cannot be made into anyone else.
We are unique.
JMakosz
***
„COMPASS”
Navigate your life well.
It is not the goals that are really important,
but the direction in which you sail.
Hold the helm of your life firmly in your own hands.
Your inner compass will show you the way.
Do not think too much about the future.
Take care of whether you are steering your life well today.
That is up to you.
To wait for something, or to desire something
– it means living in the future.
It is to be eternally restless,
eternally absent.
It is the pursuit of something that will only quench your thirst for a short while.
For a short while it will give you joy and pleasure,
which people confuse with happiness.
And so … to the next pursuit.
Because the more someone has – the more they desire.
And the more restless they become.
And happiness comes when you do not desire,
but are able to enjoy what you have.
The most important things in life are easily accessible.
You just need to be able to notice and appreciate them.
About the future, think only of what is good.
Because if you sail well – something good will always happen to you.
The intermediate goals that you achieve – are only like buoys on the water.
Like signposts that you pass … and sail on.
They are merely confirmation that you are sailing well.
Nothing more.
Do the best that you can do right now.
And often ask yourself a simple question:
„What would a wise man do in my place?”.
And no matter how difficult your situation is,
let this question be a hint for you.
Adjust your navigation to the situation,
because many things do not depend on you at all.
And return to your course.
Live today well – this one day.
This is what you should try to do as best as you can.
And live every day like this.
And your whole life will consist of well-lived days.
And let each of these days contain everything
that is really important to you.
Don’t worry about the rest.
And don’t worry about what you have no influence over.
Don’t waste precious time.
One day – is like a whole life.
Steer it like a yacht.
Enjoy the very act of sailing in the chosen direction.
If you understand this – you have already achieved your success.
Not sometime there, … in the future,
but right now – in this one moment.
Sail calmly ahead – today.
With beautiful memories of yesterday
and with the hope of experiencing the beautiful moments that lie ahead.
But without thinking about them too much.
Remember – You are where your mind is.
Life surprises – that’s its nature.
Sometimes it gives joy and sometimes pain.
Sometimes a storm, and sometimes beautiful sunshine.
Look often at the readings of the measuring instruments from the cockpit of your yacht.
Trust them.
It’s like looking at yourself
and verifying your habits, methods, skills, knowledge…
Finally, the way you think.
This is what determines the direction of your life.
So much is changing around you,
but some values remain unchanged.
They are like the laws of nature.
So try to be human in every situation.
This is the most important thing.
Everything else, …is an incidental thing…
If you navigate your life like this,
then in the darkest night
and in the worst storm,
you will be sure
that you are navigating well.
And even if you can’t see anything anymore,
the compass inside you – will guide you.
After the sun – comes the storm.
After the storm – comes the sun.
You – sail on,
towards the light…
JMakosz
***
It is something extremely pathetic, but also dangerous – when an unwise man has great knowledge.
Wisdom and knowledge – are not the same…
***
Writing for a human being is what code is for a computer. It is a language of a certain level that other people understand…
***
How does a child learn?
It leaves its mother and returns – to a safe place it knows.
And again – it leaves and returns.
About 80 percent stability and 20 percent changeability.
Maybe I’m wrong about the percentage division.
However, the essence of the technique of learning to live – is more or less like this.
I think it refers to meta-learning in general – learning to learn anything.
Mastering something well makes us feel safer, being able to return to it if necessary.
This observation can be applied to various things – including travel.
We have a permanent home, but sometimes we like to travel to the unknown.
Having basic stability – we develop by wisely dosing novelty.
And this is how development is created.
***
The answer to the question of whether you will succeed in whatever you set out to do – is not in your written plans, careful preparations, etc.
The answer is in how you spend one day and one week.
That’s all.
Not a year, not a month – but a day and a week.
There are basically two types of days in a week – workdays and weekends.
The layout of a workday – is primarily determined by work.
The layout of a weekend day – leaves more freedom of choice.
Literally everything depends on the way these small elements are organized – in systematic and repeatable actions…
***
There are no completely good people, and there are no completely bad people.
Most people are somewhere in the middle of the scale.
They take good care of their own interests.
They think of themselves in the best possible terms, of course.
However, they have more or less good or bad traits and behaviors.
These people are not bad or good.
They are simply people.
Depending on the circumstances, they show more of one or the other.
However, in extreme circumstances, they can reveal extreme traits.
And this is both positive and negative.
Completely unexpectedly.
However, there are also people with exceptionally good traits, or with exceptionally bad traits.
And we call these people good or bad.
It seems, however, that man by nature wants to be good.
Whether all this has anything to do with the mathematical normal distribution – I don’t know…
***
The more you desire something, the more unhappy you become.
Haven’t you noticed?
***
***
At any given moment – you always have only one, most important thing to do.
Ask yourself – what is it?
***
The real instrument is not the musical instrument itself, but the sensitivity of the human being.
It is in it that what is most important happens…
***
Silence is an element of music.
Similarly – it is also an element of speech.
I have noticed that both good musicians and good speakers treat silence/pause – as another sound.
Similarly in the visual arts – empty, white space is an active element of the composition…
***
The bigger the action – the bigger the reaction.
You have to be prepared for this.
Every existing balance of power is set for relatively safe stability…
(I’m not writing anything groundbreaking here, I think)
***
Unfortunately, you have to be able to close the door on certain people.
If you don’t do that, they’ll get in everywhere.
They’ll even say that it’s your own fault – because you didn’t close that door…
***
Developer – writes code that computers understand.
Writer – writes code that humans understand.
And humans – are much more complicated than machines…
***
If a person is given unlimited time, they will live unwisely.
Paradoxically, this realization of mortality, the incredibly fast passage of time and its great value, will make us – perhaps – better people…
***
Someone who truly understands what art is all about will never compare themselves…
***
„ARROW”
What if I had one last arrow left in my quiver?
Then I would look far to the horizon
…. and even further.
Where my eyesight does not reach, only my imagination.
Exactly to that point that I always knew existed.
Although I have never seen it.
I would slowly close my eyes.
And all the sounds around me would cease to have any meaning.
Me, the arrow and the bow – we would then become one.
I would perhaps have the impression that my whole life was leading to this very moment.
To what extent is what happens to us in life our will, and to what extent is what is written somewhere in the stars?
I don’t know.
…Nobody knows.
All I could do was prepare the arrow, the bow and myself
– as best I can.
The rest does not depend on me.
I did what I could.
So I am calm.
In the end, isn’t that what matters,
and not this – whether the arrow will reach the target?
Sometimes I imagine this scene.
It’s late evening, the sun has just set.
Everything around is getting weaker and weaker.
Let it be so. Let it be so.
It is exactly as it should be.
I don’t need eyesight for this shot.
I slowly reach for the quiver on my back.
Everything will happen exactly when it should.
All I need to do is listen to everything around me and to my inner self.
Flow gently, with the natural flow of time.
I pull out my last arrow.
I draw back the bowstring..
I gently raise it to the height at which it should be.
It is perfectly in the right position.
My mind, breath and body are calm.
Although perhaps I am meeting my destiny right now.
I don’t feel any inner tension, because I know – that I am doing exactly what I should.
Give the best of yourself.
Isn’t that our arrow?
I freeze in total stillness.
I stopped breathing,
I stopped thinking.
I close my eyes.
For this shot I don’t need my eyesight, only my heart.
Time stops.
I feel happy..
NOW! – it shot…..it’s already far away.
……………
Good luck, my arrow.
You’re already far away.
I stand for a moment longer in the silence of the evening – and I look ahead, far away at the horizon.
I don’t see it, but I know it’s still flying…
I did what I could.
I smile to myself
… and in silence
– I leave.
My work is done.
JMakosz
***
One of the most common mistakes made by wise people is that they underestimate the power of human stupidity and envy.
This is because they measure others by their own standards, assuming that someone does not have them.
Meanwhile, they are common – and often in the most vulgar form.
They are an enormous force… – capable of anything.
This is what history teaches us…
***
The ability to design/predict the outcome is not the same as the so-called „law of attraction”, which has been very popular in recent decades and has no scientific basis. In short, it says that if someone imagines something clearly enough and desires it very much – it will come true.
Experience shows that this is not the case. Otherwise – those who, for example, believe in winning the lottery, would have become millionaires a long time ago. After all, they desire it very much. And some of them are already sitting in their imagination in their dream cars, or drinking drinks in their dream mansions. This is just the first example that comes to mind.
There is also a whole group of people who wanted something completely different, and yet life does not spare them.
Man is not a god. Because who could you call a man who thinks he will receive everything he desires?
And the universe does not act on his wishes.
It operates based on eternal principles.
And we are just a small element of a larger whole.
However, the ability to design/predict the result – is designing the action in the imagination and making corrections in time before we start implementing something. This is something completely different.
Later, however, there is time for action in reality. And this is worth recommending.
***
Love is not a theoretical, grand idea,
but a specific person, animal, mother nature.
If someone only talks about love as an idea, but does not demonstrate it in practice – this is the first sign that he is starting to lose his way…
***
***
Where there is good – completely unexpectedly and slowly – evil is just beginning to be born.
Not somewhere far away – but right next door. Very, … very close.
But also where there is evil – completely unexpectedly and slowly – good is just beginning to be born.
Not somewhere far away – but right next door. Very, … very close.
Every now and then – one or the other force prevails.
And so for centuries …
***
Sometimes I like to go on a cold evening… – into the darkness, like back then.
With an umbrella.
Walking around Siemianowice, on that cold and rainy day – I listened to „Uncle Vanya”, Chekhov – from the Television Theatre.
The recording was probably from the late 70s.
At times I didn’t know if the rain was falling on my umbrella,
or maybe I was hearing it through my headphones.
I couldn’t tell the difference.
The words in the play were:
„Only God knows what our true calling is”.
I looked at the reflection of my figure on the church wall.
The figure, illuminated by the street lamp.
Above the side entrance – there is an inscription: „Domus Dei”.
From the ancient teachings contained in Christian texts – one of the most beautiful has remained to me. Expressed in the words:
„Not my will, but yours be done”.
I think that the Arabs express the same in the words: „Mektoub”.
Understanding this idea – instead of fighting with their fate – someone accepts it.
They accept it and simply try to live well.
Without a sense of unhappiness.
Quite the opposite.
I guess we all sometimes ask ourselves the question:
– To what extent is what is happening our part, and to what extent is it the higher powers?
Or maybe both?
And this regardless of someone’s religion or lack thereof.
***
When you work – do not tire yourself out.
Otherwise, you will work reluctantly and consequently – badly.
The same applies to physical exercise and any other human activity.
Work a little.
Exercise a little.
Take frequent but short breaks…
***
The current young generation is not bad at all.
It is neither better nor worse – than previous generations.
It is simply weaker.
This is the generation of computer games and the Internet.
Prosperity and almost unlimited consumption.
It looks lost, although it probably thinks of itself differently.
And this is because for three post-war generations – we have had increasing prosperity.
At least in developed countries.
I also think about my country – Poland.
History likes to repeat itself in a cyclical way.
So we have to be very careful that the weak generation does not provoke – with its behavior – difficult times.
However, this youngest generation – can also quickly get stronger.
Hopefully not out of necessity…
Sometimes it just needs to listen to the advice of the elders and be ready to accept this advice…
***
Telling about something is like climbing up a tree trunk.
Sometimes you can tell about the branches. If you do it in moderation – it can also be interesting and add color to the story.
But you have to be moderate and return to the trunk to go up again.
And remember that the story was about that…
***
Your entire life’s work – You…
***
Don’t worry about the problems that are coming.
They haven’t come yet.
Live.
Prepare yourself as best you can, that’s all.
Maybe they never will.
And you worry so much…
***
At the bus stop there is a man in a red cap with a Norwegian flag.
I see him here often.
He bends down to every piece of trash that others (often very young) have so easily thrown on the pavement.
A dry, autumn leaf stuck to his cap.
…He moved on.
Me and him, on this sunny morning – we try to do the best we can.
What more can we do ?
And that is OK.
***
The awareness that AI can deceive us everywhere and at all times – makes us finally start to think more suspiciously and critically. That we stop being so easily led by manipulative social engineering (as before). Now, however, being finally fully aware of them and warned in time.
So, the completely unexpected side effect, in the form of awakening in man the ability to think critically, may ultimately be – … downright positive.
PS
We have lived to see the times when even reading this text – you may still have doubts whether it was written by a feeling and thinking person…
***
You can only do one thing really well (as best as possible).
Everything else is just fun…
***
Sometimes it will take many, many years
before you discover what your path is.
Don’t worry.
Keep searching calmly.
Everyone has their own natural time.
You will discover it when you are truly ready.
Sometimes you have to mature to what you are supposed to do first.
People’s paths can be complicated…
***
Paradoxically, the source of industriousness of the vast majority of people is simple greed. And not any noble trait. Unfortunately.
If they were to be stripped of their reward for their work, they would work very reluctantly, or even not at all.
The real motivation is: common greed and pride.
So when someone says they are industrious – I immediately ask myself whether they are not simply greedy.
For greed and pride – people are willing to sacrifice a lot.
A surprising conclusion, isn’t it…?
***
In the nature of things – interfere as little as necessary.
History shows that nature is wiser than man.
Because it is based on eternal laws,
which we only discover – and do not create them…
***
Lack of culture cannot be called another culture.
This applies to groups, communities, nations
– as well as individuals…
***
„THE LAST TIME”
Sometimes you do something and you already know it’s the last time.
Admittedly, you can’t be sure, but you feel it.
Everything around you tells you so.
You have that magical feeling you know so well,
when you know it’s like the last page of a book.
As if you were about to close it.
And it was meant to stay with you—only the memory of it.
Then, in retrospect, you see that it was true after all.
It really was…the last time…
***
Don’t compare yourself to other people.
On the surface, it may seem that some of them are people of great success. At least that’s how they try to present themselves.
But in reality, you will never know about it – what is really going on in their lives.
What problems they have.
And they have them, like all people.
And you don’t know what is a plus – and what is a minus, in the final analysis …
***
Whatever you do – realize that you pay for it with your time.
And time has much greater value – than money…
***
There are no perfect solutions – but there are optimal solutions…
***
Sometimes, someone sees only ugliness.
I have always tried to see beauty – anywhere.
And so, for example, I like to go out into the world – early, September morning.
When the sun is still strong.
To look at the blue sky and watch red houses – made of ordinary brick.
With green or red window frames.
Such is the image of a Silesian morning, in a small town.
Like in the Wild West, from westerns.
These are the places I come from.
Sometimes, there is also a beautiful vine on such a brick wall.
The houses are not high, often one-story.
I was raised in such a house.
With a small garden in front – … and behind.
With the quiet hum of a typewriter on the first floor.
And the gentle clatter of railway wheels, on the embankment – far on the horizon…
As a rule, someone does not understand this.
How can you say something like that is beautiful?
…He doesn’t understand,
because he’s not from a place like me…
***
„Old Father”
The old father sat,
but no one knocked.
He cleaned the apartment
and cooked soup.
But no one came…
And probably won’t come.
He sat on a chair, in the kitchen.
In the semi-darkness – he played something quietly on the guitar
and the harmonica.
He plucked individual strings
– old memories…
He didn’t have any complaints about anyone.
– No.
He thought about his life,
the mistakes he had made.
About the time that passed quickly.
About the places he had visited.
About the people he had met.
About what he had learned about the world – and… himself.
He looked at the faint glow of light in the sky,
which was still there for a moment.
…In the place where the sun was setting.
***
If you live in a place where there is sadness,
where there is depression,
where there is hopelessness from generation to generation
– leave that place.
Go out into the world.
The world is big.
You will see that when you change the place,
you will change the people around you
– Your life will also change,
…for the better.
A person is not a tree.
He can change the place where he lives…
***
“A bottle of red wine, an organ… and a cornflower blue sweater”
I bought a bottle of Italian wine right after arriving from the airport.
I decided to play in the evening, over wine.
I was passing by my grandparents’ windows in a taxi.
On such sunny afternoons – my grandfather was playing his old, electronic organ.
The organ he inherited from me.
As for those years, for me this instrument sounded too church-like.
And I was looking for something more avant-garde.
Only now have I become mature enough to hear these sounds.
Years later, I realized that it was worth buying this instrument then – if only to bring it to his home someday.
On lonely evenings – the organ gladdened his heart.
He didn’t have much.
He was a disabled miner whose world stopped at the age of 33.
He had an old, slightly out-of-tune accordion.
The accordion was loud and dynamic.
Joyful… – yes.
It was once.
Like a memory of his youth.
He once locked it in a large accordion case.
Locked loudly with silver, metal clasps.
On the organ – he could play gently.
Almost inaudibly.
On colder evenings – he would cover himself with an unbuttoned, cornflower blue sweater.
The sweater had large, plastic buttons.
That cornflower blue shade was so vivid,
good,
calm…
And also (after many years) – I realized
that it was grandma’s sweater…
He sat there, an old miner – and played in the late afternoons.
And sometimes he sang – long forgotten songs.
He had a toy microphone from a church fair that he used.
He sang a few bars:
„Bella, bella donna, such a beautiful evening, So let’s go to the seaside to a tiny café”
“This toy means something,” – he used to say, smiling.
This microphone had a spring inside it that gave the sound a nice space and some kind of gentle echo that spread all around.
A toy from a church fair – for a few cents.
That sonic reverberation put me in a pleasant reverie.
And even now, I can still hear it, if I just close my eyes and think about it.
That late afternoon, I remembered Vangelis’ words,
which he said in one of his interviews.
He said something like:
„Who knows, maybe that music that was never recorded
went somewhere in time and space.
And maybe it still resonates.
And the moments spent with those people – still exist”
(PS – this is not a literal quote from Vangels, but only how I remembered/interpreted his message. A message that still resonates with me).
***
Helping another person – can never involve harming yourself.
It can only be temporary discomfort,
but not regular and long-term harming yourself.
That would be against nature.
Rescue teams most likely have it clearly stated in their procedures
– that they do not undertake rescue operations that excessively endanger the lives of rescuers.
This is probably expressed in some simple words, like – „rescuers’ safety first”.
Or something like that…
I think that’s how it is.
***
Through what I write, I never wanted to influence people.
I only wanted to give a little something good from myself.
To give the best I can. Before I myself pass away… – like all of us.
I am neither better nor worse than anyone else.
Each of us has our own path…
***
Someone who considers himself a master, or allows himself to be called a master – is not one.
A true master has humility and is aware of the greatness of his ignorance…
***
I just write.
If I had waited for the right time – I probably would never have even started…
***
A rich man is one who is sensitive – not one who has money…
***
A person without empathy harms people, animals, the environment.
It is empathy that is the foundation of goodness.
A person who lacks it – becomes evil…
***
Certain pieces of music are like a prayer expressed through sound…
***
If you think the meaning of life is to be happy, you will easily become unhappy.
If you think the meaning of life is to fulfill your greatest potential, you will get lost.
If you think the meaning of life is to do something great, you will be very disappointed.
But if you think the meaning of life is to simply be a good person every day, to enjoy life itself and to give the world the best of what you have in you, you are home.
Only then will you start to do great things.
Only then will you start to fulfill your greatest potential in life.
And the question of whether you are happy will not make any sense to you.
Because only people who are truly happy do not ask themselves this question.
***
„Time of Life”
Once I thought that I had to achieve something in life.
Go somewhere… – maybe reach out something.
Meanwhile – …I don’t have to.
And nobody cares at all.
And what’s interesting, for some – it would be even better if I didn’t achieve or get anything.
…I smile as I write this.
Life is not a race. Life is a journey through time.
I’m walking across the street… – and eating a bun.
I have a small backpack with me.
In it a computer, an umbrella, a windbreaker.
An English „Peaky Blinders” cap.
A few helpful, but not essential things.
I looked at the sun, between the houses.
It’s so warm…
I feel with this backpack – like a student.
Back then I had almost nothing physical.
As if I were 20 again and starting everything from the beginning.
It so happened in my life that after a quarter of a century – I am driving the same routes again.
I have time to think about everything.
„Deja Vu” …
I do not have to discover the meaning of life.
It has always been and is still the same for me.
A quarter of a century ago – and so now.
I am one of those people who do not have to ask themselves this question.
Question that many have been asking themselves for thousands of years.
What a beautiful feeling it is to not have to give meaning to your life, because it has meaning from the moment of conception.
This is the case for each of us.
You just have to understand it.
The places I go – are almost the same as they used to be.
25 years is not that long.
However, I am more mature … and despite everything – probably a little wiser.
At least that’s what it seems to me.
My entire life capital is knowledge, experiences, … memories.
And an increasingly better understanding of life and the world.
No one will take this capital away from me.
I know how to enjoy a simple life – not chasing anything and not dreaming about anything.
Being free from desire for anything.
And at the same time, accepting everything that life brings with peace.
Trying only to do the best that I can.
That is what depends on me – my maximum effort.
After all, I am not able to do more anyway.
However, what depends on me – I will do.
I live with every breath.
As if I were more and more aware of it.
I know that something good is leading me, although I do not call it in any way.
Whatever happens – it will ultimately be as it should be, even if it seems different on the surface.
Over the years, our possibilities of choice are limited.
But that is good.
An excess of possibilities – sometimes provokes inaction.
We have to choose.
It is better to choose fewer things, but do them better.
Live simply and modestly, but incomparably better in quality.
Have a calm mind and emotional balance.
Enjoy good health.
Know how to love yourself.
Take only as much as you really need.
And give the best of yourself…
…I feel so light.
I already know that I don’t have to achieve anything.
A life well lived – that’s enough…
JMakosz
***
I don’t live on the internet – I work on the internet…
***
If you don’t enjoy your work – the results of that work will never be as good as they could be…
(It’s that simple)
***
A good conversation – has something of playing in a musical band.
In interaction with other people, you should not dominate them in any way.
You should look for harmony – like in music.
Sometimes, for a moment you can play a solo – yes.
But also, let someone else play a solo.
Sometimes there is a duet, trio, quartet, etc.
Sometimes the whole orchestra plays.
And all the instruments have their place there.
And each note is equally important.
If everyone taking part in the performance of a piece understands that there are no more important and less important – then only real masterpieces are created.
I have noticed that really good musicians are constantly aware of what the other members of the band are playing.
And this is true regardless of the genre of music.
They do not try to dominate anyone, despite their exceptional abilities.
They are very sensitive to what is happening around them.
They only step forward for a moment so that someone else can do the same in a moment.
They allow others to participate in the same work that they create together.
A team consisting of only soloists cannot function well.
I have noticed a similar pattern in sports games.
The best players are constantly aware and sensitive to what is happening to others.
They are aware of the situation on the pitch as if they were seeing it from above, from a bird’s eye view – not from the inside. From their place.
They see the whole, not individual players.
And I get the impression that they do not think of themselves as soloists – or as stars.
The same applies to good actors, who do not really try to get ahead at all.
They simply are.
One could multiply examples of this pattern.
There is some deeper truth in this, which I am trying to describe.
I sense it more than I know its name.
And it all starts with playing in the sandbox.
And you – and me.
And me – and you.
We…
***
Music is the language of emotions…
***
You can have plans and goals – and get annoyed that something is constantly destroying them.
Or you can have no plans and goals.
And be flexible, adapting to what is currently happening.
Having only the direction of your life.
Trying to navigate it as best you can – wherever you are.
These are two completely different approaches…
***
When I was young – I was a bit like a young dog who wants to try everything.
Today, in my fifties – I try exactly the same things, but much more wisely…
***
In nature there are no such forms as a cuboid, triangle, square… and their derivatives.
In nature there are forms derived from a circle.
So these are also all cylinders and cones that have a circle in their cross-section. More or less ideal – but a circle.
Whether this has anything to do with the rotation of the Earth around its own axis, and the Earth around the Sun… and so on – I don’t know…
I only notice that nature has created forms that can be reduced to a circular cross-section.
All forms derived from a rectangle and a triangle – were created by man.
***
It is difficult to find the company of the right and deeply valuable people.
I mean people who respect basic values.
It is much easier to leave the company of the wrong people.
And it is better to do it in time.
And it is better to move on…
***
People definitely care more about the cleanliness of their clothes and the smell of their cosmetics – than about the cleanliness of their language…
It is an exceptionally grotesque situation when someone pretends to be extremely elegant and educated, and from his mouth comes vulgar and boorish garbage.
***
Thinkers and writers – are not trained in universities.
It cannot be done.
They are born.
And life itself trains them.
It teaches them everything at the same time and when the time is right…
***
Strong people follow the good. Weak people follow those stronger than themselves…
***
Choose a path that runs outside the mainstream, but be well aware of what is happening in the mainstream…
***
In art there are no better or worse.
In art there are only true and false…
***
Keep your home as clean and tidy as if you were about to have guests.
Leave your home as clean and tidy as if you were never going to return…
***
All decisions – can ultimately be simplified to choosing just two different solutions – two different paths.
„Left – or right”.
And it is on them – slowly and sometimes imperceptibly – that the direction of our lives depends…
***
Blind boy approached the piano timidly, where an older man was playing.
He was playing the blues. The boy listened for a long moment and smiled.
It was beautiful blues. And it was a beautiful smile.
The man finished the piece. He looked at the boy.
– Would you like to play? – he asked.
The little one clasped his hands in front of himself, very embarrassed, and shook his head.
– I can’t… – You can.
– Come on – The man pulled up a chair for him – Look, it’s easy. Give me your index finger.
He lightly grabbed the boy’s hand and played the first note with him.
The little one trembled with joy. The sound was deep and loud. It spread wonderfully in the large room they were in.
It was something. And it was his own finger that did it. Unbelievable.
Then the man played a few other notes with him. It was amazing. It was the first melody he played.
The boy smiled with his whole being. And even though he was completely blind, he raised his head to the sky. He looked at it as if he had suddenly seen something.
Many years passed before I learned his story. At home, my father had many reel-to-reel tapes. He played one of them especially often. It started with a piece that filled the entire apartment. After the first few bars, it became very festive in our home. He played this tape especially before some birthdays or special occasions. You could feel in the air that something beautiful was coming.
I once received a gramophone record of this musician from my father. I turned eighteen then. I worked at night, at my desk. My father approached me, just after midnight, and handed me two records. One was a Paul McCartney record and the other a record of this musician. His name was Ray Charles.
Charles became known all over the world. He even reached us.
And it all started then, at that old piano – when someone showed him interest and affection. That man had a huge influence on the fate of a blind boy who discovered in music a way to convey to the world who he is. To realize his great potential.
When I listened to these memories of Ray Charles, in the film starring Clint Eastwood, who talked to him – I remembered the short story by our Henryk Sienkiewicz – „Janko the Musician”. However, that story turned out completely the other way around.
How much depends on the people we meet. How much depends on whether an adult sees someone great in a small child. On the fact that he is simply interested in them. This can change everything in their life.
I am writing these words while listening to „I can’t stop loving you” from YouTube…
***
Sometimes I experienced goodness from certain people but at the same time I felt that they were not doing it for me.
As if they were doing it for some impersonal idea, or perhaps for a reward – e.g. in the form of eternal life.
It was a strange feeling. As if what they were doing was not really for me. Only that it was the right thing to do.
And although the act itself was objectively good – it was still cold.
Good is never an amorphous idea – unrelated to the object for which one is good.
We do good for someone. And not to get something in return.
Good for ourselves, for another person, for animals, for nature, for Mother Earth.
Faith in ideas separated from reality – leads to empty devotion…
***
I’m not interested in playing songs.
I’m interested in making beautiful sounds…
***
The Internet makes many things easier for us, but it should not replace life…
***
So many times, coming to this place and looking at one of the sunlit windows of a tall building – I had a very strong association with Edward Hopper’s painting „Morning Sun”. So strong, that I decided to write about it.
I saw this painting a long time ago. A woman sitting on a spacious bed with a white sheet. She sits with her legs drawn up. She looks at the warm sun that falls into the room through a large window tilted upwards. The room is quite empty, but still nice and warm.
It’s strange that I remember that painting so well.
When I watched a documentary about Hopper – I learned that he studied lighting very carefully at different times of the day. He devoted a lot of time to it. Something strongly guided him internally.
And he managed to extract the beauty of the moment he imagined.
He captured that peace, quiet and harmony of a morning in a big city…
Sometimes I try to describe images, sounds, smells with words.
Text will not replace image, sound or smell.
But image, sound or smell – will not replace text.
And that is not the point.
Text expresses thoughts and deep feelings – in its own unique way.
And only then does it all come together…
***
Poverty of vocabulary – reveals poverty of the interior.
And it is not about using sophisticated words.
Quite the opposite.
It is about the ability to name things accurately…
***
When you walk instead of driving – you have time to see things better. Think about them more deeply.
Understand them better.
It’s a different kind of experience, worth having.
Of course, driving, taking a bus or train – also has its advantages.
However, it’s watching the world while walking – that gives you the deepest insight into what surrounds us…
***
You can teach a man many things, but you can’t teach him character.
He has to learn character himself.
And it is character that is most important…
***
I think that if music has to be understood, or matured to, then it is not good music.
I think that music is simply felt.
And even a small child can feel it…
***
Life reminds me a bit of a sushi bar.
One with dishes that move on a conveyor belt.
And the bar guests sit nearby and ponder their decision.
To take – or not to take?
You can choose something.
Or not.
There are many dishes – and very different ones.
Gests have their chance.
They don’t have to hurry that much.
At any given moment, however, there is only one dish to choose from.
The one that arrived.
There are no others.
You can only accept or reject it.
The plates move slowly on.
Regardless of the decision.
In life, these dishes seem to move even slower (than I saw in that movie from Japan).
They move almost imperceptibly.
However, this is just an illusion.
Because they never stop.
You can also realize that that dish, which was an offer from life – has long since sailed away.
Or, you can take what is there – and try to enjoy it.
Instead of waiting for something wonderful, which will surely come.
And at some point – finding, looking back, that such a life was only………… waiting.
(With respect to Arthur Schopenhauer, whose thoughts were my inspiration for this text)
***
There are people of value, but there are also people of money and power.
And so – there are two fundamentally different ways of life.
For the latter – everything is for sale (including values). What’s more, they see absolutely nothing wrong with it…
***
What is the One Thing you can give to the World?
Ask yourself…
Then go.
No matter what – in the midst of chaos.
Never neglect that One Thing…
***
It happens that someone has too much self-confidence and starts thinking that having certain talents, they can postpone important things until later. Because they can easily make up for lost time, having their skills.
Meanwhile, this is a trap.
Talents are a gift, but you have to know how to use them wisely.
Every person has some talents, but many people waste them – through simple recklessness…
***
A healthy society can only be based on a healthy family…
***
It seems to me that the most common reason for addiction is to escape from something…
Addiction provides temporary oblivion,… temporary release.
***
You can teach a person many things,
but you can’t teach character.
That – everyone has to work out for themselves.
And it is the character of a person that is most important.
Not his skills, but his character…
***
People are more ashamed of dirty clothes – than of a dirty tongue…
***
Behind the success of almost every man – there is a woman. I don’t know her face, nor her name – but I know she is there.
And it’s not because she does something instead of him. No – not at all.
But because she gives him strength and supports him…
***
It’s amazing that just a few sounds – can evoke such strong feelings in us. Sometimes thoughts, images, memories, reflections…
***
Nature is the best teacher…
***
If someone only cares about themselves,
If someone only cares about their family,
If someone only cares about their nation,
– they have not understood one of the deepest truths of nature.
Namely, that we are all connected.
Stronger or weaker – but connected.
We all constitute one, great human family – one whole.
Understanding this – usually requires time, wisdom and deep reflection…
***
Access to education, cultural goods and art – should be free.
It cannot be limited in any way to a select group who have established themselves as the so-called „Aristocracy”…
***
If you truly seek knowledge and truth – you will follow knowledge and truth – not titles…
***
If a doctor has only medical knowledge and no compassion – he is only a craftsman.
Perhaps even a quite good craftsman – but he is not a real doctor.
When a doctor has compassion but lacks knowledge – he is only a man of good and sincere intentions.
Both are necessary to become a good doctor…
***
Don’t expect linear progress – no matter what you do.
Sometimes, there will even be regression.
Focus on very small progress, but every day.
In the long run – success comes.
Sometimes, … at the last moment.
***
If art was not something important to man, there would not be all these discoveries, dating back to almost 40,000 years ago.
As far as we know, there was no writing back then, and all tradition was passed down orally. However, drawings and sculptures already existed. This clearly proves how important an element of human life was to express oneself through creativity.
The need to create is an integral part of human nature…
***
There are many beautiful pieces of music, but if there is no melody in them, it is as if there was no story in them. And we do not remember them.
It is similar with what people say. If there is no story in it – we forget about it quickly. Although at that time, at that moment – the voice, the melody, all of it seemed so beautiful.
A person remembers primarily sequences of signs, words, sounds – which are related to each other. Which create a coherent story – written, pictorial, verbal, or musical.
Everything else becomes for us just a collection of more or less attractive and unrelated stimuli, which we quickly forget…
***
If we wanted to consume all the beautiful things that life gives us – there would be no time for it.
We have to choose.
And this is the great art of living…
***
Be kind, but not naive…
***
Saying that there are different philosophies by which one can live is like saying that there are different truths.
Meanwhile, there is only one truth.
Sometimes it is only seen from different sides, or it is not complete.
And because of that it seems to be something else.
And only because of that we do not see clearly.
I intuitively feel that there is only one true philosophy.
Philosophy based on the laws of nature.
We do not create it, we only get to know it….
***
Sometimes I get the impression that for some people food has become the meaning of life…
***
When you create art, you will never be alone – and you will always be at peace…
***
It is an illusion and a mental error to believe that having more information means we are closer to the truth.
More information may, but does not necessarily have to, bring us closer to the truth.
We are closer to the truth only when the information we receive is true. And this is usually beyond our control.
When we are able to draw logical conclusions from the information we receive, use critical thinking skills, question what we learn, while maintaining common sense. And to do this, trying to be as objective as possible.
All of this taken together can be difficult.
However, this has probably never been more true than today – with such a huge amount of information, and sometimes even well-planned and deliberate disinformation…
***
„The Story of a Young Bird”
A Young bird was crying, covering its eyes with its wing.
Another bird noticed this and asked:
– Are you crying because someone hit you?
– No,.. I’m not crying because someone hit me…..I’m crying because I let him…
How many people let themselves be hurt…
(I heard this story from Jim Rohn)
***
„Yes – And no. Duality”
One teaspoon of sugar – may be ok.
Two teaspoons – may be too much.
So – Yes and No.
It all depends on the proportions.
This applies to many things.
Giving clear answers can be misleading.
People do not like this type of statement (like „yes and no”, or „it depends”). They would prefer to hear a much simpler answer.
However, duality is omnipresent in nature, and the boundaries are often blurred…
***
Talk to yourself as you would to your best friend.
***
Judging a person only by their actions – you can make a wrong assessment.
This is because a person with a bad character can perform good deeds that are only a side effect of their actions – and not their intended goal. Usually, they will be a completely deliberate and very well thought-out procedure. In reality, they will only be a path to a completely different, very selfish goal.
However, when assessing the actions themselves, we can succumb to the illusion of being objective. We will then assume that this person is good. After all, their actions were good. Meanwhile, the same person in different circumstances – will make completely different decisions, because they will be guided by really bad motives.
Conversely, a person who is good by nature – can unintentionally do bad things due to their mistakes. So it is very easy to judge them wrong – right?
I think that in the assessment, we should take into account not only the actions themselves – but also, to no lesser extent, the intentions…
***
There are certainly many people who are better organized than me. What is interesting is that at the end of the day, these people spend all of their saved time sitting in front of the TV.
Or rather, wasting it in front of the TV…
***
Too sudden changes in the direction of movement – threaten to overturn.
It is good to introduce big changes gently…
***
When I come to some place after years and think – I feel as if I had returned there to finish some work. Some thoughts.
I remember everything as vividly as yesterday. I continue the thoughts that I had interrupted in the same place – several dozen years earlier.
***
If you count on someone’s recognition, in a sense you become a slave to that person and you cease to be your own master. You start waiting for recognition – like a favor, like a gift.
And this only shows low self-esteem. Nothing more.
***
Relax.
Loosen your grip.
Loosen your fist.
Only with such a hand can you do truly great things…
***
There are many people who want to have their permanent place of residence. They are the vast majority. They want to live their entire lives there.
And I had such a place (only one in my history), but then something changed it.
The need to settle somewhere – it is really a state of mind.
Readiness to change when the time comes – this feeling that there is something next… in the future.
This is freedom. This is the philosophy of nomads – eternal wanderers. People who do not want to own anything, because they understand that there is no such thing. Who know that only change is something natural. Trying to maintain something – is unnatural. Everything is subject to constant change. When these changes are very slow – we only consider the state of things as something permanent. But this is an appearance.
And where is our true place of residence?
Our place can only really be in the hearts and minds of people.
Where they voluntarily want us to be.
Wherever we go… and wherever they go…
***
Have you ever wondered when the clock has the hardest time?
I doubt it. But I have wondered. It is twice a day – at 6:30 and at 18:30.
This is when they have the hardest time getting up. The force of gravity brought them as low as possible – to the very bottom of the clock face.
And that’s how it is sometimes in our lives.
But it’s worth remembering that from this moment on it can only get better with every fraction of a second… better and better.
And although difficult hours will come again, we know that they will pass.
We know that we will cope…
***
The ability to empathize – is the most important human trait.
It is more important than everything else.
More important than intelligence or the ability to think logically.
Than any knowledge and any abilities.
Compassion – is something absolutely fundamental.
It is the basis of humanity.
***
The best way to respond to stupidity – is silence.
Unless it becomes aggressive and harmful.
***
Today we are bombarded with so much information that we need to find time every day for inner peace. To calmly process the information we have received.
Therefore, the next morning – it is worth not turning on the Internet and for at least an hour to focus on what is happening inside us. You can see it all most clearly in the morning.
There is an Italian saying – „The night will bring you advice”.
It is during sleep that the mind does a lot of good work in this area.
But as soon as it does it – people the next day, from the morning, provide it with a new avalanche of information and experiences. Very often excessive.
We need time for calm, wise reflection…
***
Be smarter than algorithms.
The Internet is a very good thing, but you have to use it very carefully.
***
Earning as much money as possible – is often confused with developing your true potential…
***
Closeness in some marriages – is expressed only through common company in front of the TV…
***
Love is not the same – as attachment…
***
Circumstances do not create people.
Circumstances only expose people…
***
When you practice dancing – already dance. Enjoy the dance.
When you practice playing an instrument – already play. Enjoy the playing.
Not later, but now.
Don’t wait for later…
***
There is a world that I still remember so well, but which is no longer there.
It is a world that built me.
It is the memory of my grandparents.
And the moments spent together, the conversations.
And although their home is no longer there – all of this is still there – in me…
I took it with me – on my further journey.
***
Don’t think about goals, but ask yourself – are you navigating your life well.. in an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year…
Sometimes it is worth looking back to see clearly how effectively you navigated.
Not in your imagination, but in reality.
And what is worth changing.
And the basis of this navigation – is a well-navigated moment.
A well-lived, single moment…
***
Nowadays, it is very easy to get lost in the flood of information, attractive images, or sounds.
It is often not easy to resist it – because it is exactly what we could be looking for.
However, you should put it aside for later and focus on more important things.
Often, it is not easy.
I know something about it…
And time flies – one way or another… it flies.
You should always be aware of it.
So, start your day with what is most important.
With peace of mind.
And then take care of what you were created for.
Put everything else aside for later.
PS.
I write such texts primarily for myself.
***
It is good to listen to old masters.
They can teach you many things – not only related to their art, but to life in general.
Because to achieve anything in life – you have to overcome many problems. Very different ones. And everything is related to everything…
***
I am studying drawing from Steve Huston’s book.
The book that came to me in the mail.
I picked it up at a nearby liquor store…
***
If you repeat a certain activity many times – it is worth investing in optimizing it as much as possible.
And soon it will bring tangible benefits…
***
You have to look for such paths to live life as beautifully as possible.
Life is like a road, like a journey, like a dance.
It is the beauty of the moment…
***
Start your day with what’s most important to you.
Don’t look at the internet.
Sit in silence.
Listen to your inner self.
So simple, but it changes everything…
***
Opposite my window I saw pigeons building a nest.
And to my surprise, they started by installing an element that I had seen before on windowsills and other places where people install it to scare birds away. It was a piece of plastic tape with long metal needles. You can see such needles on various buildings.
The pigeons found it somewhere, or maybe even dismantled it and used it as building material. It worked great, because the needles spread well at the junction of branches – creating a solid base for further construction.
So, what was supposed to be used against them – the birds used for their own purposes, as something useful.
I have heard the claim that animals act only instinctively, … mindlessly. That only humans are gifted with the ability to think.
I don’t believe it. Animals also have their own mind. Different than humans – but they do.
And each species has a different and differently developed…
***
Even if evil were incomparably stronger and more numerous than good – I would still choose good…
***
Once, in Krakow – I saw a Gypsy playing the violin. He slid fancy on the strings, with only one finger – his thumb. His eyes were closed. He rested his legs on the chair opposite. His sun hat was almost pulled down over his face. He looked as if he was sleeping. On that hot and lazy afternoon – it might have seemed so. However, the music that came out of his violin – was full of life…
If those who devoted their lives to the violin and know (as they think) almost everything about it saw that scene – then those people would probably say with great indignation that this is not how you play!
But that is how you should play… Because this man played with his soul. He was a true artist. He made the violin speak.
And all he needed for this was only one finger…
***
Many people
– eat „fast food”
– think like „fast food”
– work like „fast food”
– love like „fast food”
– live like „fast food”
Everything is so superficial then…, fast and mediocre…
***
You will make a big mistake if you do not develop your talent and do not give it to the world.
I think you know what it is…
***
Are you waiting for something?
Don’t wait – it’s now.
Time is running too fast for you to wait…
***
At some point – you have to consider the work as finished.
Otherwise, you could improve it endlessly…
***
Discipline can only be introduced with a gentle hand.
Any severity – causes the opposite reaction…
***
The answer to a question from one field, we often find in a completely different field.
This is because everything is connected to everything.
And so, answers to mathematical questions – can sometimes be found in music.
And answers to questions about music – can sometimes be found in mathematics.
Today we already know this, but at first glance – it would seem that these fields may be very distant…
***
Words are only an approximation. The most important feelings are inexpressible in words…
***
When I draw, I come to the conclusion that nature is the best teacher.
Only by observing nature carefully – do I see the true distribution of light and shadow.
I think this is a general conclusion, concerning sciences in general.
– But an airplane is not similar to a bird – someone will say.
– Not very similar – I will answer – but both an airplane and a bird are subject to the laws of physics. And these are the laws of nature. By studying the flight of a bird, one can transfer certain eternal laws to what man creates…
***
Sounds and music, like words – are an extremely powerful tool that can be used – for both good and evil purposes.
***
Can someone be a truly good person who does not care about the person who is always with him – himself…?
***
If someone has only a beautiful body, but not a very beautiful character – then for some time they may be considered beautiful to some.
But with time, the body will cease to be beautiful. And then, this person will be ugly – not only inside, but also outside. Only what is inside – will survive…
***
Each of us can do one small thing to make the world a little better.
Each of us can offer our individual talents to do this…
***
I think that even when we are aware of it – we still do not fully realize what a very complicated system of variables we are… At the same time, what a very sensitive system…
Often, changes so small that they are almost imperceptible and negligible – cause very significant consequences in us…
***
We live in times when we are increasingly beginning to appreciate what is organic rather than what is synthetic….
***
If you don’t have a peaceful mind – you don’t really live.
It’s as if you live in some unreal,… parallel world, where you are governed by completely different forces.
You then cease to be the owner of yourself.
***
If you really want to, you can even climb to the top of the ladder – but first think very deeply, is this the right ladder?
The world is full of people who have climbed the wrong ladders…
***
Before you start doing something, ask yourself a simple question – what do you want to achieve?
***
Spontaneity is good – compulsion is not…
***
Life is for living – not for struggling through it.
Not for just existing – from day to day…
***
Success is the sum of many small improvements over a long period of time – rather than one large, groundbreaking event…
***
Don’t think of someone as a bad person, but as someone who has let evil into their heart.
As someone who is guilty of allowing it.
And that’s because you have associated man with evil. They have become one and the same for you. But that’s not the case.
In the first case – you cross them out and condemn them forever.
In the second case – you give them a chance. Even if it’s a very small one,… sometimes minimal, but you don’t despise them in the end.
And this can mean that, completely unexpectedly for anyone – something will start to change…
***
And if I had one more day of life, in addition to my lifespan written somewhere in the stars – what would I do?
And it’s not exactly the same question as – what would I do if this were the last day of my life….? This question, however, has a slightly different character.
Sometimes, sitting in the darkness of the night… with a cup of cereal coffee in my hand – I ask myself this question.
And it makes me get back on track…
***
If you are learning to dance – dance when you are learning to dance.
If you are learning to play – play when you are learning to play.
Don’t wait for later.
Enjoy it now…
***
How you live one day – that’s how you will live your life…
***
Treat others as inspiration – not as competition…
***
If you want to learn to speak – you have to speak a lot and very clearly.
And with time – you will find your true and natural voice…
***
For real dancing you don’t need an audience…
***
A wolf will always run faster than a dog.
Don’t stay too long in your comfort zone…
***
Don’t criticize the other person for traits that they simply can’t improve objectively…
***
Words – are also deeds.
Sometimes, they are even more powerful…
You should take at least as much responsibility for words as you do for deeds.
***
Truth – is often somewhere in between.
That doesn’t mean exactly in the middle.
***
Be the kind of man that even his enemies respect…
***
I am outside groups, elites, organizations.
I am the voice of an independent man…
***
Speak in a simple and contemporary language.
Language is changing.
Follow these changes.
However, we must remember that the essence of language is communication.
Deep understanding.
And that is what it is all about.
Not about passing fads.
***
Sometimes (and even very often), people do not see this – who they are. They do not see their skills and hidden talents. Only someone else, someone friendly, who sees it clearly and much more clearly – can help us see ourselves…
***
Long-term discipline (including self-discipline) can only be introduced with a gentle hand.
As it turns out, any action that is too violent – will soon only cause the opposite reaction.
***
Where there is good – evil unexpectedly and slowly begins to arise.
But also where there is evil – good unexpectedly and slowly begins to arise.
Periodically – one or the other force wins.
And so it has been for centuries…
***
I think it’s not about having a high enough passive income as early as possible to never work again for the rest of your life.
It’s about being able to do a job that you love so much – that you want to do it for the rest of your life…
Such work gives you strength, instead of taking it away.
It becomes an opportunity to give the best of yourself…
***
The truth is that anyone can leave you.
At any moment – … always.
And you have no influence over that.
However, you have yourself – … always.
***
In all misfortune – the comforting thing is that you can’t die twice.
If you have already died while you are alive, as a result of wounds – then no other death will scare you anymore.
Now, it’s time to get up … and move on…
***
Just because something was good yesterday doesn’t mean it will be good today or tomorrow. Search…, experiment..
***
I don’t ask myself where I want to be in 5 years, but whether I am better today than I was 5 years ago.
That tells me a lot about whether I navigate my life well…
I don’t navigate it through goals to achieve, but through direction.
I don’t know the future and I don’t know what will happen.
But I know who I am…
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I don’t have any other projects, except one – the one I’m currently working on.
So you could say I don’t have any projects…
***
Stick to the facts and figures, but above all don’t underestimate feelings…
