intense

Athens is a babushka doll: there are worlds within worlds within worlds here

Athens is a babushka doll: there are worlds within worlds within worlds here…the maze of streets, buildings and psyches are endless and truly fascinating!

In some streets and quarters, the people are hard and intense…In others, they are ebullient and erotic…In others, they are industrious and robust…In others, there is such a mixing of nationalities that one might as well have reached the center of London OR the Inner West neighborhoods of Sydney.

In Athens, the air itself along with the buildings, vehicles and complexion of streets are all soaked in emotion…the Greek ethos is soaked in the energies of fire and water…the gods and goddesses of volcanoes, winds and waves are here in force.

In Athens, the day follows a pattern of rest AND vigor, work AND play, open heartedness AND the most violent of expressions. Greeks, whether they know it consciously or not, are interested in and aware of the heart of the issue, wherever and whatever situation. For Greeks, the importance of feelings is primary and harnessing emotion for success in business and relationship is crucial here. It could be said that Greeks are the master of emotional intelligence.

A Greek feels his/her animal nature innately and naturally WHILE being very in love with the mind and all of its pathways/gifts. The passion of the Greek is endless, all-consuming and, in the end, is both the thing that saves AND kills in this land of ancient energy. There are times in the metro or the streets that I feel I am looking into eyes that are thousands and thousands of years old in contemporary bodies. The Greek eyes could quite possibly be the deepest of abysses on the planet.

Passion, sea and dance; a fierce and un-ending commitment to survival; an appreciation of intelligence and the heart…all of these make the Greek a living manifestation of the ancient beings that once ruled this planet and, I would argue, still do. To live in Greece is a lesson in applying the mind to a river of feeling, like a fisherman upon waters ruffled by great winds at times, lit by fierce starlight at others and softened to a mirror by the sun at others.

If you are living in a stultified environment, one with no feeling and too many rules, come to Greece and get dipped in a depth you may have never experienced, into a heat of feeling that may melt walls within and allow those small lakes of tears and dormant volcanoes to pour forth…it’s a country tailor-made to soak up your fire and water and feed it back to you 10-fold! This country could possibly be the world’s most powerful vortex, lit by neon, spun by ancient/modern music, and woven into the fabric of its visitors’ hearts forever by the millions of living legends that live and breathe here. You will not leave without having your illusions turned from solidity to steam, your desires made manifest in the sand, in basement discos, on windswept hills below a glittering sky, in the endless labyrinth of streets and personalities. You will be invited to cease being careful and cautious, to join hands, lips and heart to the flesh/mind that gave birth to the West…and, it could be said, to the wild West!!