My essentials: Ivan Grixti’s cultural picks

1. Book

Recently I read How To Be Your Own Best Friend by Mildred Newman & Bernard Berkowitz. It gave me useful insights on how to be true to myself. It reminded me of other books which I read again and again, such as Happiness Is An Inside Job, by John Powell and the Polish edition of Einreden: Der Umgang mit Gedankenm by Anselm Grün. Psychological and spiritual themes are my favourite.

2. Film

Well, it’s been a while since I watched a good film. I like watching short films and animated films such as Kung Fu Panda. Such films are filled with deep psychological and spiritual metaphors. I like Kung Fu Panda 2, especially the scene of the final fight with Shen. This scene not only explains the whole puzzle of the film, but it is in itself a comic, and at the same time, a dramatic metaphor on how to find inner peace.

3. TV/Internet

I do not watch TV and I try to limit my time on social media to sites on art and interior design. On YouTube I like to watch interviews with visual artists, and videos and lectures related to psychology, spirituality, and the art world. Websites such as vangoghmuseum.nl and others which offer high resolution pictures are also my favourite. Here one can observe and analyse the details and texture of the artworks.

4. Music

My favourite musicians are Enio Morricone and David Gilmore however I like to listen to different genres of music according to my mood. It’s hard to choose one song in particular, but one of my favourites is Louder Than Words by David Gilmore, from the album The Endless River. It reflects what I believe in, that is, that what we do speaks louder than words.

5. Place

I cannot but not choose Poland, the country where I have lived for the past 12 years. Its cities, forests, mountains, lakes, fields, together with its culture, traditions, the people, and the friends I made there, are still in my mind and heart. I just only wish Poland has more sunshine in winter.