Who I am

In Athens on the day of Kathara Deutera, Clean Monday, the day that marks the beginning of the 40 days fast before Easter. The sky above all the hills of the city is full of kites. On my way back home, down one hill, I see a tall and well-dressed father walking, holding a small plastic neat- golden kite. A few meters behind him walks a child – a boy or a girl, I cannot say – and just takes his/her time, wonder and wandering over the stones and the plants of the spring that has just started.

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When I try to describe myself, the words  wonderer/wanderer  come to  mind. Wandering around and into things. This wonder has taken me, and still takes me, on different journeys. From working with autistic people to teaching movement to actors, directors, and other performers. From founding activist groups (׳Bela Doeget׳ ,׳Black Laundry׳) to locking myself in rooms for long periods of meditation. My wonder has led me to teach people from kindergarten to universities, and made me touch people and take care of those who suffer pain or illnesses, at times even on their death bed.

My wonderings have made me a painter who tries to transform a chemical reaction into meaning, and an artist who tries to create beauty and sense out of this chaotic and horrifying world.

Does “who I am” mean what I did? Or perhaps who I am means how I react, how  I meet. 

… The original meaning of the word "wonderful" seems to be hiding in plain sight: “full of wonder.”