We use the word “patriarchy” almost automatically, yet rarely pause to ask where it actually came from — because it hasn’t existed always. At no single moment did a man suddenly decide to dominate over a woman, other men, or entire world. Patriarchy is the result of a long, gradual process that unfolded over millennia….
Throughout the past two years, I have thought a lot about what time is and how we experience it. During emigration, relationships and their breakdown, adaptation to a new society, moments of sadness, anger, joy, anxiety, and tension, I felt time differently and reflected on it often. In Alice in Wonderland, time appears as a…
I have always been curious about why we don’t hear each other, why we get into conflicts, and how the very mechanism of communication works. It is fairly obvious that conflicts often arise not from ill intent, but from basic mismatches in communication styles. These differences are subtle, often unconscious, and can lead to growing…
I often tell myself: it’s not that people don’t appreciate you. They simply don’t know you exist. It is said that an average person meets about 10,000 people in their lifetime. Dunbar’s Number theory claims that the human brain has a limit to the number of stable social relationships it can maintain — around 150…
One of the few sources of truth in my childhood was Pippi Longstocking, even though she told quite a few lies. But her lies were nothing like the lies or half-truths adults told, or the poor and unpractical education I received. Besides that, I had access to a whole library of children’s books, which filled…
Why is moving stressful? Regardless of the reasons, relocation is one of the most intense life stressors because it disrupts the familiar structure of life. A person loses their footing, social connections, and a sense of competence and control over their environment. Constant uncertainty, language barriers, culture shock, and loneliness are emotionally and physically draining….
I don’t like structure in my own life, but I love to organize and structure things. This probably stood out a lot in my recent articles. Now, dangerously close to a burnout episode, I felt like writing something freer, in a flow, about what is currently holding my fragile mind together. I am well aware…
I came across an incredibly insightful book by Alain de Botton, Emotional Education, which would be a great addition to the already long list of books I’d gladly translate into Ukrainian. We tend to underestimate the importance of our emotional world, seeing it as something secondary and private. This book addresses many essential topics related…
We are in transit — between eras in many meanings. One of them is the emergence of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool. It doesn’t think instead of us, but it can help us think broader, faster, deeper. Like with anything else, the problem is not the tool itself but how, for what,…
Infant formula — how did we get here after the natural breastfeeding process? In her book “Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession”, now in its seventh edition, leading pediatrician Dr. Ruth Lawrence calls infant formula “one of the greatest experiments in the history of mankind.” Formulas were invented, ingredients came and went, and no…
