Standing (on the shoulders of) giants

Everytime going back to Lithuania, where I was born and bread, is a bit confronting. A bit challenging. A bit scary. A whole lot exciting and comforting. Yes, it’s complicated. I have had this unique opportunity to observe how I have changed as much as it have changed. How when I left I was still quite shy to admit where I came from. What is this country? Does it smell of soviet union, is it Russia? Where is it?

And for years I have been making sure I was very concrete with the geographical descriptions and criteria of what counts as an independent country. I also realized at some point that once you leave your mother land, the school you went to, the dialect you speak in, the persona you built while there - it all blurrs into the new unknown. You remain alone with who you really are - with your personality and virginity for experiences. And what doesn’t break you, makes you more flexible and what doesn’t make you more flexible makes you more attached to what you left back at home. Either way I strongly believe everything happens for a reason.

And still ever since I left Lithuania all the years back, I do struggle with the terms and labels that are attached to migrants and migration. As if people who remain, stay in stagnation. I don’t believe they do. Grass isn’t greener. Grass is just different.

I proudly hold on to all the things that might seem to make my life outside Lithuania more challenging - weird surname, strong affinity for nature, potatoes and a bit too emotional literature. It’s okay if I need to spend five minutes spelling my surname to the clerck on the other end of the line. It’s okay I have to go to the bank to fix all the spelling errors. It took me some years but I think it also took some years for Lithuania too.

I am so happy to finally feel that Lithuania has changed. The feeling we used to hold so close of the smaller and inferior country is feeling further and further away. We are proud of so many things - and we don't need to feel lesser for maybe some weirder aspects of that. Yes, its all ours and it's something that is important to remember - it's okay you find our pink soup a little strange or skyscrapers aren't tall enough. Finally we can be proud of the authenticity, of the unique quirkiness we hold. And it's okay. And it’s awesome!

I was on a tour of my hero Lina and she said “Oh but Gediminas is so cool” as I was about to shoot some pictures with the monument for the Great Duke Gediminas. I think this is one of my favourite pictures I shot with a monument. So far (lets leave it there).

To be this proud of who we are can’t be disconnected to our history - where we came from and how much we are weaved into the cloth of European history. Starting with our only king Mindaugas who got Christianed mainly for political reasons to Bona Sforza who introduced Italian broccoli and basil to Lithuania besides other amazing things. Finally Gediminas who is credited with expanding Lithuanian territory which later spanned the area ranging from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Standing with giants takes recognizing them with respect but also some awareness of their humanity. Since I was a kid, I was always wondering what kind of jokes dukes would share in the grand halls of castles and would they get sarcastic about the premonitions of the druids.

But for now. I will just leave this picture here and explore.