Some moments from a beautiful and cozy dinner with colleagues from LOADS Amsterdam on the 23rd of December 2022.

Spoken word poetry came into my life in a big way maybe in 2010. More than a decade ago. I have been inspired, moved and intriqued that much, I actually dared to create an event for it. That was 2011. In 2015 it morphed into Word Up through which and thanks for Kevin Groen, I have been introduced to a beautiful space in Amsterdam - Labyrinth. It’s run by Lindsey and Sam - a beautiful duo that created home for poets, outcasts, storytellers, musicians and just souls looking for inspiration, soul food - literally and figuratively… [read more]

A few days ago I was at a premier of a burlesque documentary by Colina van Bemmel that was followed by a show featuring also the amazing women portrayed in the documentary.

I have never been one for sitting still. And I had plenty of situations to do so. Throughtout my life, past years. Past pandemic.

I have never known how to do that really. I suppose people now call it ADHD or other letters. I call it curiosity, restlessness.. I call it show me more. I call it, what’s next. I call it and now what….

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Some moments from this years Global Lithuanian Leaders Pro Club Summit in Oslo, Norway
September 30th - October 2nd, 2022

Last week I have spent some time together with Nicholas evaluating the MyGen finals of the students at Amsterdam Fashion Institute. It was an experience both interesting, full of vulnerability and inspiration. It also gave me some ideas to speak more about the power of presenting and how you can really get a good glimpse into someone within 7 minutes of presentation and 8 minutes of asking them follow-up questions. So here are my takeaways from the experience that might help anyone with presenting or speaking in public…

Do I deserve to feel anything? To react? More and more I find myself pondering about that. In the beginning, it was just small glimpses, moments or even fractures of those moments. This week someone asked me how I was I responded that I find it super difficult to respond to that question ever since the war (in Ukraine) started…..

I was born in the USSR. I had a great childhood. I felt loved. I felt treasured. I felt like my world was full of sunlight, magical moments delivered by my parents, grandparents and all the people in the community. I still remember a cake I had when I was 6 years old which had bunnies on it and green grass. I was so happy. So seen. I spent days doing crafts, making clothes. I spend days reading books. I read fairytales from the whole wide world, I read Shakespear, I read a lot to the point where I actually started volunteering at a local library because I loved organizing books so much. I also don’t only say this was my childhood without pain. There was fair share of that too….

Reflecting on the workshop I held in Rotterdam this week for the lecturers of Hogeschool Rotterdam. Really happy that gender is also a language that we are developing to make the world more inclusive, connected and inspiring.

Sharing my life experiences and achievements with three groups of students at UWC Maastricht this week.

Yesterday I gave presentation about my journey through the experiences of NGO, volunteer work and education design over the years that felt really confronting and heavy to prepare but really turned out into a beautiful experience of embracing authenticity.

Travel is amazing - learning new things, meeting new people… creating more space for yourself… but it also has more difficult and more challenging parts to it…

Once again I ventured outside my comfort zone as I am currently attending the International Tool Fair XV at Vila de Gaia in Portugal. It is a place offering the opportunity to test and taste new tools, analyse, exchange and evaluate them, in order to valorise creativity in non-formal education pedagogical initiatives. ..

This past weekend I spent in Berlin with the invitation of Global Lithuanian Leaders and LEO in Berlin, I have presented my insights about community building, community importance and communication.