my three

1.Zygmunt Bauman

Polish sociologist, philosopher. born 1925.

"Fluidity", “Liquid modernity” is one of key words in philosophy of Zygmunt Bauman. He uses “fluidity” as a reflection about contemporary world. Bauman writes -"fluid life" isn't able to keep its shape or to maintain a stable route. In” Identity”, a short book based on an email exchange between Zygmunt Bauman and Italian journalist Benedetto Vecchi, the sociologist discusses the question of identity in the context of what he calls 'liquid modernity'. Bauman's thesis, set out in his book of that name (2000), is that we have moved from a solid to a fluid phase of modernity, in which nothing keeps its shape, and social forms are constantly changing at great speed, radically transforming the experience of being human.

“One thing which even the most seasoned and discerning masters of the art of choice do not and cannot choose, is the society to be born into - and so we are all in travel, whether we like it or not. We have not been asked about our feelings anyway. Thrown into a vast open sea with no navigation charts and all the marker buoys sunk and barely visible, we have only two choices left: we may rejoice in the breath-taking vistas of new discoveries - or we may tremble out of fear of drowning. One option not really realistic is to claim sanctuary in a safe harbour; one could bet that what seems to be a tranquil haven today will be soon modernized, and a theme park, amusement promenade or crowded marina will replace the sedate boat sheds. The third option not thus being available, which of the two other options will be chosen or become the lot of the sailor depends in no small measure on the ship's quality and the navigation skills of the sailors. Not all ships are seaworthy, however. And so the larger the expanse of free sailing, the more the sailor's fate tends to be polarized and the deeper the chasm between the poles. A pleasurable adventure for the well-equipped yacht may prove a dangerous trap for a tattered dinghy. In the last account, the difference between the two is that between life and death.” ― Zygmunt Bauman, Globalization

2. Martin Buber ( 1878-1965). Jewish philosopher, writer, translator, born in Vienna. A researcher of the Hasidism. This religious-philosophical position formed a way of his thinking. His philosophy is based on: "I- Thou" ( dialogue), "I- it"(monologue).

Buber's philosophy of dialogue views the human existence in relations, and that in two fundamentally different kinds of relations: I-It and I-Thou relations.

An I-It relation is the normal everyday relation of a human being towards the things surrounding him/her. One can also consider fellows as an It - and that is what we do most of the time -, we view the other from a distance, like a thing, a part of the environment, forged into chains of causality.

Radically different the I-Thou relation. The human being enters into it with his innermost and whole being, in a meeting, in a real dialogue this is what both of the partners do.

A real life is "a meeting", our "I" is always towards something. In the relation "I- it" a dialogue is missing, and that is so essential for the human life.

"The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings. Each thing and being has a twofold nature: passive, absorbable, usable, dissectable, comparable, combinable, rationalizable, and the other, the active, non-absorbable, unusable, undissectible, incomparable, noncombinable, nonrationalizable. This is the confronting, the shaping, the bestowing of things. He who truly experiences a thing so that it springs up to meet him and embraces him of itself has in that thing known the world..." - Martin Buber

3. Swimming

I swim 60- 70 laps every other day. I am like a machine. Silence of the body and water is truly interesting. I was never good with “contact” sport, I am not much of a team player. I guess it is the upbringing, for example: I was never allowed to join scouts (it is different in Poland- the idea of kids wearing the same uniforms, playing adults with their adults' activities, making them "harder "and "ready to serve", singing the same patriotic songs- was not appealing to my parents). Anyway... swimming- It is good time to reflect for me, it is a time where my thoughts organize themselves to match the rhythm of my body and my heart beat. Expending my breaths, repetition, balance, limits, lines, depth, intimacy of being almost naked, but yet so public setting…. I guess it all shows up in my work.