I am embarrassed. — I’ll be honest. I don’t like writing or talking about politics. Where I am from, nobody does. My generation — people born in the late 1990s — was brought up in a dictatorship country with no rights and no ability to voice our minds. We were sold the idea that…

And what aspiring online writers can do about it. — In a recent New Yorker article, the professor-turned-writer-and-Web-critic Cal Newport writes: “…If you're a niche-genre book writer, or an avant-garde musician, or a collage artist, the logic of this [modern social media] system makes it difficult for you to find and cultivate a dedicated group of fans. You can submit…

And everyone else who believed in a brighter future. — Most people in the U.S. will find it hard to imagine, but people my age — born in the late 1990s — know no other president except Putin. We were born and raised with one president. One journalist called us “Generation Putin” because we know no other country except Putin’s…

I choose potential over comfort. — A few days ago, I was sitting in a cafe in Tbilisi and overheard a man sending a voice message. He spoke English with a heavy American accent. “I’m telling you, man. I made fifty grand per year in pounds when I lived in London. I was spending half of…

We all think about our lives in straight lines: school, college, internships, work, married (or not), kids (or not). Life until long age. Getting retired. Having grandkids (or not, for that matter). Then meet death. And even though there are numerous stories of people dying young — living until old…

Moving to London started an internal transition that’s more than just about waking up in a different city. Maybe it’s the quarter-life crisis everyone is talking about, perhaps something else. But recently, I’ve been pondering a lot of such questions as, “Is what I am doing really what I want…

People brag about their kids going to Harvard. The famed Ivy League. Uh. …

The other day, my shrink told me, “To truly love yourself, you have to start by loving your unloving yourself.” This is how it is now, she said. You don’t love yourself yet. But this is not how it’s going to be forever. The key to loving yourself is acceptance…

Sometimes, merely surviving is an achievement in itself. Getting up. Washing up. Having something to eat. Trying to not break down. Not feeling guilty about being out of shape emotionally, psychologically, or physically. Merely existing. Even that’s a lot to some people. We should all have more compassion towards people…