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Sunflowers. Rye. Wheat. Seas of golden leaves that move under the gentle wind. Except for a few chirps from bugs and wild sparrows the village is enveloped in peaceful silence. Yes, a peaceful small village that is placed right in the heart of Europe. Hidden between vast mountains and unruly forests. A truly nice place to live. Suddenly you hear a laugh of a small girl that is playing in the back yard, hiding between tall stems of sunflowers. Little does she know where life will bring her. From a simple peaceful life in her village to her future.
The nature of the country is pure and innocent, a true gemstone in this plagued world. Although the people that lived here do not bear such qualities. A country once ruled under the hammer and sickle has affected the early life of our protagonist. Tough times, tough life. Coming from a not so rich family, everything had to be earned. Her back was broken under the tough work that she had to go through. Harvested vegetables and fruit grew thanks to the rains of tears and sunbeams of smiles. This experience would turn into essential tools for her future. It truly is unbelievable how everything now is done so easily with just a flick of fingers. Easy life means that we do not appreciate what we are given as much. Joy would come from handmade toys and crops grown in their fields. A simple yet beautiful life that goes hand in hand with nature. A character was melded from the hard work, tough times that were ruled under the red flag and country with many controversial beliefs. Nothing was handed to her; she did not have to rely on the pity of men to push her further in life either. Just a single sharp arrow flying through the vast unknown clouds. Beaten by the regime, she had to prove herself but also to the world and ensure that she will have a good future. The weak would either fall under the sickle or get pummeled with a hammer but the strong easily evaded the uncanny attacks and moved forward. What could be important at that point? Education. Hard and honest work was not enough anymore. That was the next path for her.
The endless tales of history and vivid expressions of art had inspired her. It was something that took her interest and would lead to her future career. From the beautiful serene meadows to the city and tough life of a college student during those times. Being at college was a success by itself. However, to pursue a major in history and art was especially a challenge. Art, however, is an important medium of self-expression. Our artist still to this day portrays her thoughts with carelessly yet mindfully placed paint strokes splashed across the canvas. Abstract artwork defined by limitless questions and even more meanings. However, one repeating distinctive feature in her paintings is a swirl or a circle that represents the unknown and infinity. Even though the artworks could be explained in many ways you could still notice the subtle choices and how the artist's mind worked during the process of the creation of the artwork. It is truly amazing how you can read a person just from a simple painting. And when it comes to history, we could say that she was interested in how people once lived, ruled and such. A curious mind who wanted to know how the world was shaped. Even though her country was strongly religious and still influenced by the ideology that it was plagued by, she would still try to find the truthful facts. Meaning that she was strong-willed, and you could not sway her easily with empty words. History is an important part of our lives and we can learn much from it.
Because of her strong connection with art and history, it is only natural that such a person for a split second could turn into Hamlet and look at a hollow skull whilst questioning life. The mind can decide what to follow from countless philosophies and beliefs. Even though life was hard, she always believed that nothing is perfect. Life is not meant to be perfect. The beauty of life lies in its imperfection, after all, if everything was crystal clear in our path, life would certainly be too easy and boring. Religion or any views did not affect her in any way, certainly not enough to disturb the development of her character. A strong-willed mind that would take into consideration both sides and decide with wisdom. Although nobody is perfect, and some words would still leave wounds in other people.
Sitting in a sunflower field next to our main heroine is a silhouette. His hand is running through his white messy hair while the other hand is slowly tapping on his glasses that are resting on his nose. His dark eyes are curiously looking at a sketched drawing of Campbell's soup that he has just drawn. They share some similarities. Both have Slavic ancestors from the rye fields. They made it to the western countries, being influenced by the magic of art and imagination. If you would ask him what kind of person his sunflower friend is, he would probably chuckle with a slight smile and tell you that she is a hell of a strong woman. Although she can be scary and strict at times. She is, in fact, a big softie. She is also not that skilled at baking, but her cooking is not too shabby.
Humanity can be ugly and ruthless against each other. She is not an exception either. She would be cruel at times. She would be hard to work with at times. But what we do the best is to develop, learn and give second chances. A lot of people have been disconnected from these positive traits that humans can have. She uses understanding and love as her guiding principles. Even though she is still plagued by the shadow side of humanity, she would be selfless and caring much more. This is not about me, but I am truly a failure at life. A confused animal running blindly around. But even though my hardships and countless failures she would not give up on me. And that is what she is the best at, giving second chances and guiding me in life. I do not think that many people are this lucky with their parents. It took me long enough to realize that my scarecrow in the field of life that I have been fighting against was someone who has been always there to reach out their hand to me. A sunflower. Golden warm petals that give love but also care. You could say that there were so many influences that have shaped our main character. Tough childhood that was tarnished by the political ideology, started her life simple yet so pure and in touch with nature. That would evolve into her love for art and history. A person with many positive values and assets fleshed out from the multiple unruly storms of life. The sunflower remained strong with her petals fluorescing with a honey yellow glow. These petals would eventually provide a home for her little bees that would get inspired by her. Although one of the bees did think she was just a thorny poisonous flower, she would eventually learn that the sunflower only wanted the best for her. Both thrive from each other and help each other grow.
Side note:
Although I have completed the interview it was recorded in my native language and I plan to put subtitles later on.
Works cited:
Sunflower, interview by Claudia Kosina, 10 Feb. 2020.
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