And so I have decided, even though I have been warned about the struggle, but I am determined to go all the way up to the Castel on foot. Starting my way down the narrow street adorned with the fresh markets and souvenir shops, I can see my goal right in front of me. The sun is burning as are my quadriceps, but I'm following through, up the stairs of the via S. Lucia Al Monte, and so very unexpectedly, a truly magnificent view opens up. As I continue my journey, I feel my heart pounding, but with every corner the view inspires me to go on. The vibrancy of the flowers against the white stone buildings, allures your vision and makes you crave more of the same. And finally I've made it all the way to the top, sweat is dripping off of me like I just came out of the shower, but I am at the top and the view is undoubtedly worth it. As I make my way into the castle I find a perfect spot where the winds come together in such a marvelous way that it creates natural air-conditioning, I swear I could stay at this spot forever, especially after climbing 53 floors according to the health app. 😅 Putting my camera down I immediately regret it as a beautiful view appears momentarily. If I wasn't sure I am alive, I could've sworn I was in heaven. I feel like a kid, who sees the world for the first time, and everything is so immensely beautiful, I am in awe with every step I take. Walking along the paths of the castle, I encounter a little girl who stands at the viewpoint to appreciate the beauty with her father. She looks around with a smile, finding something fascinating even in the brick floor, every stranger is her friend, and as she walks off she says with a smile: "Ciao" and cutely waves her hand at me. If only all of us were so fulfilled and open as this child, wouldn't we have a better world, and could we start it on Mars? #ElonMusk 😅 ____________________ Alexander Supertramp: "Happiness only real when shared". #sharingstories #livingvicariously #traveljournal #lookingforinspiration #foodforthought (at Castel Sant'Elmo)

For those of you who need some inspiration, I kindly invite you to join me on my journey through the city of Naples. A city like no other, at least not like any I've ever been to. Small streets, crowded with markets, and tabaccherias, and the ever inviting smell of coffee on every corner. Walking down the via Tribunali, passing by Regio Conservatorio di Musica, I could hear live piano and opera singing, where else but in Italy, the home of Opera. Roaming around countless piazzas through the narrow vias, you begin to fall in love with the city that is a beautiful mix of classical beauty and urban flavor. Surrounded by mesmerizing architecture and intriguing antiques you draw inspiration from everything that you see. With the rising heat and the burning sun I seek refuge in the house of Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. Walking through the grandiose corridors with the myriad of ancient statues and busts, la sala with Ancient Greek philosophers and poets draws my attention. From Sophocles to Socrates, that is exactly the atmosphere where you can feel the beginning of all existential pondering. As I walk through the sunlit hall to the east side of the museum, my attention grabs the statua di Afrodite, carefully mixing the thoughts of the intellect and the beauty in my head, I feel joy and calmness, identifying with the endless possibilities the human mind can form. It's not everyday you are surrounded by such grandeur, all I can think of is the amount of work and mastery that went into creation of these breathtaking halls. #foodforthought #livingvicariously #traveljournal #lookingforinspiration

Dairy free milk with your cereal. You won't even notice the change, oh wait you will, cause it'll taste better 🙃 Switching to dairy free milk is the easiest thing you can do, especially if you are considering going vegan. Only by switching to the vast amount of alternatives, you can make a huge difference, for the environment, for the animals and for yourself. _ The environment factor. Cows are producing methane, which is a greenhouse gas that greatly adds to the global warming. By switching to the plant alternatives, you stop supporting the industry that is the largest contributor to the climate change. And simple economics, more demand for plant milk alternatives will make them cheaper and more available. _ The cruelty free factor. Cows and goats are kept in horrible conditions, fed with hormones and antibiotics, assaulted physically and emotionally. Calves are taken away from their mothers for veal, mothers are artificially inseminated on regular basis, the average life expectancy of a cow is 25 years in nature, but in the factories they only live only 5 years, collapsing from insufficient nutrition or killed for meat. _ The good for you factor. Milk is not as healthy as advertising and marketing have led us to believe. It is the greatest source of calcium, they say. Milk has pH of 6.5, it is slightly acidic and prolonged consumption can cause the calcium being pulled out from our bodies. Plant based milks are fortified with calcium and vitamins, which solves the problem. _ The revolution factor. It has already begun, plant based milk industry is booming, more and more people are switching to the alternatives, even without ever thinking about veganism, but rather just because it tastes good, there are plenty of them, and/or it is a healthier option. So make a switch, it's so easy, and so good for you, and for our planet. _ _#vegansofig #crueltyfree #vegancommunity #vff #vegan #chilly #hot #spices #food #whatveganseat #kyiv #ukraine #veganukraine #allshots_ #nikon #foodphotography #alternative #betterworld #mindfulness #love #environment #climatechange #globalwarming #change #revolution #veganlife #theveryveganlife

Apple crumble for breakfast, say whaaat? _ 4 apples peeled and cut into cubes Juice of one lemon Cinnamon Nutmeg 1 Biscuit _ Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Mix all the ingredients and put them in the oven for 30-40 minutes. You can prepare the apples in the evening, lemon juice won't let them go brown. Crush the biscuit and put the crumbles on top. Enjoy this easy and healthy breakfast, source of pectin and vitamins, so perfect for the cold autumn mornings! _ #apples #vegan #appleseason #healthy #crueltyfree #crumble #veganfoodshare #vegansofig #vff #veganbreakfast #sweetvegan #breakfast #biscuits #pectin #health #veganukraine #kyiv #ukraine #whatveganseat (at Kyiv, Ukraine)

Cruelty or weakness

In 1961 social psychology experiment by Stanley Milgram asked subjects to play a role of a teacher, and question the learner, who was connected to a shocker, and if the latter gave incorrect answers, the former had to increase the volts on the control board. The experiment was conducted in two separate rooms, first room had the teacher and the experimenter (the authority), who gave the subject commands to continue on with the experiment if one had hesitations; and the other room had the learner, who in fact was a recorded message with incorrect answers and screams of pain. The experiment showed that 65% of the subjects had continued with the experiment all the way through, eventually giving the victim up to 450 volts. As Milgram writes in his book on the experiment, “many subjects harshly devalued the victim as a consequence of acting against him”. They believed that the learner deserved to get shocked because of “his own deficiencies of intellect and character”. Other people who did not agree with punishment still have continued because of the authority figure in the room, who told them to. This leads to a very horrifying conclusion that most of us are either incredibly cruel, or unable to stand up to the authority. Even though the experiment was done in the 60s, and I believe the influences of globalisation have given our generation, what Richard Rorty calls, “sentimental education”, and we are more likely to empathise with other people, and understand the notion of human rights a little bit better; however, this experiment shows how easily our minds are tricked into judging and attacking someone we believe to be less intelligent or deserving to be punished. Whereas the lower intelligence and the flaw of character should provoke a completely opposite feeling, empathy and desire to help. We consider animals to be less intelligent and therefore justify our consumption of their meat, and this experiment proves that the same concept works with humans, even though we don’t stoop to cannibalism, it is not right to justify hurting someone on the bases of their intelligence. There is still the question of, why people are afraid of the authority and agree to act wrongfully, just because someone, who they consider an authority figure, told them so? There are two different outcomes in this question, one is that people are not willing to question the authority, and the other is that they are simply removing responsibility from their shoulders by playing a role of a soldier, who just does what the commander says.  When some subjects were not content with the progression of the experiment, they still have continued to “punish” the victim, simply because the experimenter told them to continue. The lesson here is that ultimately we are the ones who are doing these things, no one can make us do something, it is our choice. We have the freedom to choose what we do, how we react and act upon certain situations. Physical limitations aside, we are able to do anything and break the social constraints that bind us to be cruel to any living being. The choice is ours, you can be a soldier, or a victim, or you can take control of your actions. 

Mini Carob Donuts :D 

Recipe

•1 cup chickpea flour •1/2 cup carob powder •1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder •1/4 teaspoon salt •1/4 teaspoon cinnamon * 2 tablespoons of maple syrup 

•1/2 cup soy milk  •1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar •1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract •2 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with water 

•2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Glazing (for immediate consumption only)

• 2 tablespoons of almond butter  • 2 tablespoons of soy milk • 2 teaspoons of maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Put the almond milk in a glass, add the apple cider vinegar to make vegan buttermilk. Stir well and set aside for 10 minutes. 

Use mixer to mix the flour, carob powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Add vanilla extract, flaxseed (”egg”), and coconut oil and vegan buttermilk to the dry ingredients and mix again until the texture is smooth. 

Spoon the batter into mini donuts moulds.

Bake for 12 minutes or until done.

Make glazing by blending almond butter, soy milk and maple syrup with a hand mixer until smooth. 

Take them out of the moulds, and let them cool down. Then dip them into glazing. :)

Our society is frustrated, simply because many people are trying to achieve things with no consideration of time. First girls want to be seen as older, so they put on makeup and damage their skin, then when they get older they want to look younger, so, guess what, they put makeup to cover up that damaged skin. Everyone wants results right now. People are relying on detox and diets that promise instant results, instead of healing their digestive systems and thyroid problems, in order to have healthy metabolism, which would allow them to eat plenty, rather than calorie restrict, and still be "skinny". People want right here and right now, they don't want to fix what's on the inside, they only trying to mask the outside. But that's the completely wrong use of here and now, for some things time is essential, health is one of them. There has to be an understanding of where in time you are standing, and acceptance that that's just it, there's no point to rush time, it's not going to go faster. Instant gratification is not the key to a happy life. Eating a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's will not make you happier, neither restricting yourself of vital nutrients will. We need to accept ourselves and everyone else they way they are, but mustn't forget about health, and that many things we buy and do are just to make ourselves look "good", when we should be focusing on feeling good, or to fit in with the standards of being "normal" or just like everyone else. What's really upsetting for me is that I see these traits not only in young girls but in grown women. And I'm not even touching the problems boys and men face about their looks and the whole masculinity image. And I'm no expert, but I can clearly see that these are real problems that our society is facing right now, right here. One might say that these are fictional, or the crowds favourite it's all in your mind, that real problems is having no food or drinking water, but you cannot eliminate the problem just because it seems less immediate. All these traits are damaging to our society and our environment. Besides maybe if we weren't so obsessed with how we look and what others think we would've acted on ending world hunger and drinking water shortage.

The thing I don't like about Ukraine is that most Ukrainian people don't like their country. And it's not entirely their fault, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, monitoring and quality control has gone out of the window, and corruption taken over, so it's understandable why people would be sceptical, but on the other hand, people not believing in the quality of the Ukrainian products led to the producers not believing in it either, and most of the advertising convinces people that anything that comes from the EU or any other country is better. So everyone is praising German and French products, which also confuses people with the idea that it is better to live overseas too. The bubble of "overseas is better" is so ingrained in our minds that we subconsciously or even outright hate Ukraine! And that's a very big problem because how can you help something you hate? And what Ukraine needs is help, it needs people who care, because you can live a shitty life anywhere in the world, there is no magic country where everyone is happy. Starting small, in the words of MJ, if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change! Everyone says how corrupt the politicians are, but it's not only politicians, it's everyone, wherever you go, in every governmental or private organisation there's corruption, no one wants to help anyone unless they benefit from it. But that is why we have bad infrastructure, low pensions and poor quality education because people need to do things from their heart, love their job and trying to help others, themselves and the country! And I'm not saying all Ukrainian people are horrible, no way, there are plenty of good hearted and wonderful people, especially in the younger generation, who are promoting a better life for Ukraine! We just need more of that in the older generations! And why all this, because that's Ukrainian outlet village, what they did is copied Netherlands to give people a nice atmosphere, clean and pretty, like the EU supposed to be, and it's all cool, I mean I really enjoyed being there, but I wish we didn't copy the EU, rather created our own new Ukraine with better standards. Peace

Summer 

Every one of us is in his or her own Truman show. But no one is watching it because every one is too busy being the star of their own show.

Postcards from LA

There are three kinds of despots.  There is the despot who tyrannises over the body.  There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul.  There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul and body alike.  The first is called the Prince.  The second is called the Pope.  The third is called the People.

Oscar Wilde. “The Soul of Man under Socialism.

Vegan pizza :D

"You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals." Paul McCartney If people are allowing themselves to treat animals like that, there's no surprise that people become violence and rape victims by the hand of fellow people. Morality has no exceptions. Watch this 5 minute video and I doubt you could eat dairy again