I am staring at this white wall of pixels and looking at the flickering vertical line while trying to think of words and sentences that would truly express how I feel. Every beginning is hard and we just want to give up and crawl back into our little corners where we feel safe and sheltered from the world. Our brain transforms into a 100 headed dragon that is bombarding us with excuses for why it’s alright to quit, to not try something new, why it would be stupid and senseless to continue. At least that is how I felt during certain moments on the project. I just wanted to be done with it and the nasty dragon was screaming how it’s childish, immature, boring and pointless. Often times, it’s our inner turtle that’s telling us that it’s alright to stay in our shells and that there’s nothing all that special out there. But guess what? By hiding in our shells, by hiding in our corners we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow, we close the door to a world of possibilities that are waiting for each and every one of us. And that little corner that we created, even though it seems cozy, harmless and warm, in the end it will only bring us regret, fear and despair. I believe that each and every one of us had to get out of their comfort zone at a certain moment during the project and for that we should congratulate ourselves. We should also congratulate ourselves on the fact that we created 4 amazing plays in such a short period of time. It might be true that others will say “Oh, it’s nothing special.” once they get to see our work. But you know what? Fuck the haters. We were awesome. I will personally take this experience and remind myself of it every time I think that something is impossible, that there’s too much work, that there’s no time and that there’s no point in trying. Because it can be done, because we did it, we made a short theater play in four days. How fucking amazing is that?

Now we all go our own way, we continue our journeys. Our journeys won’t be easy, there will be bumpy roads, stormy seas and steep hills. But in the end, I truly believe that we all have the power in ourselves to reach the places where we want to be at and to fulfill the goals that we set. And the journeys that we are embarking on, they cannot be completed alone. We will all need a helping hand or a little push to keep us going, be it from our family, our friends or our better halves. Someone will always be there for us, we just have to bury our egos, swallow our pride and ask for help when we get stuck.

Also, I would like to thank everyone for the fantastic ten days that I got to spend with you. If someone were to tell me that I would find myself in the rural hillside of Romania surrounded by so many wonderful and amazing people, I would have probably thought to myself “Jeez, what’s this guy smoking?!?”. But here we are, because each and every one of you is extraordinary in their own unique way. I truly admire your positivity, your views of the world and your mindsets. Spending time with you inspired and motivated me to bring certain changes to my life. And for that, you have my eternal gratitude.

If any of you ever find yourself in Croatia, than know that my door is always open.

Your friend – Alen.