Manifesto Milena Rangelov

7/17/2019 Manifesto Milena Rangelov

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INTRODUCTIONIt has all started on the floor.(At that timeI thought it was an ending. So this firstsentence would be: "It has all ended at thefloor." Now I am sure that it was actually abeginning. So, let's kee the first sentenceintact.!

I was owerless and aralyed. I couldn't takeanother meaningless, boring day in small,awful comany. I couldn't stand working onSaturday for no secial reason. #e ne$er hadthat much work. I was fed u with humiliationand endless re%ections at %ob inter$iews. I wassick of li$ing with my arents and sharingroom with my sister. I couldn't stand li$ing

away from my boyfriend and all of my friends.I was sick of fucked u country I wasunfortunately born in. I was sick of wars,transition, economic crisis and esecially of

small ro$incial town I was forced to li$e andwork in. &inally, I was sick and tired of myself,my fucking, miserable, owerless, atheticself. I ha$e deleted all of my ideas, hoes andall of my energy. hen I laid on the floor andlooked at the ceiling. I was hoing to die.#hat could be more reasonable hings willne$er get better anyway.I was waiting and waiting. Nothing hashaened. I didn't die. I sincerely wanted to,but I didn't. I ha$e found the way out. And Iwant to share it with you.

If you struggle with quarter life crisis, ifyou feel stuck and unfulfilled, this

Manifesto is for you. If you haverecognized your own problems andpatterns in lines above, this Manifesto isfor you. If you desperately want the


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change, and don't know where to start,this Manifesto is for you. If you feeloverwhelmed with boredom, self-doubtand fear, you will love this Manifesto.

So, first let me e)lain how I got my ass intounleasant situation of lying on the floor,hoing for he *eaer to sa$e me, and how Imanaged to escae and sa$e myaforementioned ass.

&irst of all, I ha$e always been outstandinguil and student, full of energy, work+hard+lay+harder kind of girl. I always had manyinterests and tried to ursue all of them at thesame time. I lo$ed hanging with many eole.A arty animal. Iwanted to fill u my day tolast second, I was running from one work outto another, from one arty to another, from alace to lace, from one beer to another. Iha$e finished my studies in ci$il engineering inthat manner. I was a blend of outstanding

student and bad ass, rational engineer andlayful, artistic brat. And dee down, I knewsomething was wrong and something wasmissing.

I ha$e found my first %ob $ery uickly and Iha$e realied that it drains my soul. -$erybodytold me that it is suosed to be like that. All%obs are boring and I %ust need to get used toit. After one year of hard work, I got fired. #eha$e finished a huge, imortant ro%ect andcomany has decided that it doesn't need afew of us any more. I was trying to find a new%ob, did e$erything I could but nothing worked.After fi$e months I was offered a %ob in a smallcomany in my home town. nable to affordbeing icky, I acceted that %ob, left /elgrade,where all of my friends and my boyfriendwere, andmo$ed back in with my arents. Itis understatement to say that I was miserable.I actually wanted to die. A few months andmany unsuccessful %ob inter$iews later, I wasthere, lying on the floor. #hat did I do wrong#heree)actly did I fuck the things u I ha$edone e$erything I was suosed to do. #hyhas this haened to me

/ang0 hat's why. I needed sla in the face. Ineeded re$elation. I needed a miracle. /utthemost of all, I needed anencounter with


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myself. I ha$en't met with myself for years,being too busy with e)ams, ro%ects, tra$els,work outs, beers and arties. onely life insmall town brought me ........back to me.Iha$e humbly slowed down and faced with myown forgotten and neglected soul, that wasdying from siritual thirst. I ha$e started towrite, meditate, sit in silence, I ha$edisco$ered many insiring books and blogs.And the most imortant of all, I ha$e got thefeeling of wholeness and fulfillment after yearsof deserate, hysteric running in circles.

After a few months I ha$e started my mailinglist named Suerno$a, where I ha$e startedsharing my e)eriences with a small grou ofsubscribers. hat ro%ect has brought me morehainess, creati$ity and dee connectionswith eole than anything else I ha$e e$erdone in my life. Suerno$a was in Serbian, mynati$e language. 1y new webro%ect2ad$enture2mini+re$olution

missstrangelo$e.com is the best of my work,but in -nglish. It took me uite a while tomake it, and I still feel uite insecure aboutmy self+taught -nglish. So lease, don't be

$ery strict about my grammar and $ocabulary.I hoe you will be able to feel lo$e and siritunderneath it.

If you wonder what haened at the end ofthe story, let me tell you that I ha$e uit theawful %ob after many months. I li$ed with themoney I sa$ed and it took me a few moremonths till I ha$e found something else. /ut itdoesn't matter. he most imortant thing isthat no one can take my ersonal re$olutionaway from me. And now I want to sread thefire.

-nough about me. Now let's talk about you.!his Manifesto is for you.It is not the storyabout me and my own hero %ourney. It is atoolbo) for your own inside+out re$olution. 3oumight be wondering why I ha$e decided tomake siritual 1anifesto. &irst of all, I wasn't$ery siritual before all the shitty e$ents Iwrote about at the beginning. /ut sirituality

changed my life fore$er. I am deelyassionate about it now. I know for sure thathuman beings ha$e dee, innate need forsirit. #hen we drink, smoke, do drugs, when


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we search for adrenaline, when we dance likecray, we are searching for the sirit. At wronglaces, I dare to say. &or it has been inside ofus from the $ery beginning. 4ur limitlesssource of hainess and inner eace. I don'tcare if you belie$e in 5esus, /uddha, friendlyni$erse, di$ine mind or 1ama 3umba. As#ayne 6yer says:"#all it what you want, itis not what you call it."

I can gi$e you endless ad$ices on how tohandle stress, how to find a new %ob, what towear on a %ob inter$iew, how to resent

yourself to a new emloyer, how to know whenit is about time to end romantic relationshietc., but I don't want to do that. I want to gi$eyou something more $aluable. I want to showyou how to ta into your sirit, your endlesscreati$ity and inner eace. I want to show youhow to meet yourself again. I want to gi$e youtools for hay and fulfilled life. And then, youwill be able to change your career, to feel

good, ha$e wonderful relationshis. I wouldlo$e to hel you set the foundation for yourawesome life. -$erything else will then fall into

lace. So let7s di$e into the siritual%ourney............


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1. STRANGE LOVE FOR YOURSELF

he most imortant relationshi you of your

entire life is the one you ha$e with yourself.#oke u in my clothes again this morning.-scae is %ust not ossible.

#hen times get tough, we are all so temtedto change the outside world, circumstances,lousy %ob, our artner, other eole. he truthis.....it is not uite ossible. he only thing wecan change is oursel$es, our thoughts,

attitudes and habits. It is hard, but is the onlyway. Nothing can change until we do. Andwhen we change from the inside,circumstances and other eole willchange simultaneously, to match our newinner world. ntil then, we ha$e a work todo.....

I hoe this first chater will hel you fight your

own dragons. ake your sword and shield andlet's get started.


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1. 1. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUIts easy to believe that you are not good enough, if you listen to everybody else. Mackenzie

Astin

&irst of all, rela)0 &or there is nothing wrongwith you. 8as someone already told you that3ou might be stuck, fucked u, you might beo$erweight, you might feel unattracti$e, lay,inconsistent, immature, unable to make adecision, broke, unareciated, howe$er isthat you feel, I ha$e to tell you, there isnothing wrong with you. And you don't need to

be fi)ed. 3ou are great %ust the way you areand the lace that you are at is a good lace.3es, I know it doesn't seem so, but belie$eme, it is.

No matter how much money do you ha$e, howdo you look like in your bikini, if you are in arelationshi or not, if you work or if you arestill looking for a %ob, you are a uniue

amaing human being. And you always will be.It doesn't matter if you ha$e lost your %ob,family member, girlfriend, if you mademistakes, or %ust had a bad luck. 3our mostimortant art, your sirit or the Self remains

intact. I ha$e sur$i$ed two wars in my countryat the age of 9. Not to mention the brokeneconomy,second highest inflation in history ofhumankind and years of star$ation. And thenthe uarter life crisis. And I am fine. 1aybe Ididn't en%oy all the comfort as my eers fromother countries did, but I am sure that mysirit is erfectly fine. 4rah has been a $ictim

of abuse as a child. ;ictor &rankl has sentyeas in Nai's concentration cam. -)amlesare countless. As Ste$en


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hese e)amles are not meant to make youfeel shame if you feel bad about your currentsituation. "8ow dare you to comlain, youungrateful bitch6o you know that there areeole out there who face real roblems, notthat uarter+life woo woo of yours......" I ha$eheard it thousand times. It %ust made me feelguilty and e$en unhaier. Another humanbeing's misery can hardly make you haier,right 8owe$er, the intention of re$iousaragrah was to assure you of youruniue, intact and uncorruted $alue.

3es, you can change your ways of thinking,working, you can be more acti$e. /ut firstrecognie your greatness. 3our uniue ackageof gifts and talents. 3our wonderful soul. 3ourcomassion. *emember that you are noterfect, you are human being, with yourconcerns, flaws, guilty leasures, mistakesfrom the ast, but you will always be worthy of

lo$e and caable of doing great things. No onecan deny it.S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: Answer the uestion:#hat do you absolutely like about yourself

#hat is your uniue, intact uality that no onecan take away from you (ry to come u witha list of @+ 9 traitsand ualities.!


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1. 2. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS......."When you find a fork on the road, ick it." !ogi erra

I ha$e done e$erything I was suosed to do,I followed the ma, the set of instructions fromthe ackage and......what #hy has this shithaened to me #hat did I do to deser$e itI am such a looser.....and blah blah blah.Sounds familiar I ha$e been there for years.&or ages. (Not only while laying on the floor.!And it only ket me stuck.

I ha$e a better idea. #hy don't you askyourself:"(hy has this happened )*$ me+(hat am I learning now+ ow am Igrowing+ ow am I stretching+ In whichways am I becoming stronger+" It willchange your ersecti$e and your way ofthinking. ?hances are you won't be able toanswer these uestions immediately. ?hancesare you would ha$e to wait for uite a while,until you see the bigger icture and thegreater good hidden in roblems andobstacles.

Buarter life brings many challenges u. Afternice time at college, doing what you aresuosed to do, following the ma, alwaysknowing what your ne)t ste will be, all of asudden you find yourself launched into a coldsace, ha$ing no freaking idea of what is goingon. Suddenly, e$eryone e)ect you to find acareer ath, earn decent amount of money,find a serious relationshi, ay of the debt,

buy a flat, get married, sing and dance allaround the lace. Ain't gonna haen0 3es,you will ha$e to %uggle many lates, and yes,some of them will dro and get broken. #e callit "a roblem" or "an obstacle", or "a fork inroad".

?heer u. I know it is hard. I know that you(and me and e$eryone else! has e)ectedsmooth sailing, linear ath and one thing afteranother. Not roblems, forks and brokenlates. /ut these are all great oortunities tolearn and grow. #hether you are stuck at the%ob that you hate, or a unsatisfying


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relationshi, or you ha$e been single for ages,without a chance of finding a right erson, besure that there is something big and wonderfulwraed in that shitty aer. So oen the

ackage0 3ou ha$e a huge chance for learningabout yourself, finding a new creati$eand uncon$entional ways of roblem sol$ing.Stretch. =row. Smooth sailing would make youcomfortable and the comfort would temorarilyfeel nice. /ut in a long+term , it will make youlay, mediocre, tangled into old, con$entionalways of thinking. ?elebrate discomfort.-mbrace your roblems. ?all them "ro%ects"

or "challenges".

#hen life gi$es you lemons, you can make notonly lemonade, but lemon merigue ie, lemonice cream, lemony water (great way to startyour day!, salad dressing or you can stickthem down your shirt and make your boobslook bigger (girls only!. 3ou are limited onlywith your creati$ity, which is endless, as we

will discuss in ne)t chaters. In other words:there are no limits.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: 6efine the lifesituation that causes you ain. It could be your%ob, relationshi, loneliness, struggle withmoney, anything. hen answer the following

uestions: #hy is this haening &4* you#hat are you learning 8ow are you growing


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1. 3. GROWING PAINS#o$e changes look negative on the surface but you %ill soon realize that sace is being

created in your life for so$ething ne% to e$erge. &chart 'olle

Ahem........yes, that's it. 3ou'$e heard me well.=rowing is ainful. ncomfortable./ut necessary. ?hange is the only thing that isconstant in nature. #here$er you look, youwill see growth, change and de$eloment. It iscoded in your genes. 3ou are on your way ofbecoming the erson you are meant to be.1aybe it isn't logical or ob$ious, but you are in

the middle of the rocess. 6on't resist it. =owith the flow.

6o you remember the stress of starting therimary school, or high school, or collegeStarting each and e$ery new hase of yourlife 1o$ing to another city 1o$ing to anotheraartment /reaking u Starting a new %ob&inding out that the Santa isn't real All ofthese situations ha$e something in common.?hange. And stress attached to it. #e, as ahuman beings, are uite inert. 8ard to mo$e.#e often want things to stay %ust the way theyare. It leads to being stuck, unsatisfied and

deely unhay. It leads to swimmingustream and getting nowhere. 6o not try tofit the clothes you ha$e o$ergrown. hrowthem away graciously.

3ou, as a remarkable human being with uniueblend of gifts, ha$e been ut to this lanetwith a urose. Nobody has e$er been like

you, and nobody will e$er be. our life isyour ourney towards your purpose.-$eryli$ing thing on a lanet has its urose.Acorn's urose is becoming an oaktree. ?aterillar's urose is becoming abutterfly. hink about it for a second. 6otheir transformations look logical Is it ob$iousthat caterillar is on its way of becoming abutterfly 8ell, no0 #hy isn't the acorn'surose to become a big acorn 8uge, fatacorn It's not working that way. Sorry, but itis not. =rowth and mo$ing to the urose isbig and radical metamorhosis. 3ou don't needto become more of who you already are. 3ou


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ha$e to change, transform from the inside.>ea$e your old cocoon behind and fly away.

It is not easy, it is not always funny. =enerally

seaking, none of us would make a switch,before the ain of remaining stuck becomesgreater than the ain of change and the fear ofunknown. his is why many eole accet thestatus uo, dysfunctional relationshis,draining %obs, all sorts of unroducti$esituations. If you want fulfilled life, get readyfor change, growth, ain, uncertainty, getready to be bold and courageous. Buarter life

is a erfect time to get it all in one ackage.Also, it is a field of high otential. *ememberthe re$ious chater, there are amaingoortunities in all of the roblems andstruggles. No ain, no gain.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: oday make achange. o diminish the ain, start somethingsmall. eeny tiny change. If you want to

change your o$erall health, drink one moreglass of water than you usually do. 4r walk toyour worklace instead of taking the bus. Ifyou want more hainess, smile. 1ake

somebody laugh. If you want to change yourdiet, eat one salad today. 1ake small,deliberate change. 6o it today. (3ou7ll see thatit wasn7t as ainful as you thought it wouldbe.! /e hay and roud about it.Acknowledge that you are on your way ofgrowth and de$eloment.


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1. 4. CELEBRATE YOUR EVOLUTIONIt is not the strongest or the $ost intelligent %ho %ill survive but those %ho can best $anage

change. (harles )ar%in

#hen you embrace the change, as well as ainand discomfort that go with it, wonderfulthings start to haen. 3ou grow. 3ou stretchand e)and with the ni$erse. #oohooo0

Imortant thing. /on't forget to celebrateyour evolution. 3our own ersonal e$olution.#e are all li$ing in an o$er+achie$er culture.=o, go, go0 #ork, work, work0 &ill ue$ery millisecond of the day. 3ou will sleewhen you die. =et busy. =et suer busy.-nough with that0

>et's say you ha$e acceted and sur$i$ed thechange. 3ou ha$e set your goals, you ha$e gotsuer busy and you ha$e achie$ed hell a lot.#ait. Slow down. ?elebrate. =i$e yourselfcredit.


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!he only real comparison is the onebetween you and you former self. (And itmust result in e$olution celebration.! All othercomarisons are %ust a huge ile of /.S. #e

are all different ersons, with different li$esand different circumstances, different dreamsand desires. #e all ha$e our own destiny andour own urose. 8ow can we ossiblycomare he truth is that you ne$er knowwhat is really going on in somebody's life. Andthe truth is that, when you comare yourselfto somebody, you usually feel inferior and youmiss great chance of learning. And why

/ecause of ale+orange comarison. #astingof time and energy.

he bottom line: It is only about you and you,C years ago. 4;- A?I4N: #rite a list of thingsyou are roud of. 6on7t be shy and modest.6on7t say that anyone could do it. It is not

true. #rite about your achie$ements, reachedgoals, friendshis, relationshis, anything thatcomes to your mind. /e roud, feel it. (#hen Ifirst did this e)ercise, I had $ery hard time

defining what I was roud of. I was sad anddisaointed, and my answer was: D#ell,nothing. I am one miserable human being.E Itwas a huge eihany for me. I ha$e realiedthat I was mistreating myself and that it has tobe changed. I ha$e decided to be roud moreoften. It resulted with more self lo$e andcontentment. So write your list today.!


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1. 5. BE GRATEFUL*etting used to our blessings is one of the $ost i$ortant nonevil generators of hu$an evil,

tragedy and suffering. Abraha$ Maslo

4h, this is a big one. /e grateful. -)ress yourgratitude. No matter how unhay you are, nomatter how hoeless your situation seems,you always ha$e something to be grateful for.And that something is not %ust one thing. It isyour endless, e$er+growing, hay list. hinkabout it for a second. #e all ha$e so much tobe grateful for. It is %ust that we ha$e beentaught to look elsewhere. o focus onnegati$e, what is not working and what we donot ha$e. hat induces sadness and an)iety.Instead, focus on positive, wonderfulthings that surround you right now.

6o you ha$e a roof o$er your head Access tohealthy food and clean, running water If youare reading this 1anifesto, then you ha$ecomuter that is connected to an Internet. 3ou

ha$e a chance to communicate with a wholeworld. 8ow great it is If you ha$e a %ob,steady income, bank account with some

money on it, be grateful. It is so big. 6on't %usttake it for granted.

#hat will this attitude of gratitude bring toyour life he first of all, great sense ofhainess, serenity and inner eace. 3ou willen%oy the wonderful feeling of ha$ing enoughand being enough. #hich will hel you bemore generous. #hich will bring you e$enmore wonderful things to be grateful for.

It doesn't mean that you will settle formediocre if you are grateful for small thingsyou ha$e on your late today. A lot of eolekee asking me that and it is e)actly what isnot going to haen. 4n contrary, this will wireyour brain in new ways. 3ou will focusositi$ely and start seeing more things thatare good, beneficial and that are actually

working. 3ou will be able to sotnew oortunities, that may lead you to thenew lace, where you will ha$e so much moreto be grateful for.


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In her amaing book, 6aring greatly, /rene/rown is seaking about foreboding %oy. It isthe habit of imagining a worst case scenario

and imagining how could Dthis all go awayE. Inother words, whene$er something goodhaens, erson tend to say: D4F, I was luckythis time, but there must be a catch. I am surethat something bad is going to haen ne)t,%ust to make the balance.E *esult: man, alwaysreser$ed and ready for Dthe slings and arrowsof outrageous fortuneE, becomes unable toe)erience the %oy. Is this haening to you

he only cure for this is gratitude. Say, thinkand breathe: Dhank you0E If you cannot en%oy,what the hell is the oint

#hene$er you say (or think!: Dhank you,Eni$erse recei$es the message: D1ore of this,lease.E 6id you hear me 5ust e)ress yourgratitude towards something and karmicwaiter will bring you more of it.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: -)erience theattitude of gratitude. 3ou won't regret it. #rite

three things you are grateful for e$erymorning. #rite on the8ANF348ANF348ANF34 writingromt. Say: "hank you," to all the lo$ely

eole that you lo$e and that make your lifeso much better. hink about all the wonderfulthings you ha$e in your life, your %ob, car,education. Areciate the beauty all aroundus. hink: D#hat a nicebuilding2dress2car2ark2erson.E &orce yourselfto think that way often. =ratitude will change

your life.


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2. STRANGE LOVE FOR THE WORLD

#hen you master self lo$e, accetance,growth and the attitude of gratitude, you areready for the ne)t le$el. Sreading your lo$eall around the lace. And taking some action.

he truth is you are ne$er alone. And youractions are ne$er isolated from the rest of theworld. his chater will show you how to makeawesome relationshis and take meaningfulactions. And become siritual suerstar in thisfriendly ni$erse.....


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2. 1.WE ARE ALL CONNECTEDInvisible threads are the strongest ties. +riedrich ietzsche

(e are all connected and we are all one.If you hurt me you ha$e hurt yourself. If youhel me you ha$e heled yourself. As simleas that.

&eel free to e)ress the lo$e and gratitude.=i$e to the others what you would like torecei$e. #e are all one, so technically, you aregi$ing to yourself.

1ost religions agree that the sureme sin isnot murder or rae, but ride. (hese two arenot e$en on the list of se$en deadly sins0! #ecan discuss the order, but the bigger oint isthat the ride is huge enemy of yourwellbeing. As I ha$e told before, you truly areuniue, remarkable and awesome humanbeing. /ut wait, e$eryone else is remarkableas well. -$eryone else has uniue gifts.

-$eryone is secial. #hich makes nobodysecial, at the end of the day.

As Ale)andra &ranen (I >4;- that girl and herwork! says: "(henever you open yourmouth or place your fingers on akeyboard, you have a

chance to add to the love in the world orto subtract form it.....0o choose to be an1dder, not a 0ubtractor." #raed with aribbon0

his is an awesome way of thinking and being.

>aunch some lo$e and care to the ni$erse.3ou will get back so much more. Always lea$ethe laces or the eole in a better conditionthan you found them. Ask yourself how couldyou do that. ?lean as you go. Say acomliment. Smile. If you think that way, youwill lea$e this lanet in better condition thanyou found it. And what could matter more

Fill your e)ectations about what other eoleshould and shouldn't do. /e aware thate$eryone is doing his best, based on his ownle$el of consciousness. Notice that all the other


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human beings are confused, scared and$ulnerable, %ust as you are. hey all need lo$e,care and safety, %ust like you do. =i$e themsome lo$e and suort. #e are all one. It is

fairly easy to criticie. ry to findemathy andunderstanding instead. -$en difficult eoleare good and useful, because they hel youincrease your caacity for understanding andaccetance.

8ow many times ha$e you regretted the harshwords you said to someone And how manytimes ha$e you regretted the comliment or

encouragement he golden rule from A?ourse in 1iracles is: "/o unto others asyou would have them to do unto you."/ible says: D>o$e your neighbor as you lo$eyourself.E It all starts with self lo$e. And then itsreads to the world in the same way. 3ou getback what you radiate into the ni$erse.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: oday, say 9comliments to your artner, coworkers,

family, friends or e$en strangers on the street.1ake somebody7s day. Insire somebody. Addsome lo$e to the ni$erse.


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2.2. SERVE'he best %ay to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahat$a *andhi

1ost of the eole (including me! send theirtime wondering how can they get more fromlife and from others. It fine and reasonable. Itseems so. he roblem is that it kees youstuck and insecure. 6eendable oncircumstances and good will of others. Nobueno. Asking uestions like: "(hat can Igive+", "ow can I serve+", "ow can Icontribute+" will ut you to so much betterlace of being. It will tackle your creati$ity.

And, as we said in re$ious chater, if you gi$eto others you ha$e gi$en to yourself.

here are many reasons for gi$ing andser$ing. #e'll discuss the toic of creati$ity inthe third art of 1anifesto, it is a huge one.Ser$ing will make you indisensable, $aluable,emathetic. It is an awesome way to connectwith others. #e were taught to comlain about

making a coffee, doing laundry, not to mentiondish washing. "6o I

ha$e to do it I did it on last #ednesday0 Icannot belie$e that it is my turn again...." andblahblahblah. #e

consider our tiny efforts soooo $aluable.#ashing dishes once a month ualifies you forsome kind of

worker+of+a+month award. No way. If you wantto ha$e fulfilled and meaningful life, get ready

to gi$e more and more and more. It soundsuncomfortable, but it is the only way. 6on'tfeel ressure. =et creati$e and do somethingnice.

3ou don't need to in$ent the cure for cancer./ut you can buy a coffee for your coworker.3ou can wash the dishes instead of yourroommate. 1ake a lunch for you arents. #alk

a dog for your boyfriend. 3ou don't need me totell you what to do. 5ust take a look around,be resent and ask yourself: "8ow can I


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ser$e", and wait for an a$alanche of ideas too u.

If you want more lo$e in your life, gi$e lo$e to

somebody. Fiss, hug, kind words,comliments. Say: "1y life would be likeunsiced, fat, cold stew without you." If youwant more freedom, set somebody free fromboring task or chore. If you wantmore areciation, show resect andacknowledge somebody's work. If you wantmore money, donate some to charity or gi$e itto the street artist. Now you might be

like:"#ait a minute, how will gi$ing moneyaway e$er bring me more of it It is notlogical....." 3es, I admit, this is another contra+intuiti$e, re$erse+engineering thing, but itworks like that. Strange Not at all. Ser$ingand generosity will send a message to theni$erse and a flow of karma dollars to yoursiritual account. Actions that you take showe)actly what you areciate in life. And what

you areciate is what you are going to get.=oes around, comes around.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: 6edicate this day toser$ice to others. 4ffer someone helgenerously. #e ha$e already listed manyideas. /e resent, show u, be hay and

grateful that you ha$e enough to be able tohel others.


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2.3. LISTENWe have t%o ears and one $outh and %e should use the$ roortionally. #usan (ain, -uiet

'he o%er of Introverts in a World 'hat (ant #to 'alking

#ow, this is a big one0 I wish somebody toldme this before. he single best way inconnecting with others is , guess what,listening.

#e li$e in a busy world, eole are strugglingfor their lace under the sun. -)tra$ersion hasbeen highly fa$ored by society and media. Itseems that there are %ust masses of eole

that seak and seak and seak aboutthemsel$es, make drama and scream out loud:"


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to you. 3ou cannot ser$e eole if you do notlisten to them first.

If you want to hel eole, be indisensable,

become a siritual ba%ilionaire, start listening.If you want to start your own business andfund your own freedom, %ust listen whateole ha$e to say. >isten to their roblems,worries, fears, concerns. hese are your goldmine. It will sarkle hundreds of new ideas inyour head. &oundation of business building,wealth creating and ha$ing wonderfulrelationshis is dee and rofound

understanding of another human beings. It allstarts with listening.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: oday, guess what,listen. >isten to eole. If you notice yourmind wandering around and coming u withwhat to say ne)t, gently return it to thecon$ersation. Fee on listening. Surrise yourinterlocutor with some interesting uestions.&or instance, ask him or her: D#hat are yourdreamsE, D#hat would feel like miracle to youright nowE, D#hat would make you sayG#4#07 E D#ho was your childhood heroE, DIf

you had all the resources you needed, howwould you send your daysE, D#hat wouldyou tell to your 929@2H2C years old selfE1ake eole think, dream, astonish. And

listen. #ith lo$e and genuine interest.


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2. 4. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE'here are no facts, only interretations. +riedrich ietzsche

/ig, big one, as well. A ?ourse in 1iracles says

that the miracle is a shift in perception.Nothing less, nothing more. ?hoosing to seethings differently. /e aware that you canalways make a choice to see things differently.>ook at the bright side. Seeing glass half full.

5ust like being grateful, there is always aossible way to change your ersecti$e andchoose what do you want to focus on. 3ou can

choose not to stay stuck in old atterns thatmake you unhay. 3ou can choose lo$e.Again, we ha$e been taught to focuselsewhere. It is so much easier for us to seethings we don't ha$e, flaws in oursel$es and inothers, what is not working and where we arein lack. here is an old %oke that thehousework is something you do that nobodynotices, until you don't do it. Ironic and true.

8ow often do we ercei$e what is actuallydone, good and functional

#e are comaring oursel$es and reality and

others with our (not $ery realistic! ro%ections,how we think things should be. DI should ha$ebought an aartment by now.E D3ou shouldha$e lost some weight.E D8e should beha$edifferently.E Dhis shouldn't be haening tome.E And how do you know #ho says soBuestion your authorities.

#e see a small icture and our big, unrealistic

e)ectations. 8ow do we know what is reallythe best for us 8a$e you heard of eole'sbest creati$e breakthroughs after theydisco$ered they ha$e terrible, life threateningillnesses 1y own biggest creati$e a$alanchehaened at the worst art of my life,described at the $ery beginning of this1anifesto. /e atient. #ait to see theni$erse's bigger lan for you. Ste$e ?handler

says that you should take 3* as aquestion, not as an answer.#hen you wantsomething and it is not haening, ni$erse isactually asking you: "ey, can't you be


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more creative than that+" #onderfule)amle of ersecti$e change.

#hen you get stuck in a traffic %am, you can

interret it as a disaster and be an)ious andmiserable. 4r you can choose to see it as asign to slow down, take some time to breatheand reconnect with yourself. Sour lemon orlemon meringue ie. 4;- A?I4N:

#hat was your biggest life disaster 4F, nowtell me what was absolutely great about that.#hat did you learn 8ow ha$e you grown 6oyou see how it brought you bigger good 6oesit still make you feel miserable All right, askyourself: D8ow can I see this differentlyEAnswer will o into your mind uicker thanyou think.


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2. 5. DO WHAT YOU CAN)o %hat you can, %ith %hat you have, %here you are. 'heodore /oosevelt

As we discussed in re$ious chater, eole

tend to focus on negati$e, broken, shitty, not+working kind of stuff. he same goes for ourgoals, dreams and ro%ects. &or instance, if Iconsider going on a diet, the $ery first thingthat will o into my mind would be somethinglike: "4h, I won't be able to make it, mysister's birthday is ne)t week, I will ha$e toeat the cake." &rom the initial moment I cansee myself failing. 4r let's say that I dream

about running a marathon. "No, I don't ha$etime, I work e)tra hours and I should de$elomy business." 4r, when I wanted to oen anew blog in -nglish, I was scared to death."here is no way this is gonna work. I am nota nati$e -nglish seaker, I li$e in Southern-uroe, I am li$ing in oor economy. #howould e$er read what I ha$e to say" Silly ornot, all of us do this most of the time. #e are

rofessionals at finding e)cuses, or, if yourefer, good, realistic reasons why somethingcannot ossibly work and why we cannot doour thing. /ut wait a second. ?an we shift a

ercetion ?an we instead ask oursel$es:

"(hat is the thing I #13 do about it+(hat is one little thing that I #13 do+"

1aybe I can make time to ractice runningthree times a week. 1aybe I can go on a dietand eat %ust one iece of cake. It won't ruinmy entire life. 4r I could write my content andut it on the blog, %ust to see if it can aealto somebody. I can write more, and ractice

more, so that I can write better. Interestingly,when you do what you can, a few new doorswill oen. =o further. hen a few more doorswill oen. Snowball effect. 3ou will be amaed.5ust start somewhere. ?onsistent action, nomatter how small, can erform miracles.

In wonderful book DAsk and it is gi$enE -stherand 5erry 8icks suggest the solution to a

roblem: DIf ni$erse is really ro$iding wewith e$erything I need, how can I then getfrom


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you face 0an /iego and start movingtowards it. Ste by ste. And you wille$entuallyreach it. As simle as that. 3ou mayuse car, bike or airlane. 3ou can walk. /ut if

you take consistent action and mo$e towardsyour goal, you will reach it in more or lesstime. Standing still won7t hel you. Neither willgrumbling about the distance between


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3. STRANGE LOVE OR

PASSION

he last, but not the least.....dri$e force ofyour life is your strange lo$e or your assion.#e all ha$e assion, usually more than one."&ollow your bliss" and search for assion ha$ebecome uite oular these days, yet a lot ofeole ha$e hard times finding what it is. #eare not sure where to search for it. And how.8as it always been around 4r do you need togo somewhere to find it

#e send huge chunks of time doing boring,reetiti$e tasks, we think rigidly and we gotused to it. hat is life and that is how it issuosed to look like. 1aybe not. 3ou canalways sice it u with some awesomeness.>et's di$e into it....


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3. 1. WHO ARE YOU? TAP INTO INTROSPECTION........-uote 0no%ing yourself is the beginning of all %isdo$. Aristotle

0ocrates said that une4amined life is not

to be lived.Ancient secret for fulfilled life.#ho are you #hy are you here #hat is themeaning of life #ho says so #hat if oositeis true here are tons of uestion like that atmissstrangelo$e.com. And e)lanations too. Ilike to call them /ombastic uestions, becausethese will definitely cause some bang, banginside of your brain. Asking yourself uestionsand searching for answers is a sort of art.

4en ended uestions are wonderful tools fore)anding your creati$ity and di$ergentthinking. hey will hel you realie what else isossible.

ou are not your ob. 3either yourclothes. 3or the money you have on abank account. ou are so much more."#ho are you" is the uestion of all the

uestions. In Sohie's #orld, hilosoher asksSohie e)actly that, to show her whathilosohy is. "he only thing we reuire to be

a good hilosohers is the faculty of wonder,"says =aarder in Sohie's world.

Fnowing who you are is the beginning ofwisdom. It is a beginning of your search forassion, talent, insiration. "#ho are you" isa big uestion, and your whole life is ananswer to that. Start e)loring now. >earnabout yourself. It will make you confident andhay. It will hel you stretch and grow. It willremind you of your neglected hobbies and

childhood dreams.

Is your guitar collecting dust at the attic Isyour camera reser$ed for summerholidays only 6id you dream about trying outbungee %uming /ecoming %a singerActress ra$eling to somewhere e)otic Isyour unli$ed life choking you #ho are you1nd, please, can you tell me who were

you before the world told you who youshould be+


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he first ste towards your assion isintrosection. >earn about yourself. Askuestions. /ecome a hilosoher. (-$en if youare a bank accountant.! ;ery uickly your

dreams and desires will start to o u. 3oudon't ha$e to lea$e your %ob. 3ou can alwaysadd a srinkle of %oy and creati$ity to your life.I ha$e started my first blog as a try to bringsome creati$ity and insiration to a full timework day of an engineer. It sa$ed my ass. Itchanged form, name and language a fewtimes, but had no intention of stoing.?reating feels awesome. If you want to di$edeeer, turn on to the ne)t chater.

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: #rite H minutes on aromt D#84 A*- 34E. =i$e yourself time.3ou will be surrised. *ead more 8-*-.


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3. 2. CREATE!!ou cant use u creativity. 'he $ore you use, the $ore you have. Maya Angelou

As I said, creati$ity feels wonderful. It is your

nature. /elie$e it or not, all human beings areendlessly creati$e. Sto rolling your eyes. 3es,you, you bank accountant, comuterrogrammer, economist, nurse, you do ha$elimitless creati$ity. 5od has created amankind in his own image. 5od is acreator and he has created us as creators,too. 1s simple as that.So where the hell iscreati$ity

4nce again, we ha$e been taught to thinkdifferently. Since rimary school we ha$e beentaught to think in a certain way. ?on$ergentway. #e were gi$en tests with redeterminedanswers. asks with one correct answer. Andone way of getting it. #e were gi$en marks.*arely, we had something creati$e to do, writeor draw, but it has all been fitted into a rigid

matri). A few years later, we became $eryafraid. #e were afraid that eole will laugh atus, that our work is not aealing, that nobody

will like it. #e were aralyed with the fearof %udgment. After a while, we stoed trying.

#e fit into blah+blah+beige mass. And we ha$estarted dying from the inside.

/ut life doesn't need to be that way.


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differently, act differently and get differentoutcome. Always.

3ou might be wondering why do you needcreati$ity when you are doing a cororate orwhate$er kind of %ob, that reuires nocreati$ity at all. /ut wait.#reativity is art offinding new solutions and new ideas. 3ewconnections between things that areseemingly unrelated. ?reati$ity acti$atesyour right brain. And the right brain isowerful ally in all kind of situations. #ho canossibly afford not to need new ideas andsolutions #ho can ossibly afford not to usehis whole brain caacity

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: Ne)t morning, whenyou wake u, ask yourself: D#hat do I want tocreate today #hat kind of day do I wantEStart creating. 6o whate$er e)cites you. 1ake%okes. ?ook. 6ance. Sing. #rite. 1akesomebody a gift. ?reating is addicti$e,

amusing and absolutely fulfilling. 3ou won't beable to sto.


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3. 3. YOUR BRIGHT SIDE&verybody is a genius. ut if you 1udge a fish by its ability to cli$b a tree, it %ill live its %hole

life believing that it is stuid. Albert &instein

#elcome to the /right side. It is the lace ofyour awesomeness. he search for assionneeds to start at your bright side. #hat is thething I call /right side, anyway

6right side consists of things that bringyou oy. hings that fulfill you. hings youlo$e to do and things you are good at. hinkfor a moment. #hat is your territory#hat do

you lo$e to do (hat would you do if youhad all the time and money you needed(after you get bored with drinking endlessmo%itos at the beach!+ (hat are youactually doing in the situations when youforget about time+ (hat comes easy andnaturally to you+

All these uestions will bring you to your

/right side. It is the field of your gifts andtalents. #e all ha$e that. 6on't be modest. >istyour gifts. I know, you don't feel that yourgifts are that secial. 3ou lo$e to cook "3es,

but you know, I follow only simle recies andI cook only for my friends and formyself.....anyone could do that...."Ahem....no, itis not true. Not e$eryone could do that. 1anyeole actually hate cooking. 4r seaking onthe hone. It takes them hours to get readyfor a short con$ersation. A lot of eole hateto write ($ery common roblem among

engineers!. If you are good at something thatuite a lot of eole find difficult.....$oila,that's your uniue gift.

nfortunately, %ob, school or arents orwhoe$er usually force us to do the things thatwe hate and that we are terrible at. It makesus feel resistance and blocks our creati$ity. #edon't en%oy the work and we are too afraid of

making mistakes. It doesn't ha$e to be thatway. ry to force yourself to do more stufffrom your one, from your bright side and lessstuff that you hate. 3ou will use your otential


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smarter. 3ou will use your strongest weaons,instead of constantly fi)ing ieces that ne$eractually worked.In her book "*eturn to lo$e" 1arianne#illiamson was writing about a career as away of ser$ice to =od, doing what =od wouldha$e you do. Somebody asked her: "8ey, but Iam a singer, what if =od would ha$e me bean accountant" "/ut why would he",1arianne relied. #hy would =od (or di$inemind, ni$erse, genes or whate$er youconsider the source! ro$ide you talent andthen haily watch you waste it #ouldn'the2she2it want you to use it, en%oy it and

bloom I do think so. It is so logical andnatural. It is not selfish to use your gifts, it isselfish to waste them.

3our gifts are your uniue strengths and tools.hey are great guide marks towards yourassion and urose. se them, follow them,nurture them. And when you get ready I willbe on the other side, waiting for you. (3ou will

lo$e and hate the ne)t chater.!

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: 1ake a list of thingsthat come easy and naturally to you (i. e. your/right side!. hen get ready to say one big3-S and one big N4. Say N4 to somethingthat you dislike, that drains you, that don7te)cite you. Ask somebody to hel you with it.And then say big 3-S to something from your/right list. &or e)amle, if you hate cookingand lo$e ainting, go out for a dinner and freeu some time for ainting. ife onthe bright side is luminous0


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3. 4. YOUR DARK SIDE&2ose yourself to your deeest fear3 after that, fear has no o%er, and the fear of freedo$

shrinks and vanishes. !ou are free. 4i$ Morrison

here is something else. 3our dark side.Another field of great otential. It is notoosed to your /right side as it sounds. >et'stake a look.

1any eole know that assion is somethingyou lo$e to do. Something you are assionateabout. No additional e)lanation needed. 4nthe other hand, very few people know that

the word "passion" origins from atinword "passio" that means "suffering". Itis usually used to determine the suffering of5esus between the night of >ast Suer andhis death (aka the assion of the ?hrist!. 3ourad$ersity, roblems, suffering are your darkside and ha$e great otential to contribute toyour assion. #hy 6ecause they make yougrow, e4pand and think differently. hey

make you stronger. hey are your realresume.

#hen I work with eole one on one, I usuallyask them what was the worst art of their li$esand then what was the art of their li$es whenthey ha$e learned the most. Infallibly,e$eryone oints to one

and the same eriod. 4$ercoming ad$ersitycontains miraculous ower: it is not %ustchallenging our creati$ity and forcing us to

grow, it makes us roud, it makes us what weare. It makes us assionate. #e want to shareour e)erience, we want to hel others andencourage them. $emember, we teachwhat we have to learn.1y fucked u storyis %ust one e)amle.

here is something else, I would like to say aword or two about. (#arning: I am cray

assionate about this 6ark side thing. hereare, and will be many osts on the toic. Iconsider the 6ark+side+in$estigation a gamechanger and one of the most owerful tools of


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self+disco$ery.!our fears. !hey are mightyindicators of directions for your growth.>ike magnetied needle unfailingly ointing tothe North, your fears will show you whichcrucial actions you should take. Siritualresources usually say that fear is the oositeof lo$e. /ut there is another interretation.!he opposite of love is indifference.If youdeely care about something, you will be $eryafraid of it. If you don't gi$e a fuck aboutsomething, you won't feel anything, eseciallynot the fear. 1ctors choose the new rolesbased on fear they feel towards them.If itdoesn't scare a shit out of you, it is worthless.

And what are you afraid of 4ther eole'soinions ike me.! Seakingabout your own disasters Showing the worldhow imerfect and foolish you truly are#elcome to the club.I have spent years andyears believing in following fallacy7people will love me more if I am perfect,if I look and work perfectly, if I show up

in the world as impeccable human being./S. he truth is that eole lo$e when youseak about your failures, confusions,

catastrohes and mistakes. It is not becausethey are mean. It is because they canrecognie themsel$es and their own flaws andfailures. If you are bra$e enough to be$ulnerable, you will connect deely androfoundly with millions of eole. hat is theonly truth. So embrace your dark side, for ithas tremendous otential. -$erybody is sick oflistening about glamorous li$es of 8ollywoodstars. #e are star$ing for encouragement anddee connection with our eers, wonderful,$ulnerable, fucked+u human beings. ?an Ihear your 6ark+side story

S*AN=->4;- A?I4N: #rite the list of yourfears. -$ery single one of them. =et $ery, $eryscared and uncomfortable. his e)ercise isawesome, it will mitigate your fears. If youha$e a nightmare of somebody chasing you, itwill go away if you manage to force yourself tolook at the chaser in the face and ask: D#hatdo you want from meE &ears don7t ha$e theirown ower, you fuel them.


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3. 5. C"# $%&' (')#*'he future belongs to those %ho believe in the beauty of their drea$s. &leanor /oosevelt

#ow, this is owerful. #hat are your dreams

?laim them. #rite them down. 4n a iece ofaer or on your comuter. his gi$es theme$en more ower. 3ou are setting yourunconscious mind to work towards reachingthem. I didn't belie$e in this for ages, but Iha$e changed my mind drastically.

At the beginning, I would lo$e to uote anawesome


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your hearth and your sirit. #hat makes yourhearth sing #hat would make you delighted6on't bother if your dreams sound unrealistic,cray, wild or e$en ridiculous. 6on't worrywhat will others think. 6on't worry what will

your arents say. 5ust dream big. &orget beingreasonable. &orget all "shoulds". &orget media.&orget another eole's oinions, dreams and$isions. *emember what you dreamed beforethe world told you what to dream.

1ll your dreams belong to the one of thethree categories7 9. dreams that you havefulfilled, :. dreams that you have

overgrown and ;. dreams that you havegiven up. ?ongratulations on your fulfilledand o$ergrown dreams0 6on't forget tocelebrate your e$olution. =ood %ob0 /ut what isgoing on with dreams you ha$e gi$en u


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your dreams with them. his is simle andmagical rocess, yet we seak about dreamssooo rarely. In%ustice0


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WHY +STRANGELOVE,?(instead of ?onclusion!

(At the end of the 1anifesto, I would lo$e tosay something about the name of my brand. Iha$e always been keen on reading artistscomrehensions of their own works. I find it is$ery useful, because it draws your attention todifferent laces and makes you think in newways. 4f course, the final imression is alwaysyours.!

&irst of all, it is my last name. Not e)actly. 1ylast name is *angelo$, but it can be easilytransformed into this, more owerful $ersion.>ike ?lark Fent and Suerman. I ha$e alwayswanted to li$e a double life and be a suerhero. So after a bite of radioacti$e sider(named a uarterlife crisis!, nice girl, 1ilena,became a 1iss Strangelo$e.

Another reason is Stanley Fubrick's mo$ie, 6rStrangelo$e, or how I learned to sto worryingand lo$e a bomb. 6on't worry, I am not

tending to make a nuclear catastrohe

(desite of radioacti$e sider bite!. I %ust lo$edthe mo$ie, and the title knocked my socks off.I had to use it in my own bad+ass lans.

At the end of the day, I deely belie$e that it isall about lo$e. >o$e is all there is, the mostowerful creati$e force, lo$e can heal, restore,mo$e, change your world. No doubt about it.And the attribute "strange" is attached for$arious reasons (not only because it soundsnice!. It is connected to a uarter+life crisis,when you doubt e$erything. 3ou can feel thestrange creati$e and healing force inside ofyou, but you cannot fully comrehend it, tainto it and make miracles. he mission of 1issStrangelo$e is to hel you make a lea fromone ri$erbank to another, from Strange to>o$e. It is all wraed u with a srinkle ofmystery, rebellion and ro$ocation.

(Strange! >o$e it or not, I hoe you found this1anifesto helful, insiring and encouraging. I


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ha$e ut my heart and my soul into it, as wellas into 1iss Strangelo$e. I want to see theworld of hay, lo$ing, creati$e eole, whothink outside of the bo) and actually use theirall ackages of gifts and talents, knowing that

e$erything they will e$er need is alreadyinside. #elcome aboard0 3ou will ne$er walkalone.

Documents

Manifesto Milena Rangelov