By Olga Smith
Who we are?
We are what we think and feel.
I feel happy when I think beautiful thoughts. I love to surround myself with beautiful people. I am constantly falling in love with men and women. Love thoughts about them make me feel happy and alive. I am also in love with myself, some people even laugh at me when I start praising myself. Some people tell me that I am arrogant. But I do not really care about what others think or say about me. I love to admire myself the most. My grandfather, his name is Semen was admiring me from morning till night and that became my habit since I remember myself. In fact, my grandfather had never said a bad thing about anyone and was admiring people around him for whatever he could. My grandfather was captured by nazy Germans and taken to Germany to work for 3 years. When he returned back he told his family in Ukraine that the Germans didn’t want to let him go back to Ukraine, they offered him a house and a good job, in other words, they fall in love with him.
I feel happy when I smell good scents around me. My favourite smells are freshly cut grass, pine trees after rain, Autumn forest, and some nice French, English and Italian perfumes. I only buy things that smell beautiful: only scented soaps, oils, shampoos and creams. I love water, long showers, long baths and swimming in the sea. makes me feel fresh and crisp.
We are what we eat and drink.
We eat food, we eat with eyes, ears and nose.
I feel happy when I eat fresh organic food with nice herbs and spices. My favourite drink is water and tea. I am a huge tea lover. I feel happy when I eat using silver cutlery and beautiful crockery.
I feel happy when I surround myself with art, beautiful things, wear beautiful things made of high-quality cashmere, silk and cotton which are so light that I almost feel I do not have any clothes on.
I feel happy when I see and wear beautiful colours. Colours connect me to my emotions. One day felt miserable. By instinct, I went to the shop and bought a pair of Miu Miu shoes, they were orange with a flower on top. As soon as I put them on I immediately felt amazing! Every morning I make an important decision: what colour of my dress will make me feel happy today.
We are where we live and stay.
I feel happy to live in a period building on an elegant street close to nice parks and gardens, shops and restaurants, theatres and museums; or in a nice period house with a beautiful garden big enough for my horse (to say that I love horses is to say nothing, I am crazy about them), a conservatory, an open-air pool and sauna nearby, and a tennis court. I love to say at places by the sea with long sandy beaches around, or a lake near the forest.
I search for beauty in museums, nature and places I travel to. I love the art, culture and nature of Italy, Greece and France.
We are what we do.
I feel happy when I do what I like and follow my instincts. I love to sleep till 11 am. I love playing tennis, riding horses and running. I love English pronunciation and I made it my business. My own dancing and performing, in general, make me happy. Whenever I hear music I want to dance.
We are what we say.
I feel happy when I discuss nice things in a nice way. Often people try to involve me in negative discussions. I try to escape such conversations by not responding much.
I feel happy when I learn languages, particularly pronunciation (I find grammar very boring). When I speak in a beautiful way I feel happy and even a little excited. I mastered my speech by taking elocution lessons.
We are what we hear and what information we absorb
I feel happy when I sing and listen to good music. I feel happy when I hear a beautiful voice
For example, I feel unhappy when I hear BBC news constantly trying to put fear in peoples’ heads, so do not listen to them.
I feel happy when I hear a good clear speech.
Part of my work is helping others master their speech. My team has developed nine iOS and nine Android apps to help people master beautiful English speech.