WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIKE YOURSELF? – SERIES: SHADES OF HUMAN LIFE
If someone asked you one simple question today:
„Where do you feel most like yourself?”
What would your answer be?
Would it be a particular place?
Your childhood home.
A forest.
The mountains.
A beach.
Your favorite caf茅.
Or perhaps it would be the name of a city you always long to return to.
For many years, I believed the answer was hidden somewhere out there.
I was searching for my place.
A place where everything would finally feel easier.
Calmer.
More like home.
I thought all I needed was to find the right country.
The right city.
The perfect view outside my window.
And then…
I began to travel.
That’s when something happened that I never expected.
I discovered that I could be watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world…
and still feel completely lost.
Yet on another day, I could be sitting on a simple plastic chair at a small street food stall…
laughing with people I had met only an hour earlier…
and feel exactly where I was meant to be.
That’s when I realized the question had never really been:
„Where?”
The real questions were:
„With whom?”
And…
„Who am I when I’m there?”
Being Yourself Doesn’t Mean Being Perfect
I think we often confuse authenticity with perfection.
We believe we’ll finally become ourselves once we’ve fixed everything.
When we lose weight.
When we find a better job.
When we earn more money.
When we’ve healed all our fears.
When we finally feel good enough.
The problem is…
that moment rarely arrives.
Because there’s always something else we’d like to improve.
But being yourself has never meant becoming flawless.
It means something much simpler.
Not having to pretend.
Not overthinking every word you say.
Not wondering whether people will like you.
Not wearing another mask just to be accepted.
It’s a remarkable feeling.
To be somewhere you can laugh as loudly as you want.
Stay silent when you have nothing to say.
Admit that you don’t know something.
Show your emotions.
And not be afraid that someone will think you’re too sensitive.
Maybe that’s when we’re most ourselves.
Not when everything in life is perfect.
But when we no longer feel the need to prove anything.
There Are People Who Make Us Breathe More Easily
The more I travel…
the more convinced I become that the greatest luxury isn’t a five-star hotel.
The greatest luxury is people.
There are people whose presence immediately brings a sense of calm.
Not because you’ve known them for years.
Quite the opposite.
Sometimes you meet someone in the morning.
And by evening, it feels as though you’ve been talking your whole life.
You don’t have to prove anything.
You don’t have to be funnier.
Smarter.
More interesting.
You simply…
are.
And that’s enough.
More and more, I believe these are the people worth searching for.
Not the ones who make you feel more important.
But the ones who make you stop wondering who you’re supposed to be.
Because perhaps the greatest gift another person can offer us…
is the freedom to simply be ourselves.
Traveling Taught Me That Home Can Be Found in People
When I left Poland…
I thought I was leaving home behind.
Today, I know that home can be found in the most unexpected places.
In Hoi An.
In Bali.
In Cambodia.
Around a shared table.
During a heartfelt conversation.
While walking together.
In shared laughter.
Home stopped being an address.
It became a feeling.
A moment when I stop rushing.
A moment when I no longer have to prove anything.
A moment when I can simply exist.
That’s probably why I ask people a different question these days.
Less often do I ask,
„Where are you from?”
More often I ask,
„What makes you feel most like yourself?”
Because the answer to that question tells me far more about a person than the city written in their passport.
We Usually Lose Ourselves While Trying to Meet Everyone Else’s Expectations
For many years, I鈥檝e had a workaround for myself and my ADHD :). Here it is:
Better.
Stronger.
More successful.
More responsible.
More…
everything.
Only with time did I realize how exhausting that truly is.
Because when we try to meet all these demands for a long time…
eventually you forget which face is actually yours.
Maybe that’s why so many people say today,
„I don’t know who I am anymore.”
Not because they don’t have an identity.
But that is because, for years, they were everything to everyone鈥攁nd because of the pursuit of perfection.
except themselves.
Maybe the Answer Is Simpler Than We Think
The older I become, the more I believe that the place where we feel most like ourselves…
has very little to do with the place itself.
It’s not about breathtaking views.
It’s not about luxury.
It’s not about the number of attractions.
It’s about how we feel inside.
Our body relaxes.
Our breathing becomes slower.
Our smile appears naturally.
We stop measuring every word.
We stop wondering whether we’re enough.
We simply…
exist.
Perhaps that’s the most beautiful definition of home.
Not the place you return to.
But the place…
where you return to yourself.
Shades of Human Life Began with One Simple Question
When I created the Shades of Human Life series, I never wanted to write another blog full of advice.
I never wanted to tell people how they should live.
Because I don’t have all the answers myself.
The more I travel…
the more I realize how little I truly know.
This series was born from curiosity.
From slowing down.
From conversations.
From observing people.
From asking questions that don’t have one correct answer.
Because every human being carries their own shades.
Some hide joy.
Others carry sadness.
Some live with hope.
Others with fear.
Some with gratitude.
Others with longing.
And that’s exactly what makes us human.
We’re not all the same.
We never will be.
Yet every one of us spends a lifetime trying to answer one question:
Who am I, really?
I think that’s why this series is called Shades of Human Life.
Because life is never simply black or white.
It isn’t made only of victories.
Nor only of failures.
Life is filled with countless shades.
And every single one of them has something to teach us.
The Longest Journey Is the One That Leads Back to Yourself
Over the past months, I’ve visited many places.
I’ve met hundreds of people.
I’ve listened to countless stories.
Every one of them was different.
Every one of them was beautiful.
Yet there was one thing they all seemed to have in common.
No matter the country.
No matter the language.
No matter the age.
Every person longs for the same thing.
To be accepted exactly as they are.
Not as they should be.
Not as others expect them to be.
Simply…
themselves.
The more I reflect on life, the more I believe that the greatest journey isn’t the one across continents.
The greatest journey is the one from living according to everyone else’s expectations…
to living according to your own heart.
And although that journey isn’t measured in kilometers…
for many of us…
it’s the hardest journey we’ll ever take.
That’s Why C.U.D. Was Created
The longer I work on C.U.D., the more convinced I become that it was never just about organizing meaningful trips.
The world is already full of beautiful destinations.
But beautiful places don’t necessarily change people.
People change people.
Conversations.
Laughter.
Silence.
A sense of safety.
Moments when no one has to pretend.
That’s my dream for every C.U.D. Experience.
Not to create a place where people have to be extraordinary.
But to create a space where they can stop performing.
Take off their masks.
Put their phones away.
Forget about job titles.
Money.
Status.
Success.
Sit around one table with people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds.
And discover that beneath all those differences…
we’re astonishingly alike.
Perhaps that’s when we find our way back to ourselves.
Conclusion
Today, when someone asks me:
„Where do you feel most like yourself?”
I no longer answer with the name of a city.
I don’t say:
Bali.
Hoi An.
Cambodia.
Because I know now that places aren’t the most important part.
I feel most like myself…
where I can laugh without a reason.
Where I’m not afraid to say,
„I don’t know.”
Where I can become emotional without embarrassment.
Where silence isn’t awkward.
Where conversations aren’t competitions.
Where I don’t have to prove my worth.
The more I think about it…
the more I believe that’s what we’re all searching for.
Not the perfect place.
Not the perfect life.
But a place…
among people…
and within ourselves…
where pretending is no longer necessary.
Because perhaps that’s where real happiness begins.
Not when the world finally accepts us.
But when we stop running away from ourselves.
The more people I meet from different parts of the world, the more strongly I believe that we differ far less than we think.
We have different languages.
Different traditions.
Different histories.
But we all desire the same things.
Love.
Acceptance.
Peace.
The feeling that we can be ourselves.
And perhaps that is precisely why Shades of Human Life was born鈥攁n attempt to show that every story, every emotion, and every person brings their own unique shade to this world.
So maybe the most important question isn’t:
„Where do you feel most like yourself?”
Maybe it is:
„Do you give yourself the courage to be yourself鈥攏o matter where you are?”
Because when you find the answer to that question…
you will discover that the greatest home isn’t any place on a map.
The greatest home is you.
