“Let us not be afraid of difficulties!”, the writer Nikolaos Michalopoulos tells me in today's interview.
Also, in his interview, he presents his book to me, talks to me about relationships, and his future plans.
Let's see what he told me:
1. Tell us a little about yourself and how your love for writing books began?
“I always wrote. That was my way of expressing myself and reaching out to other people.
Even today I write letters to my loved ones and keep a diary.
Writing is something that comes naturally to me.
But at some point I decided that this would be a nice way to have a dialogue with my little friends.
Mainly through my own desire to share with them my experiences through sports.
For me it was a very lonely journey.
Because I also lacked similar approaches from other people when I needed them.
I was born and raised in Athens, originally from Arcadia.
Which I go to often, since I own a house there dating back to 1832.
I graduated from the Department of Education of the University of Athens and worked for many years before getting involved in education.
I had a career in sales, from which I left in 2003.
As brand manager of the Lacoste company, for Greece, Cyprus and Eastern Europe.
The biggest chapter of my life has been and remains sports.
Since my childhood, I have been a javelin thrower for the last ten years.
I returned to track and field in the Masters category.
I managed to win the gold medal at the European Games in Turin last year, 5 Balkan medals and 9 Greek championships.
Perhaps my most important sporting moment was conquering the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, at 6,000 meters.
For the purposes of the largest sports and charitable foundation in the world, the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation.
Trying to raise money for the children of the Nairobi slums.
Bringing Greece to 1st place in this particular business.
A life adventure that changed my life.
It gave me the opportunity to use my love of sports in a way that helped make our world a better place.”
2.What topic does your book deal with?
“The Colorful Child is my latest book, the 12ththe in the series, published by Ankara Publications and dealing with the sensitive issue of diversity.
That is, the identity of each person, which must be accepted by all, because this diversity makes our world so beautiful and so interesting, as one complements the other.
We have learned to treat those who are different from us, in all their strict personal characteristics, as inferior to us or as enemies to us.
Yet both of these approaches are completely wrong and create societies of fearful and unhappy people.
In reality, "Colorful Children" are all of us and we all, I believe and hope, find pieces of ourselves in the hero of the book.
On a second reading, values emerge from the text, such as those of peace, but also the effort of each person to manage their fears and move forward.
Things that perhaps again have to do with how a society educates you to perceive your own unique elements, but also how these often create causes of global conflicts, when you think that only you and your peers have the most rights in this life.”
3. Relationships are difficult these days. What do you think is the reason for this?
"I believe relationships have always been difficult, if we're talking about our very personal relationships."
Finding a life partner or a soulmate is never easy and requires deep self-knowledge in order to make the other person feel safe around us.
Maybe I feel that things were even more difficult in the past.
If we talk about personal or family relationships, we might have had far fewer divorces, but also far more unhappy people who stayed in a relationship or family because they couldn't or weren't allowed to do otherwise.
And this is tragic and continues to happen in closed societies, even today, far from here, that shamelessly violate human rights.
Now, at the level of social relationships, perhaps we are indeed more closed off from ourselves due to technology, as far as physical presence is concerned, but at the same time, we have the ability to come into contact with many more people, who are much further away from us and under other circumstances this would be impossible, and this is certainly also a form of relationship.
Let's all see how much technology saved us during the days of quarantine, when we could hear and see our loved ones, while we had no other way.
So I wouldn't want us to demonize the new way of life, but to focus more on the good things it has to offer us.
Either way, we always make the difference in all situations ourselves, depending on how we use and react to them.
My only objection has to do with children, to whom we must give more opportunities to create personal relationships, and therefore opportunities for experience.”
4. The economic crisis affects us all. What is your advice to young people who are just starting their dreams?
"I don't know if I'm qualified to give advice to anyone, but if a child asked for my opinion, I would look them deep in the eyes and tell them to be themselves and be proud of themselves."
He should know that the road is not always easy, but if he manages to stay close to his values and his dreams, the emotions that await him are enormous!
And my experience has shown me that the more difficult the conditions, the greater the struggle, and the greater the struggle, the more significant the achievements.
Difficult times usually bring to the surface a strength that we have within us, but that we ourselves are not even aware of.
So let's not be afraid of difficulties, of any form, and let's give them a chance to show us the way, simply trying to stay close to our dreams."
5. Write us your favorite part of the book that you want to share with us.
"When my colorful child can no longer bear the confinement that his family has imposed on him in order to protect him from those who cannot accept his diversity, namely the fact that he was born with all the colors of the races on him, he has a characteristic dialogue, which I think brings us to very simple questions, to which we have no answers, while it should and I believe it explains a lot:
"What is war?" he asked his father.
"War is a very bad thing," he replied.
"What is peace?" he asked his mother.
"Peace is a very good thing," she replied in turn.
"And why don't people always have peace?" asked the colorful child.
"Because people don't always want good.", they both answered together.
"Are they hunting colorful people like me?"
"No, they're hunting each other. Monochromes with monochromes."
"So my color isn't the problem."
"And yet it is, but for different reasons. You don't look like anyone else and that's not good."
The colorful child couldn't take it anymore.
He wanted to meet the world.
Even this world, which he didn't want.
He wanted to know everything.
Even war, if there was no other way.
And he started going into the colorful world with the monochrome people.''"
6. Favorite song and phrase at this time
“''When I was a child, I found a garden, where I could hide from life when I was away.
When I was a child, I hid a sun, so that my path would have light and my silence a friend.
7.What can we expect from you in the future?;
"The current situation we are experiencing has shown us in the most abrupt and cruel way that, when we make plans, someone laughs."
But I'm a man of plans and programming, especially after so many years of playing in the championship, and that's hard to change.
Besides, even in the days of our isolation, our plans for the future and our dreams keep us alive, and we should not underestimate that.
I'm preparing two books, which will be for older readers this time, and that fascinates me a lot.
I had experienced it with my book ''THE TOPS AMONG US'' and I need to continue it and develop it.
At the same time, there are ideas and work already in progress for the next children's book and I am preparing for the World Masters Games, which will be held next year in Japan.”
8.Where can anyone find you?
“As a physical presence in the educational programs of the Ministry of Education for schools at our Olympic Stadium and at the Near East Model Educational Institution, in Kaisariani, where I have the honor for the umpteenth year of being the host for children of every school level.
At the same time, I continue to visit schools across the country, while I have prepared a tour of the Greek schools in Munich in October, and I hope that we will manage to hold all the planned events in every corner of Greece, which we were forced to postpone for the time being due to the pandemic.
Also online on my official site www.nikosmichalopoulos.gr
on my YouTube channel and on my pages on all social media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikomichalopoulos/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnaNikos1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikos__michalopoulos“
9.A wish for tinamichaelidou.gr
"I wholeheartedly hope that she continues to build her dream and share it with all of us."
In her own personal way, she sheds light on the subject of relationships, which especially these days have taken us to another level.
And it's so nice to discover new things and perspectives, just as it is nice not to be afraid and not to blame what happened, because it simply made you who you are today and what you strive to become tomorrow."
