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🏹 I always wondered how is to be better today than yesterday. Here's a subject that I challenge everyone to approach. Why? Because it is our ticket out from the social pressure, without ajusting or trim ourselves. And as it starts from the inside, then this becomes so easy. I am doing it. How about you?

We remember the 80s, at least most of us, as being the peak of the Cold War. Underneath the fear and restrictions, the human spirit is raised with music.  They say in life we only remember the good things. And this is why I gathered 10 + 1,  of those most beloved representing a culture that still influences the modern days. 1. ABBA Music.  Because it was the most common expression at that time. And this band has revived. Not to mention the great movie that they made a few years ago based on their music. A love story. Same like ABBA repertoire. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that millions of couples got together on their music. 1. Heavy Metal The music of rebellion. The words with meaning, expressing feelings, frustrations, joy, anger and finding echo in millions of people's hearts. My favorite were rock ballads. Like, Metallica “Nothing else matters”. Even if released in 1992 it’s a direct result of 80’s culture. 1. Electric colors What was then an extreme expression is now a way that people describe their personality and style. I mean a personal style, not the one generally accepted in fashion magazines. And it’s beautiful.  1. Sponge shoulder clothes Now, that’s a tough one for me, because I never needed those, as I am a tall person with nicely defined shoulders. But I proudly wear them on dresses and coats. This trend is back. With the slightest attention to detail. And this time it’s really beautiful. 1. Crazy haircuts This one I had. You know the one that requires long hair on the shoulders and very short on top? I loved it. Sure my German teacher made some mean comments and as any insecure adolescent I gave up. But I still look at these hairstyles and I recognize them in part or at some details. I’m not so insecure anymore. 1. Stretch jeans Black or acid-washed blue were my favorites. And funny fact was, everybody had at least a pair. It was like a uniform. Completed by black army boots. Talking about style, eh? 1. Mini skirt Still in fashion! It seems this item beats the time more than anything. And completing the outfit with a sponge shoulder pullover, there you have it. Back in the past in no time. 1. Disco They still exist but not so many and they only have as a purpose the music. Back in the days Discos were a place of gathering, dancing, and getting together. Well, at least in the same area of the dancing spot, as the dancers were moving by rhythm, not touching each other. 1. Terminator The first one is a perfect image of those times. Starting with the clothes, the haircuts, the bikes, the big phrases. I still get amused when someone says “I’ll be back”. Still in fashion. 1. Tourist visas I have to admit I miss those. Because it’s about preserving cultures. About visiting a new place that requires some effort of your part to access its wonders. Nobody appreciates something that it’s just handed to them. I wonder why.  1. Tattoos Like anything being part of an expression of freedom or of a personality, in the 80’s they represented rebellion, expressing a principle, an experience, a feeling. Today they became art. You stare at somebody’s body like you stare at the paintings in the Louvre. And even if staring is rude, tattoos today seem like an invitation. To get to know somebody by their body paintings. Those are some of the most common things that I could think about defining a culture and transcending it way through time to our days. Sure there are a lot more. And I love them. Let me know what you think! Long live the 80s!

If only for the freedom that you experience listening to this music, this should be enough for me to write on this subject. New Orleans, Louisiana, late 1800s and early 1900s. An entire universe that opened from the need of expression. To express love versus hate, creativity versus constrictions, life versus lack of spirit. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gilespie, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fizgerald, we enter this nowadays like we are contemporaneous with. It shouldn’t come like a surprise that everything written or unwritten (improvisation) starts here. In a way that inspires and creates an industry. Hollywood, classical or modern music Festivals, concert Halls, venues. We are listening to echoes of the past and we wonder how this music could be possible. In my humble opinion it’s about the truth. Told in a language that anyone would understand. And as I mentioned improvisation, this truth is expressed in a personal way by each one of the artists, putting out there each one's unique feelings, unique soul. That is why each piece, each song wears the distinct print of the artist, impossible to imitate. And what’s more impressive than that is the generations of musicians that follow, adding to this their heart, their soul, their own unique complex of feelings.  And that for me is freedom.  Put it out there, in “all that jazz”.