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[Alexandr Korol]

I’d pull up maps on iPhones, laptops, iPads to view satellite images from above — maybe I’d spot a silhouette of something. Then I’d physically go there, take measurements with instruments, and later return alone to feel the place, to see if something struck me — maybe there was something there worth paying attention to. I always made sure to bring back a stone or a sample of sand or a little branch from that spot. So in Karelia, I always felt super strong, super confident, super happy. Always. And there was never even a moment of disappointment, not even the slightest bit. In fact, I’ll say this — I even like it because of its abandoned look. Why? Because people who are socially and materially oriented, those under the influence of social media, want something with a pretty wrapper, like a trendy villa and all that, and those kinds of people don’t like Karelia — and that’s great. It immediately shows who has heart, who has soul, and who doesn’t. As they say, who’s a friend and who’s not. And it became clear that people used to their comfort zones and luxurious settings, of course, never wanted to visit me in Karelia at that time. But if it were somewhere with all-inclusive amenities, suddenly everyone’s eager to go. That’s how it works. So I like that — it’s a great way to see what kind of person someone is. Whoever can handle a tiny steam room the size of a portable toilet and live in a cabin with no bathroom — that’s a real person. And those who can’t, those who are already fussy — well, they’re just fussy. Karelia really revealed who’s who in my circle. And my circle also saw who I really am. After all, I could’ve bought a villa in Bali instead of Karelia — five villas even — but I chose a little swamp, a patch of forest, some birch trees. And I don’t regret it. Never have. I love Karelia very much.

Question: You write: “Imagine that our planet is like a grid notebook page, where the lines intersect. And the point where the lines intersect is a place of power, and something was always built on these points, and you can identify these points, and they exist everywhere. But there’s another thing I’ve noticed — it’s as if there’s a ray that for some reason only feeds one specific place, one of the places of power, while the others seem to be switched off.” Could you elaborate on what it means that one place is being fed and the others are switched off? And why are the other places switched off?