Alexandr Korol

When in fact, it’s the opposite — they’re real. And that’s why many consider me strange. But really, I’m just genuine. Imagine how wonderful it is that I don’t live like everyone else, following a template, but I’ve remained this interesting person — my entire apartment is filled with Japanese artifacts and figurines and everything imaginable and unimaginable from Japan. And from Nepal too — I’m sorting through everything now because it fascinates me. So, if you’re curious about how I live: today I spent the whole day looking at tools for engraving on metal and wood, miniature ones that you could almost carry with you — portable. Then I was researching sewing machines that can do embroidery at home. Then I also studied angle grinders, specifically Chinese-made ones that are cordless, very convenient, small enough to fit in your pocket or hand, but when needed, you can use them. Basically, all DIY tools, right? “Do It Yourself.” And that’s what I was exploring — what kind of machines, tools one can get to make stickers at home. For example, I was looking at what kinds of printers currently exist — simple ones, not professional, but the kind you can carry with you, connect via Bluetooth, and print a sticker. At home, without ordering anything — that’s so cool, doing everything yourself. And now imagine: I’m 35, well, 34, and I’m genuinely interested in this. And before I got into that, I was deciphering all the geometric shapes, ordering tons of glue, glue guns, and various bamboo sticks to build geometric figures from them. I read everything about allegories and looked everywhere for occurrences of groups of four — morning, day, evening, night — and all those groupings. That’s what I’ve been studying. That’s my kind of life. Then I might travel to Afghanistan, or somewhere in Egypt, or even to Pakistan, just to go to a local market. That’s how I live. And I used to seem less strange when there were many people like that, but now everyone’s the same. Everyone dresses the same, talks the same, has the same thoughts, jokes, goals, values. And if you’re not like that, you’re an outcast. And it was like that then too, and now, but now it feels even stronger — as if I’m truly the only one like this left. No, of course, I believe there are others like me, I really do — just like me, but you can’t spot us anymore, because this whole social system has flooded all the social networks. And who is an essence, returning to the question — I remember that question, I didn’t avoid it, I’ve just been leading up to it — who is an essence? An essence is a person who doesn’t want to be successful and doesn’t take a picture with a guitar just for the sake of posting it on social media,