NEW ESSAY: The Coat That May Have ​Belonged to Vysotsky

Image credit: Britannica

I’ve just published a new page in my ongoing project Power of Meanings // Meanings of Power. In this project, I explore power not as a fixed possession or a simple binary, but as a complex and paradoxical phenomenon that runs through all of our lives. Much of my work looks at how meanings—those invisible frameworks we use to make sense of the world—are the basis of our power and powerlessness.

The latest essay, The Coat That May Have Belonged to Vysotsky, tells a personal story about an ordinary object that carried extraordinary associations. It reflects on how meanings arise, how they govern our choices, and how noticing them might open space for a different kind of freedom.
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Here’s how the essay starts:

For a non-Russian reader, the name Vladimir Vysotsky may not mean much. But for anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union, his name carries a lot of meaning. Vysotsky (1938—1980) was an icon—a singer and songwriter whose performances were raw, emotional, political, and deeply personal. His lyrics spoke about injustice, addiction, love, and the struggles of everyday life. He was not just a performer. He was a voice that expressed what many people felt but didn’t say out loud, in a time when direct speech could be dangerous.
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And once, my family owned his coat. Maybe.

​Keep reading here!