Dmitry Merkushin

Dreams are supposed to be unattainable. At least I think so. If you can reach it, it’s a goal. And shouldn’t be just unattainable. Perhaps it should be a bit unrealistic. If it is realistic—it is reachable, and then it’s a goal. My dream is about my relatives, close people, and me. In that dream we live endless lives. Happy, endless lives. I know it’s silly and impossible. This is a matter…

Giving promises to yourself is unbelievably easy. We don’t have the pressure of the responsibility in front of the other person. Perhaps for this reason, the accountability buddies and groups became such an effective productivity tool. Anyway, every New Year, birthday, month, week, and even day, we got used to promising something to ourselves. Maybe eat healthier, do exercises, read more, or…

I started writing this text with a clear answer in mind: there is no point to meet a fictional character. The reason was pretty straightforward: normally, they are too simplified to fit a story. Yes, they have goal, desires, flaws, etc. But only enough of that to make their stories compelling. Then an idea came to my mind that a character of a TV series might appear more well-rounded. (Though…

If we talk about regrets, I bought plenty of things, and some of them were way too expensive for me, without regrets even after years. But I can’t tell you about the best purchase. This one, I suppose, had to give me the most intense satisfaction from the moment of purchasing. Or from owning something. Unfortunately, I don’t feel excitement from these two. There was one purchase that, I keep…

I was 14 years old (or something like that). Back than, I had to learn something important about myself: I am a coward. I fell in love in one girl. Unfortunately for my self-esteem, she was popular. I wanted to offer her to date. And, generally, I was convinced she’ll accept my offer. But she said she needed to think. It was a ritual, but again, not improving my confidence. Another boy at…

In the first place, the was YT Kids. I need it to show to my children to win some time for reading or work. Not proud of it. But I was happy to find Word in the second place! Because it means I started writing much more than (perhaps) ever. What app eats up most of your screen time — and do you even feel bad about it?

Honestly, it hasn’t happened to me: not a single book caused a desire to travel. Not a single movie. It was always life. Books (and maybe even movies) sometimes can replace the real experience for me. Sometimes they spur interest to an area or a landmark… But the life conditions always were what actually made me move from point A to point B. What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel?

I don’t think trends are somehow bad. These are just signals from the society about what people care about. It might be different from what you like; in this case, you’re just not part of the majority yet. Thinking longer, I found one trend that could be considered harmful: taking trending photos. Again, nothing is wrong with the trend itself, but people’s obsession with everything and lack of…

It’s hard to miss something if it’s outdated but still in use. Recently, I told you about paper. I think it could be a great example of such technology. But I found another one. The combustion engine. It’s still here, but the global trend is pretty discouraging. The worst thing is that the offered replacement has entirely made-up reasons and no benefits. (Only promises about something better…

Not because I’m cold, but because it’s an important trait of a good excuse: I don’t remember one. I think the best one should remain unnoticeable. Because it gives a sayer to avoid problems. So I was told something and treated fair enough to forgive someone’s behavior or words. On the opposite, the worst excuse should be memorable. Daily writing promptWhat is the best excuse you have heard…

Do you see the problem with this question? Am I shaped by my experience or by who I am? But what defines who I am? Am I shaped by my experience? Or what? Almost everything in our lives is our experience. Yes, there are some specialties that may define our body and/or brain at birth. But right after that moment, everything is our experience. Even how our body and mind are treated by others…

I’m happy I don’t need to choose an insect. I’m not afraid of them, but they look disgusting. It has to be an animal that can survive that week. So, not a hamster. When I was a child, I had a hamster. He was preparing for space travel, and its entire life lasted around two weeks. I definitely don’t want to be a dog: they need to wait the whole day to pee. To be a cat is not an option…

We tend to think about technologies as something modern that was invented recently. But there are some that lived over centuries, through human generations. The wheel is a brilliant example of technology that won’t go extinct soon. But here is another one that is considered obsolete in the last couple of decades: paper. For different reasons, people want to get rid of paper. Still, it’s one…

Perhaps, a dictionary. Some words I constantly forget. Others I’ve never known before. So, I need to pick the dictionary again, and again, and again. Daily writing promptWhich book have you read more than any other?View all responses

Even a dog or cat adapts to the environment no matter how old is it. People don’t have a chance to skip learning if they want to live well. Life constantly changes. Perhaps the Industrial Revolution sparked this process, and since the middle of the XX century, it has become unstoppable. Yes, I suppose you can learn the alphabet (or even avoid it somehow) and get an easy job. Maybe you’ll be…

I shared it several times, I think. I used to use challenges to experiment with my life: health, work, relationships. Then I realized: those weren’t challenges. Those were my attempts to introduce new habits. I tried to live with tiny changes and see how it worked for me. Some stick, some churned off. The one habit that has improved my life the most was to make habits a game that I…

Life is a comedy, drama, thriller, and action, and sometimes even a horror. The hard years last forever. Otherwise, it would be boring. Daily writing promptWhat’s a chapter of your life you’d title "The Hard Years" — and what got you through it?View all responses