This month’s Encounter is with 9 to 5’er artist, Christos. Christos is a chemical engineer originally from Greece who works in the field of environmental protection. Outside of his 9 to 5 job, Christos has a passion for writing and is a published poet. For his Encounter, Christos shares his passion for both music and poetry. The first half of the Encounter features Christos’ performance on vocals and drums with a Greek folk music band and the second half of the Encounter features one of Christos’ poems. For a treat, all of the art featured in this Encounter is intertwined with the beautiful backdrop of Greece. If you would like to learn more about Christos and his passion for poetry, I encourage you to check out his story on The Characters page of this website. Also, if you would like to learn more about his work as a chemical engineer in environmental protection, check out the Engineering page of this website. As always, I have included a brief written story of my Encounter with Christos below.

And now, without further ado, I present to you our Encounter with Christos. Enjoy! (P.S. If you would like to skip my intro, Christos’ story begins at 03:50 and his artistic Encounter begins at 08:06, with the poetry beginning at 12:23).

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I’ve been procrastinating this one. This post.

Why? Is it because it is my father’s and I feel the need to do it justice? Is it because it is my last guest featured 9to5’er artist and I feel a responsibility to be prolific? Or is it because it is the second to last post of this entire series and maybe, it is the step right before your last that is the most difficult one to take.

Either way, I am so glad that there has been a natural circularity to the Encounters series that makes it feel it was destined to be. The series started off with my mother, a visual artist, as my first guest featured 9to5’er artist and it now reaches the end with my father, a writer, as the last featured 9to5’er artist. Sure, in some ways, I orchestrated the line-up, but everything for this project seemed to fall into place without much effort or push. Each story happened at its appropriate time and now, the stories of our featured 9to5’er artists lay nestled and protected between the stories of those who are the pillars of my own creative life: the stories of Ellen and Christos.

My Baba has taught me so much. He has taught me how to be a disciplined and thorough engineer. He has taught me everything I know in the world of music, and not in a technical way of understanding music theory and the like (which neither of us do), but as the open-minded explorer; diving in and just feeling with no expectations or thoughts, just honesty and a connection like no other. My Baba taught me to be curious in everything and to find joy and pleasure in the little things. He was the one to show me that we can discover music within our words. My Baba has always been the one I “feared” the most - wanting to meet his expectations - and revered the most because it is he who has taught me how to truly live a full life regardless of your circumstance.

Christos is the rebel of the family, whom I take after very much. He is guided by honesty and hard work and is never afraid to speak his mind when it is rooted in logic and especially in the cases when the well-being of others is compromised due to injustices. He is a passionate engineer who gives everything in his job to clean up our environment and protect it and he is a role model to me in that regard. His accomplishments as a poet are an inspiration and his poetry itself is a practiced art done with such care and thought. Christos’ mind is a vast library of literature and in his works, he is not afraid to let the voices of the legends guide him in his own narrative. A true artist is not afraid to welcome in the world and its diversity of perspectives and languages, and Christos opens that door through his writing, constantly exploring different sounds, styles, and words.

I am so proud to be the daughter of Christos and Ellen. Together, they have shown me that dichotomy can truly exist within oneself. They have shown me that valuing education and being technical does not necessarily mean you are always serious and boring. They are forever young to me because their passion for the arts comes from a continuous curiosity to learn about the world around them and a playfulness of creative minds willing to push boundaries and see things differently. There is a laughter in their love, a love that is real, and it is rooted in their connection through art. And for me, that is what Encounters has always been. It is my expression of love to those around me; an homage to all the creative individuals who have touched my life and shown me how amazing this world can be when we share who we truly are.