Writing helps me think clearly. Whenever I want to form an opinion, I prefer to sit and write. I know I can take my time, write and rewrite as many times as I want until I feel pleased with my line of logic.

Writing helps me decide what’s important and what’s not. It would be ludicrous to spent 3 hours of my life writing about a topic that is not really that important. So when I actually sit and write, it is a confirmation of the importance of the task.

Writing is an outlet for my creativity. I love playing with language in unexpected ways, coming up with new ways of expressing emotions or experiences. Unfortunately most of them are not something I could put out there in public!

Writing keeps my brain healthy. Like any other muscle, you need to constantly challenge it to make it grow, not in a literal sense though!, to make it better.

Writing keeps me questioning my assumptions about the life around me. This is when the time slows down, and I’m forced to think deeply about any comments I made. Was I right? Was I wrong?

Writing makes me, hopefully, a better, more empathetic human being.

Hello 👋 My name is Michael Antczak.

The image at the top of the article was generated with DALL-E 3 and the following prompt:

“Photo of a young Caucasian male with dark hair, confidently sitting in the cockpit of a Slingsby T31 glider. The aircraft is positioned on a grassy runway, poised for takeoff. The sky is blue with scattered white clouds, and the young pilot smiles with eager anticipation.”

Clearly you can see that it didn’t manage to pick up the right T31 glider.

I used to say that “I was a glider pilot once”. But one smart instructor told me one day: “Once you have made a single flight as a solo pilot, then you can call yourself a pilot for life”. OK. I am a pilot then 😀

I used to fly gliders like ASK-21, T21, T31, Duo Discus, and more. One day I still want to fly DFS SG 38…

Here is the real me ages ago: