Friends,

even 2023 is gone – how will you remember it? Have we taken to heart at least a little of what I wrote about this time last year? "The world is changing and it will change, but let's not get fractured and disintegrated into dysfunctional parts. Let's talk to each other, inspire each other, and make plans to solve problems. It won't be easy, but like in every cycle: after night comes the day, after the lowtide comes the hightide, and everything will be as it should be." I suspect dawn is coming.

After the troublesome coronavirus years, covid is no longer such a problem and society has learned to live with it. That's good. The most recent problems thus concern the war in Ukraine. After nearly two years of hot conflict full of invasion by the occupiers, I am afraid that Czech society has become too reconciled with this. A lot of people have basically stopped watching the situation in the eastern part of our European continent because they feel tired of the war – as if it were a reality show. But this is one of the most important cases of the last decades that will concern us for decades to come. Underestimating this war conflict – even though it would be easy to think that it does not concern us – could cost us quite a lot in the future, whether by the order of magnitude of defense expenditures against the train of Eastern totalitarian regimes in full motion or even the highest sacrifices that for the time being have to be borne (for themselves and other Europeans) primarily by the Ukrainian people. And, as leading historian Timothy Snyder is currently warning, the global situation is too dangerously reminiscent of the 1930s. It is probably not in vain to say that over the course of about three to four generations, what the previous generations experienced is forgotten. Do we forget how terrible polio was? We stop vaccinating against it. Do we forget how terrible the world wars were? People want to kill each other again. Our enemy is arrogance. We are thus doomed to repeat the mistakes already known. Or are we, indeed? Let us remember this when making decisions on security issues, on national elections and on daily small decisions related to this issue, history will be happy to tell us which way is the more correct or the right one. After all, we can try to mitigate the consequences of the evil around us by doing good, seemingly small, things and actions. Above all, they should be motivated not by fear and negative emotions, but by empathy, compassion and love, i.e. positive emotions.

In 2023, there were just a lot of significant positives. After many years, for example, we elected a Czech president for whom we finally do not have to be ashamed. On a personal level, last year also brought me a lot of good. Whether it's still strong family relationships, which are currently being strengthened e.g. by a huge piece of work on the construction of a new family house, or a new job in the field of research in regenerative medicine, where I am getting heavily involved in synthesis and characterisation of new interesting dendritic molecules intended for the treatment of osteochondral defects (see more in Projects). I would not like to forget something and someone in the list of other positives and good things, there were many with many great people. So just briefly – thanks especially for all the time spent together.

So hopefully everything else will turn out well in 2024, and if it hasn't turned out well, it's not over yet. #PF2024