Paul Pahil the founder of the happiness week interviews Julia and finds out more about Julia’s happiness in Budapest:

What makes you feel happy?
Feeling deeply connected to the present, feeling the energy of life and its abundance and feeling its meaning on a profound level. For example meditating to Osho and doing Kundalini Yoga makes me feel the abundance of life. Yoga makes me feel alive.

What gives you pleasure?
Driving my car and listening to classical music relaxes me, especially when there is a traffic jam. Eating clean food and feeling grateful for my body. I enjoy reading and just read The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer which is a great book as it shows you what you can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity. You can discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness the book shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness.
 

What gives you meaning?
I enjoy lifting people’s spirit, sometimes just by having a simple conversation with them.
Serving people is very meaningful for me and performing in theatre gives me a platform to provide others with joy and sensing their elation.

You were born in Sopron during the communism region, what impact did this have on your happiness?
I could see the rolling hills of Austria behind the iron curtain and made no sense why we could not go there. Borders did not make sense to me and I decided I will go there any way. Through my fathers’ work I travelled to countries such as Switzerland, Germany, and Netherlands and translated German for my father on his business trips. I was amazed by what I saw, these countries seemed so clean and everything was very organized, surprisingly even the petrol stations.

While growing up in Sopron I enjoyed the nature, the forests, the beautiful greenery and no pollution of cars. It was a beautiful and serene environment to live in, breathe and play.

How were your experiences at school?
I attended a Lutheranism Lyceum at the age of 10. It was extremely rigid school system where simple things did not make sense like attending different masses in the morning. You could not ask questions to the teachers and it made me feel sad and angry. I tried hard to fit into this system though the system made you feel stupid, useless and hopeless. The teachers wanted to belittle you and make you feel small and irrelevant.

It was much better when I transferred to a school in Gyor at the age of 14. The environment was amazing, the teachers were relaxed and were curious what you were good at and I felt liberated.

You have lived in New York, Berlin, Los Angeles, Hamburg and Hawaii? Which city has the most effect on you and why?
Honolulu, Hawaii for sure. I was living there for 2 years, I was amazed by the range of diversity as well as being a very isolated city as it takes 5 hours to the Pacific coast. Those days allowed me to reflect on my life, of who I am and who I want to become. Hawaii is great melting pot for different cultures and I was able to integrate into the community there. I was working on a comedy called The Good Doctor written by Neil Simon and played the lead role in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, which is considered one of the great dramatic roles in theatre.

Why do you keep coming back to Budapest as you live in Los Angeles?
I am connected to the Hungarian nation, its collective consciousness and the present culture has an effect on me. I want to inspire and elevate the people around me. I feel being cynical and sarcastic do not serve any real purpose in our society and only leads to apathy. My purpose is to unleash one’s life energy so they can experience a sense of unity. I would like to make people feel connected and loved and use their own inner qualities to grow and expand in consciousness.

You deeply care about gender equality and you love to use your art to empower others. You worked as a volunteer for ‘A Sense of Home’. How did this journey start inside you?
“A Sense Of Home” brings together volunteers to serve as a family would when a youth sets up their first home. By gathering donated furniture the volunteers create a sense of home for foster youth in their first permanent living space giving them dignity, self-worth & pride.

What are you currently involved in?
Recently I worked on several international TV series, like CBS’s Hawaii Five-0, BBC’s The Last Kingdom and the Canadian X Company. In the Hollywood production of TOYS: A Dark Fairy Tale I play one of the lead characters. We will start our European Tour soon, staring at the INTERFERENCES International Theater Festival in Cluj and coming to Budapest to the Katona Jozsef Theater, December 9th and 10th.

I am looking forward in seeing you perform Julia and many thanks for your openness during this interview.