When I listened to Tom Cruise talk about how he handles fear – how he doesn’t try to avoid it but turns it into knowledge and control – I recognized myself completely. He said:

“Fear is the unknown. And I enjoy feeling that because it puts me in a position where I want to know.”

That “I want to know” — that’s the essence of it.
It’s that curiosity that makes some people dive into projects, oceans, or ideas – not because they know how it will go, but because they want to understand.
Because they want to feel life, not just watch it through a window.

Fear Is Ignorance

Tom is right. Fear is, at its core, a lack of knowledge.
When I first stood on my sailboat Torus in the Port of Gothenburg, ready to make it my home, fear was there. Not of the waves – but of the unknown life that awaited me.
I had left everything familiar – safety, systems, career – to live in a way no book could teach me.

But the more I learned about the boat, the wind, the engine, the sounds at night – the less room fear had to grow.
What remained was the adrenaline, the curiosity, and the feeling of freedom.

Knowledge pushes fear away. It’s true on the sea, in projects, and in life.
That’s why I’ve always wanted to understand how things work – not just that they work.
When I’ve managed productions, events, or systems in chaos, I’ve always known that the key lies in understanding the whole. Once you see the pattern – the anxiety fades.

Being Fearless Doesn’t Mean Being Reckless

To be fearless doesn’t mean you don’t feel fear. It means you move anyway.
It’s the difference between leaping into darkness blindly and stepping into it with open eyes, ready to learn.

The people I’ve met who truly live — sailors, artists, entrepreneurs, climbers — they all share one trait: they’re curious about their own fear.
They talk to it, examine it, let it guide them.
They don’t see it as an enemy, but as a compass.

There are moments in life when no maps exist.
Moments when you must rely on experience, intuition, and your will to keep going despite not knowing what’s ahead.
That’s where courage lives.
Not in grand gestures, but in the quiet decision to not turn back.

Excellence Interests Me

When Cruise was asked about his work ethic, he replied:

“Just my desire to be as competent and able as I can be. Excellence interests me.”

I love that phrase: Excellence interests me.
For me, it’s not about being the best — it’s about being alive in what I do.
When I work, write, climb, or create something new, I want to feel that I’m growing, that I understand more than yesterday.
I want to feel movement, even when I don’t know where it leads.
Perfection isn’t the goal — but the road toward it gives life meaning.

Maybe that’s why I’ve never thrived in stagnant environments.
I need motion — both physical and mental.
Looking back at the different chapters of my life, from working as a cook on a ship to large-scale productions and event management, there’s one common thread: I’ve always sought situations that challenge me.
Not to prove anything to others — but because I want to know how far I can go.

Creating Meaning Out of Chaos

In large projects, people have often told me that I seem unshakable. That I see everything. That I’m “too focused.”
But to me, that’s not control — it’s presence.
When everything around you spins, someone has to stay still at the center and hold direction.
That’s where I feel at home.
Maybe because I know what it’s like to lose balance — and how to find it again.

I sometimes call it Calm in Chaos.
A method I’ve developed through years of standing in the storm’s eye — literally and figuratively.
When I watch Cruise explain how he plans his stunts — with precision, collaboration, and deep understanding — it reminds me of how a real event works.
You can’t just dream an idea and hope it holds. You need to understand every bolt, every cable, every person in the chain.
Only then can you let go and trust that it will fly.

Curiosity as a Way of Living — and Learning

What fascinates me here in Bansko is how that same philosophy now shapes the next generation — through homeschooling and worldschooling.
I’ve met families from all over the world who’ve chosen to step outside the traditional system to give their children something bigger: the freedom to learn through life, not apart from it.

Here, children and parents sit at the same café tables where I write, and a day’s lesson can just as easily be biology in nature as mathematics on a restaurant bill.
They learn languages through play, history through travel, and teamwork through daily life.
They’re fearless — just like us adults who’ve chosen to live differently.

In Bansko, I see children learning without pressure, without the fear of grades, without being labeled “right” or “wrong.”
They learn because they want to know, not because someone tells them they must.
And I realize that it’s the same force that has driven my own life:
Curiosity instead of fear.

I believe this is the future of learning — not a rebellion against school, but a return to something deeply human: the idea that knowledge arises when we are engaged, curious, and free enough to ask questions.

That’s also what makes Bansko so special.
Here, entrepreneurs, creatives, climbers, parents, and children mix together — all sharing a desire to live differently.
To learn, not perform.
To understand, not just memorize.
And to live life with courage, freedom, and authenticity.

Knowing for Yourself

Cruise said something profound:

“If something isn’t real for me, no matter what, I have to know and experience it for myself.”

That’s the essence of living independently.
Not through others’ opinions, rules, or fears.
I’ve learned that what’s true for me might not be true for someone else — but that doesn’t make it less real.
We all have an inner compass that points toward truth, but we often silence it because we fear what others might think.

Being fearless also means standing firm in your own convictions, even when the world laughs, doubts, or tries to box you in.
Life begins when you live according to your own map.

When Fear Becomes Creativity

Many think courage is about jumping.
But sometimes, courage is about staying.
Staying in the silence, the uncertainty, the unknown — and letting it transform into something new.

For me, fear has often turned into creativity.
It’s pushed me to write, build, think, and reflect.
When you dare to look fear in the eyes, you see that it’s really just saying: “There’s energy here.”

That’s why some people create magic in their lives — they know how to turn that energy into something that builds instead of destroys.

Living with Meaning

Fear doesn’t just live in dramatic moments.
It’s in everyday life too — in daring to say what you feel, to change direction, to leave comfort, to start over.
Courage isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you train.
Each time you face fear and move through it, you become a little freer.

I don’t think life is about eliminating fear, but about learning to dance with it.
When you accept that it will always be there — but it doesn’t get to decide — that’s when you start truly living.

Seek Knowledge You Can Use

Tom ended the interview with advice to young people:

“Look for knowledge you can apply to your life… Don’t be so afraid to be afraid.”

That should be written on every school wall — and maybe every family’s living room.
Because the world is full of information, yet very few teach us how to turn knowledge into action.

That’s exactly what homeschooling in Bansko is about: learning by living.
Children learn to use what they know immediately — in real life.
And that’s exactly what I’ve done my whole life: learned through living.

True intelligence isn’t about knowing everything — it’s about being able to use what you know.
That’s when experience turns into wisdom.

To Be Alive

Looking back, my life has been full of risks — but I hardly regret any of them.
What I do regret are the times I didn’t dare.
The times I let fear tell me what I couldn’t do.
Today, I try to live so I never stay in that state.

I want to feel.
I want to know.
I want to understand.
And I want to live.

Not as a spectator, but as a participant in my own adventure.
Because as Tom Cruise says — it’s not about avoiding fear, but about using it as fuel for life.

Fear is just a whisper from the future saying: This is worth experiencing.