Recommendations | Best of 2020 ❤

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Treasure Hunter

14 min readDec 21, 2020

People, Literature, Movies, Theatre are my source of air. At Treasure Hunter I connect the dots, create collages, draw connections and I share what I feel is beautiful. In all forms. Every Month. Here are the best treasures I came across in 2020

I started this year with hope. It was the start of a new decade so I dedicated the month of January to paying attention to what is surrounding us. Little did I know what a year had in store for us. By March, we were living through historic times and we were asked to revisit our priorities in life. I was reminded that “it is through joy that one resists. It’s time to look inside”. In April we were 8 weeks into quarantine and the silent was felt in the streets and as we had a rainy season, this is when I started catching up with old films I never had a chance to watch. In June, I lost my grandmother and the year started to tip over. I spent July in Lithuania with my family. By August I felt that quarantine created a time illusion and a uniting fact was that nobody got it easy this year. In October we started to think about Christmas and get cosy inside with autumn colours appearing in the parks. and in November, we were reminded that Character Matters.

Best Films…

I love movies and this year I watched 70 of them. Each film had a treasure to discover. The best films that I watched this year (which included some old ones):

Tenet (2020) — Let’s talk about Tenet. But where do we begin? At the start, in the end, in the middle? All I can say is that this movie kept me on my toes to try and understand how the time aspect worked. I think I kept on track till the end, but have I? Still processing :)
Hamilton Musical (2020) I was very impressed with the creator of Hamilton, he directed, written, participated in it. A man of many crafts. I was pleasantly surprised with the take on the music genre, and the incredible number of songs. The storytelling was superb, the choice of actors was to perfection. Lots to learn from this musical and to appreciate all the silent heroes in our personal lives.
The Banker (2020) I love the story, the acting, the dedication and the filming. Great movie from all sides.

I also got to watch or re-watch some of the classics:
* Cool Runnings (1993)
* Coming to America (1988)
* Two Popes (2019)
* Parasite (2019)
* Lord of the Rings (2003)
* Hunger Games
* Matrix
* Burlesque (2010)
* Black Panther (2018)
* Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
* No Reservations (2007)
* Metropolis (1927)
* Never Ending Story (1984)

Best Short Film…

Neighbour’s window (2020) — I’d say this is the best short film of the year!

Best Documentaries…

For me, a good documentary shows an element of truth. All three documentaries below went deep into their subjects to explore elements of discrepancies that the public eye might have seen through media.

1. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020) a beautiful and gentle reminder about how we all need to contribute towards saving our home planet.

2. The Social Dilemma (2020) Directed by Jeff Orlowski, The Social Dilemma explores the effect of smartphones and social networks on human behaviour. the film presents itself as an urgent warning about our modern condition. It’s evident that social media companies are trying to make their users be engaged in the platform to give a chance for advertisers to make more money.

3. Whos Vote Counts (2020)— This returns to my introduction of the month about USA presidential elections. I’m not too sure if this is good or positive news, but it’s informative. It’s a short documentary narrated by Leonard Dicaprio about the voting structure in the USA. It’s really fascinating and helps to understand the current structure and the gaps in the system. Worth a watch.

Best Series…

This is a hard category as there have been so many good shows this year. Most of them I watched for pure entertainment purposes and to switch off my brain, but others were there to teach a thing or two, or to stimulate my analytical mind. Here is my try at choosing the best of the best (longest list).

Drive to Survive — The two seasons are filled with drama, tensions, speed and diversity of problems. Vettel is my new favourite, not only for his driving, but his sense of humour.
The Morning Show — Following the MeToo movement, this series is just brilliant. Told from various different perspectives and explained from several viewpoints that we might be quick to judge without having a bigger picture.
Unorthodox — It is an invitation to see into a private community. Unorthodox is a story of a Hasidic Jew young woman who after a year of marriage decides to escape her community in Williamsburg and flee to Berlin.
Normal People — This is a book adaptation by Sally Rooney, an Irish Author. It’s a miniseries of 30 min episodes.
The Crown — Season 4 was released and it’s just the best. This is not a documentary. This is fiction based on real-life character.
The Good Place - incredibly entertaining and enjoyable, especially the moral part of the series.
Sex Education— funny, daring, forward, addictive.
The Politician — I enjoyed the conversation in Episode 6, Payton speaks to his mother Georgina for advice regarding the morals and ethics of getting to where he needs to be in life. “I’m is experiencing moral dilemma. Or is it ethical dilema? I can never remember the difference.” “Ethics are the rules that social systems provide us. Morals are the principles which we govern ourselves by. Am I confused about what I’m supposed to do because the culture says that it matters to do the right thing? Or does doing the right thing actually matter to me? who cares? I care mom.This is a defining moment in my life and my career. Every politician has come to crossroads where they finally had to choose one path over the other. So do I tell myself that no matter what I have to do or what rules I break, people I have to kill, backroom deals I have to cut, I’m still the white knight because I’m fighting for what’s right? Or am I a man of core values. am I a champion of truth and integrity who is willing to sacrifice what’s good for what’s right. am i ethical? or am I moral? or neither? my ambition frighted you? did you always know that I had the capacity to live outside the normal boundaries of ethics and morals? you felt guilty for being dishonest, but after a while when you realised that you haven’t been caught, you would start to relax. You would get a skip in your step.Because for you the best part realising that you got away with it. You are who you are Paton. I think you have known exactly from the start what you would do with that ballot box from the moment you saw it.Your struggle is not deciding what you going to do. It’s accepting who you are.“You are who you are, Payton”. Payton heads to the campaign office and says they are going to do nothing with the ballot box; he says Alice left him but he only has his career left and he will lie and cheat if he has to get to the White House. The penultimate episode surfaces Payton’s character, making him the most authentic he has ever been since his mother’s love gave him a sudden realization of who he is.
Queens Gambit — is about a female chess player, navigating her life in a male dominating circle. Beautiful set design, great acting and captivating story.
Emily in Paris — light, stereotypical, charming, fun.
Working’ moms — funny, realistic, light.
The Dutchess — light series from Katherine Ryan.
Never Have I ever (2020) comedy centres on the experiences of Devi Vishwakumar, a high-achieving high school sophomore who is navigating life with a short fuse that often lands her in difficult and awkward situations.
Friends — I started re-watching Friends just as the lockdown began. It was honestly very refreshing to reconnect with this series that I grew up with.

Best Music…

It hasn’t been a good year for music, but some highlights included:

1. Black Pink — K Pop Group

2. Beyonce — the release of her visual album. Electric, forward-moving, artistic and highlights that creativity will move us forward.

3. Lady Gaga — created Live Aid style initiative, but for our Pandemic times. 8 hour music concert, filled with A-listers, called One World: Together At Home. in April

Best Comedians of the year

Laughter is medicine, and everybody knows that. These individuals tickled my belly this year:

Kevin Hart
Katherine Ryan
Eddie Murphy

Best Books

This year I read 15 books, which has been the most in a while as I had time to catch up on a few old ones. Here is the list of top three:

The Midnight Library
You Learn by Living
Let My People go Surfing “The drive for quality in production in any organisation has to go beyond the products themselves. It extends to how we organise ourselves to get a body of work done, how we beg, borrow, and steal good ideas from other companies and cultures, and how we approach the question of the way things are and how they should be. That begins with an attitude of embracing change rather than resisting it — not just chaining without reflection and weighing the relative merits of the new ideas, but nonetheless assuming that if we only look hard enough, there may be a better way to do things. We should borrow and adapt ideas even from unlikely sources. McDonald’s is as far from Patagonia as you can get in its image and many of its values. But I respect one thing it does. No one at McDonald's ever tells a customer “Sorry we’re all out of iceberg lettuce today”. It successfully organises on-time delivery every day of the week, and I think Patagonia could learn a lesson from McDonald’s’ and the symbiotic relationships it enjoys with its suppliers.”

Best in Interior Design…

Here are some of the highlights of interior design moments that I appreciated this year:

Best Inspirations on Character:

This section around specific individuals who helped me to reflect upon the importance of character, hard work and purpose. They also inspired me to push myself a little further to get closer to my own truth. These five individuals were:

1. My Grandmother
Edith Piaf — Non, je ne regrette rien. This was a song that I use to sing with my beautiful grandmother who raised me. In June we celebrated her life. We celebrate her influence and I can only say a huge thanks for her always being there by my side. Non, je ne regrette rien! That’s a beautiful moto for life. Myliu Jus Mociute!

2. Anna Wintour
I’m a fan of the magazine world and after taking a Masterclass by Anna Winterfield this year, I got inspired. She felt mysterious, confident, stubborn, overconfident and I was questioning her judgement of fashion. Why would I think that I was qualified for that, still baffles me. Overconfidence? :) During 12 segments of Masterclass, Anna talked about Creativity, Leadership, creating a brand, giving back and building your own voice. I thoroughly enjoyed her class. She is so passionate and great at what she does, which inspired me to find that within me, somehow, someday.

3. Monica Aldama from Cheer
Netflix series Cheer has been something that took the world by surprise and absolute addiction. It’s about The Navarro College Cheer Team who are practised for 2019 NCA National Championship. Their coach — Monica Almada. I was highly inspired by her as a coach, mother, women and a person. She is Alpha Female, highly competitive, focused, determined, hard-working, but also very caring, loving and knows how to celebrate when the time is right.

4. Hamilton and Vettel
After watching Drive to Survive in May, I was reignited with my passion for F1. I have been of course following the journey of Lewis Hamilton for some time. I believe to have read his first book around 10 years ago and recently been watching more and more interviews with him. It’s evident that throughout his career, one thing that stands out is that Hamilton is consistent and he can handle the pressure. He also understands his position as a role model to a younger generation and always tries to pass a positive message during press conferences. But a drive that has my heart is Vettel! He seems to be so human, even thought he a four time world champion. He pays attention to people he meets. He is fully present and he sees them. I would think that the guy is too busy with so many things to juggle, but I always see him being mindful, respectful, human, and his sense of humour — OMG :) Love him :)

Best in Self-care

This year was heavy on explorations, experiments, trials and errors when it comes to self-care. Here is an extended list of self-care experiments from the year of pandemic:

Meditation on Calm by Lebron James.
Netflix exploration of Goop Laps
Seven-day energy healing with John Amaral.
21-day abundance meditation challenge with Deepak Chopra.
Vegan recepies with Pick up Limes
Cleaning tips from Mrs Hinch.
Reminder about stubborn optimism of applied love by Tom Carnac.
Reminder to recharge batteries by Arianna Huffington.
Exploration of “The Secret to Desire in a long term relationship” with Esther Perel.
Spinning classes with Peloton and Pscyle.
Elegance and style tips from School of Affluence by Anna Bey
Facial evening routine with Alicia Keys
Yoga on youtube with Adriena.
Tiny Habits strategy on TED.
Buiding self-confidence with Masterclass with RuPaul. He thought about self-confidence, acceptance, expression and authenticity. He said — Find your frequency. From finding your inner truth to owning the room, it’s your life’s work to shine.