.SOMETIMES RAW.

Hello and Happy Friday!

I am thankful for great friends. I don’t have too many which is fine; but the ones I do have I love to spend time with. These are friends I can learn something from, the ones who inspire me, the ones who listen to what I have to say, the ones I can be the way I am without putting on a mask and the ones I love to listen to. Friendships shift as we develop but the real friends stay no matter what. With real friends conversations don’t need to have depth all the time but I want to be able to talk about something serious as points.  To laugh together and being silly without alcohol is a good thing, too. Or with alcohol. Or with coffee. I also keep in mind that with time and life changes my friendships have changed and become more redefined. I needed to disconnect from some people and reconnect with others. This is how life goes. And it is all okay. I just want to say Thank you to my friends out there without writing out names! The ones I am talking about here know! This is what I have been up to during the week if you would love to read. Have a great weekend! 

Reading:  I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. What an amazing book. Book review will follow. Highly recommended! Currently I am reading Jed McKenna’s Spiritual Enlightenment, Part One. This is not an easy read and it takes time to really grasp all of it. I highlight a lot and even copied a bunch of paragraphs so far and wrote them in my journal. Thought-provoking! 

Watching: This! 

“What is it that makes us human? Is it that we love, that we fight ? That we laugh ? Cry ? Our curiosity ? The quest for discovery ? Driven by these questions, filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries. Working with a dedicated team of translators, journalists and cameramen, Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness.”

Also, I found the movie to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. It is fantastic and …. lonely!  

Enjoying: Sushi at this place! And of course great conversations with Ronia, my husband’s messages, my son, my parents, Ronia die Räubertochter, Fame Cocktailbar in Coburg [Try the Strawberry Daiquiri!!!] 

Discovering/Learning: 

Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road,
not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and wisdom,
life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple,
in itself an ecstasy.

Too lazy to be ambitious, I let the world take care of itself. Ten days worth of rice in my bag; a bundle of twigs by the fireplace. Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment? Listening to the night rain on my roof, I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Looking forward to: Traveling soon! I cannot wait. The world is so awesome. I need ocean and sun! There is so much to discover and see. Now is the time. Or maybe it is all just a dream. 

What have you been up to? What are your plans for the weekend? 

Hello and Happy Tuesday! 

I would share a couple of things today. Things that make me healthier and happier these days. Maybe some work for you as well. 

I stopped drinking coffee and switched over to tea or smoothies. Every time I drank coffee I was so wired up, especially when it was too strong. I was never dependent on coffee and never thought it gives me energy in the morning. I feel that practicing Yoga or stretching works way better. Or drinking a green smoothie makes me feel more balanced.  Balance makes me happy! I included Yoga in my daily routine again. I do get up earlier in the morning to  really take time for myself, stretch, and enjoy 50 minutes of Power Yoga. I haven’t practiced in a while but I was right back into it. To start my day with Yoga is fantastic. The whole concept of taking time to do something with and for myself is key. Just listening to what my body needs and these days it is stretching. 

I try to read one book per week and attend a reading once in a while. Actually, I just came back home after listening to Martin Walser who read from his latest book Ein sterbender Mann. It was very special and mesmerizing. Martin Walser is 89 years old. 

My strive for constant, continuous  learning and exchanging thoughts with intellectual people will always make me happy. “Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning”. I write a post online on my blog every single day. Just because I love to do it. I keep notebooks and journals close by so anytime an important thought pops up in my head I can write it down. With this being said, I have a bucket list and so does my husband. Upon comparing those lists one day we amazingly found out that there are pretty similar items written down. Sweet! So we both enjoy scratching those off our lists. Eating healthier. I usually don’t eat meat but I had this craving for ham and BBQ. So I ate ham and we had some BBQ leftover from the neighbors. I felt very bad for the next three days. Today is actually the first day that the stomach pain stopped. I have to listen to my body more and pay more attention.  He usually tells me what he wants and tries to avoid. Meat and refined sugar are two items. I want to include a Fast-Day every week. Today I just ate a bowl of soup and a pretzel. Just to give the organs some rest after those horrible three days. 

Spend more quality and uninterrupted time with my son. Meaning, not being on the phone while he shows me something. Not reading my book when he wants to go to the playground. Unless of course we read together. My sweet boy! 

I like helping others! Helper syndrome? Well, I have it under control by now. I am talking about the random kindness. Doing grocery shopping for the elderly woman next door or bringing her a slice of rhubarb cake for instance. Since I go to bed earlier (7 hours sleep minimum) I feel so much better in the morning. More rested, more positive thoughts, more ideas, more creativity and I get more done. I am fortunate still that my son sleeps until 11 am! almost every day and I could sleep in if I needed to. But I do not want to make this a habit. Rise and shine! It is spring and I love spring cleaning and removing anything and everything that is not essential to my life anymore. Yep, I usually start with my closet. I am into minimalism and too many things make me unhappy. 

I try to relax every day for at least one hour. The other day I was in the park with my son and I took a pile of books with me. I read a bit, switched to the next and turned pages in the third one until I saw this little tiny bee sitting in front of my bare feet on a dandelion. I put the books down and observed the bee instead. She kept on doing her work not bothered by anybody or anything. Just getting some pollen. Life is sweet! I spend less time on the phone or other social media and I don’t check my phone first thing in the morning anymore. I used to! But it makes me happier if I don’t. First things first! Yoga, healthy breakfast – the world (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, CNN and whatnot can wait!) 

What makes you happy? I would love to hear from you. 

Hello And Happy Saturday! 

Tomorrow my son will turn 2 1/2 years old. I know that time flies but I really see how fast it all goes when I look at him. What does it mean to have a 2 1/2 years old? For me these days it means, sleeping late and cooking more. [He actually sleeps from 8 pm -10.30 am most of the days!] Cooking freshly, many veggies and bananas and smoothies for breakfast. It means listening to Nick Drake’s album Pink Moon full blast and dancing to it in the kitchen. It means painting in bright colors and playing with Play Doh. It means endless adventures at daytime (and nighttime) walking through my hometown, spending hours at the playground or in the park building dams and flooding everything. We are taking our time with whatever we are doing because we are fortunate and able to do so. We travel the world and discover new things together as a family. 

These days we have been mostly outside because the weather was great. Feeding the ducks in the park or hugging trees in the woods  while smelling this nice spring air is great. Some plants in the park are unkempt and luscious in a way so you feel that this is what nature does and not what man creates. We walked barefoot and liked the feeling of dirt and grass under our feet – especially after the rain. We walk hand in hand like these string of paper dolls. Sometimes I need to pace my steps to my son’s  tiny breathe but I do feel like walking or floating on  a cloud with him sometimes.  Every time we pass an open sidewalk gate he smiles, opens it and walks in – with this little evil grin and quick laugh. The sun shone warm and we kept on walking. Spring is in the air. When we finally arrived at the park we saw a man feeding pigeons and squirrels. The man asked my son if he wants to feed the animals. He talks to him like a man. My son all proud grins and takes the bread to feed them. I love him so much at this exact moment. Afterwards my son says he likes the tiny pigeon the most because it is slower than the others. My heart melts. 

We climb on trees, go on the slides, play in the sand and constantly name things, colors, numbers and letters. What time is it? It does not matter. We play. We are here. Now. After some time I grab my book to read a bit. 

My husband plays with him. Then they both disappear and I look for them. I climb up a ladder of a tree house at the playground  and find him there – hiding, a stick in his hand. His gentle little hands hold the stick firmly while he points at things. He swings this stick and tells me, “Magic, Abracadabra!” My little Joel. I love that you believe in magic because I do too. I love how you do things sometimes and that you don’t give a damn who sees you doing it. You are in your little world – discovering and exploring. The best about all this is that I know you are a very strong person. Physically and mentally and I know you are strong enough to build anything you every dream of and wise and smart enough to come up with a plan  to get it all done. I love that you plan things and are the most stubborn person at the same time. But you are usually going through with your plans. You are a mesmerizing spirit with a tenderness and sweetness that runs so so deep. A perfect mix of both – your Mom and Dad. 

My love, we have to go home, the sun is getting low in this beautiful sky and we have to say goodbye to the playground and the toys in the sand sandbox. We will be back tomorrow. I promise. 

Here are a few things about Joel

Don’t ever leave any important keys lying around. He will take them, play with them for the longest time and then hide them so you never see them again. 

Lately he is throwing some tantrums about the most ridiculous things. 

He started speaking in full sentences now, stringing new words together every single day. For my son the letter “L” did not exist for the longest time. Now he finally starts saying it. His name was Joei [So this is why he is Joey] and he “Uffs” you. 

If you ever ask him how old he is he says “two” but hold up five fingers. 

Joel Loves

Riding and playing in the car

His mom and dad, Oma and Opa

Eating daisies

Discovering new insects

Eating Parsley

Bananas

Playmobil

His best friend Julius 

Balloons/Ball playing/Bobby car, anything outdoors

Indoor playground 

his iPad (Peppa Pig, Löwenzahn, Sendung mit der Maus, all Tiny Hands Apps!)

Baths

Pasta

Anything chocolate

Books and Bedtime Stories

Joel Hates

Dinosaur hand-puppets

Electric hair-cutters 

Taking a shower (hates water coming from above)

Saying “Yes” when he means “No”

Going to bed [Initially really bad, but once he is upstairs, smooth sailing thankfully]

Leaving the Indoor Playgroud! HOLY SHIT! [Taking him out of this place is a NIGHTMARE!]

When Daddy counts down 1-2-3 as an ultimatum 

People with bad/negative energy (he feels it – I love it!)

What I love about my son

The way his breath and hair smells

The way he talks and hugs and kisses me 

Actually: Every single thing.