Ramadan رمضان is about to start…

Ramadan رمضان is about to start…
… a year passed by so quickly and one month can feel like years if it’s dedicated to fasting.

But it’s not only the fasting, it’s so much more what Ramadan is all about.

A time of recreation, of silence, of serenity, full of spirituality, dedicated to reading and listening, to be mindful, Ramadan should be enriching and blissful, it teaches patience, gratefulness and peace.

I wish all of you but especially my family and friends a month full of all of it!

Enjoy and celebrate and take the Ramadan spirit with you into the months to follow.

Let’s hope for peace which lasts so that we all can live the ways we have chosen right next to each other.

Ramadan Kareem! 

‎رمضان كريم 

Why the heck…

Why the heck…

…do good movies start in the middle of the night
…does a white denim require washing after once worn
…does it rain during the weekend although the whole week was sunny
…is the chocolate empty whenever you would need it most
…is a helicopter circling above my area in the middle of the night
…is it colder in my flat than outside
…is not everyone talking proper english
…is my work to do list getting longer each day although I’m working
…can’t I put everything in the tumble dryer without shrinking
What “why the heck”s do you have?
Slowly calming down – don’t lose hope,
Miss Faith

20131028-111657.jpg

Somebody Has to Say It…

Somebody Has to Say It…Wintertime sucks! Days are short and mostly dark, I’m freezing as soon as I step out of my door, sunlight is missed so much and streets are empty as almost everyone is hurrying to get into a warm place again. Even singing birds are something I miss during wintertime.
The worst is that the last three weeks were completely grey, cloudy and rainy. I had to turn on the lights already in the morning. I’m not tanned, the German white skin, but I’m honestly a summer type if you judge from my mood state. As soon as the sun is shining, birds are singing in the morning and a warm breeze is waking me up I’m in a good mood. Which type are you? Summer or winter or are there even more, like maybe the depressive autumn type or the ever happy spring type?
Yours Miss Faith, waiting desperately for the first signs of spring…

Crap TV

Crap TV

I don’t know if its just a German phenomenon but during the past years the tv programm was becoming more and more crap and trash.
Where are all the good movies? Where are the interesting talks and discussions?
When I just start zapping through channels in the evening I hardly find anything interesting to watch. Instead of movies it’s common to have tv shows, singing contests, problematic couples, youngsters, pets, news about catastrophes around the world and celebrity stuff.
I’m wondering which persons are keen to see all this as it seems to be the majority. TV channels are adapting their program to what people want to see. That’s scary if you think about it. Which insane mind wants all this crap each day? Interesting topics are on late in the evening or even in the middle of the night. But the main question is what is happening to our society if that’s the new “normal”? Are we losing our minds from generation to generation? I’m not that old to say sentences like “when I was young it was…” but I already found myself several times saying it. And if you look at people outside you already realize there was a change, which in first place isn’t bad at all, changes are needed cause otherwise it would mean we stopped living, the problem is that these changes are not good ones. It’s not only crap on TV, it’s also just in front of your door when you step outside.
I’m living next to a school with children from twelve to sixteen years, when they have lunch breaks and you see them walking, talking, acting its like another planet. When I imagine myself at this age I was still almost a child, nowadays girls with thirteen look like eighteen or even more, dressed up in mini-mini-skirts, a make up like a parrot, smelling as if they just walked out of a perfume store, wearing the highest high-heels available. Is that the new normal? Every girl is the next top model of the world at this age because that’s what they are taught on TV or the web. Boys are like gangsters, they have to be so cool and stylish, where stylish means the clothing out of the newest rap videos, and what they don’t are allowed too is to show emotions, that would be the worst thing. They can have each girl as their new girl friend if they want, at least that’s what they think.
The problem is from my point of view honestly the lack of possibilities. Parents have no ideas than to place them from sometimes the age of two onwards in front of the TV. And TV to learn what life is about cannot work at all. If I remember my childhood the TV was there but it was not the main part of my childhood. We went outside whenever it was possible, played in the garden, the small forest nearby or just strolled through the village. Collecting beetles in summer, eating corn directly in the field, all the stuff where I would say that’s what children should do. Instead the society is keeping them inside, in summer is too hot, in winter too cold, the surrounding isn’t safe enough and the TV or play station is not disturbing the adults in their daily routine. If that’s really the new normal I will be an awful future mom, I’m sure that my child will not be allowed to watch stupid stuff the whole day. I want it to know how grass smells or a beetle looks like, I want it to activate its fantasy to play instead of reading instructions of the new computer game. And TV will be a hard battle, fortunately all nice movies for children are available as DVDs but for the crap on TV there will be no way, at last as long as I’m in charge of it.
Go outside, read books, choose carefully what to watch on TV, communicate, love, surround yourself with thinking mind, this may beware us of getting “crap” people…

image

First holidays on my own in Italy – part 3 (Departure)

First holidays on my own in Italy – part 3 (Departure)
One week alone in Italy – was it what I wanted?
On the bus travel back to the airport I was trying to draw a conclusion of what was good, what not so good.
There are many if I’m honest, I just tell about the main for me.
The first and most important lesson learned for me was that you always carry your mind with you, there’s no escape. But if you are out of your daily routine you are able to get another view on it. You have the time to re-think, over-think, search, at least I had the passion to do so and was driving back in a better shape.
Another good experience was not to be scared of traveling alone. If you are a bit communicative you will make contact to others. I kept it on a low level as my intention was not to make friends but nevertheless I had some nice chats with tourists like the two women or my neighbor couple as well as with some of the locals, the poolbar chief who had once a gelateria in Germany, one of his co-workers who proudly showed pictures of his newborn daughter and a farmer who lived near to the hotel.
This was a nice story as I was walking by each day and from time to time I was buying some of his fruits, tomatoes, pepper, and as he was only talking Italian he teached me some phrases. This reminded me again on my wish to learn Italian, unfortunately it’s still just a plan and I haven’t worked on it yet. But it showed me how friendly these people are and they don’t need big houses or expensive cars, they just enjoy there being which is something I took back with me.
Simplicity is often the healthier way to live instead of running after timelines, being stressed or work until you fell asleep exhausted in the middle of the night.
What I missed is someone to share the beauty with. If you are standing at the lighthouse and enjoy the beautiful view of the sea you miss someone next to you to share it with. I took so many pictures and for sure I shared them with others afterwards but the moment itself was just for me.
Also many of these places were romantic and these were the moments when I asked myself what I did wrong to be there alone instead of snuggling up into the arms of someone, but that’s life. Everything which happens in life has a deeper sense.
And it was still better than traveling in a group with a guide explaining stuff you don’t want to know. These guides which hold up an umbrella and you run after it. I think I would have felt even more lonely within such a group.
In the end it was exactly what I needed. I went back with new impressions, new thoughts, ready to do something in my life to change it. I wasn’t completely renewed but it was a step towards myself.
I regained the faith in me, trusting myself, having the ability to change and to live in a happy way.

image