Slow down and be happy

Slow down and be happy

I have not written in a while, I slowed down. I did what makes me happy, I wrote.

Slow down and be happy

This time I wrote something, which can be bought around the world, that makes me even happier. For a long time I have seen my writing as my personal output, my relief somehow. What took a while is to realise that I may be of service for other persons with what I am doing. Aren’t we all just walking each other home? Ram Dass said it once and since I heard it it echoes in my mind. We all try to be our best versions and once we learned something new, we should share, shouldn’t we?

Gratefulness is often mentioned quickly, like “be grateful and your life will be full”. This won’t happen over night, but I believe that it will happen one day. The more we focus on the good in life and cherish what we have, the less we will complain about what we don’t have. Life is not complicated, we make it complicated. We strive for the better and higher and more instead of getting grounded where we are and simply enjoy.

I collected some tips and ideas which helped me becoming better, better with myself, better with others, better in general. And these are what I now shared in a book.

“Slow down and be happy”

I called it simply a guide, a simple guide, because that’s what it is. You flip a page and discover something new, something you heard already, something you did once and forgot. You don’t need to go through it step by step, and you surely don’t need to implement each single idea for yourself own life. If you only use one and this is your personal page turner, then you made me happy too.

This won’t be my last and it is not my first book I published. I love writing and I love creating, so why would I ever stop doing it? If you are interested in more just enter my name in amazon and you’ll find what I did so far.

Slowing down raised my energy levels to be creative and for whatever reason I always write English although my native language is German. I still try to find out how that happened, but in the end, it is as it is and I love it. It gave me even another task – translate my own writing into my mother language. This has been done too and for all German speakers here – that’s the German version of my book:

I truly hope you will enjoy and take it as it is, a simple guide to brighten your day.

If you want to know more about my other work, just add a comment and ask.

Blog Topics

Blog Topics

Blog Topics

What do you want to read?

A blog is a blog is a blog – why do we write blogs?

I love to write and I have 1001 ideas which are popping up in my mind and then they vanish, I forget them, I write a post, I blog.

But honestly, even if I like writing I decided one day to start a blog and not a personal diary which means I am happy if people are reading what I am writing.

That’s the point where it starts to be not only about the writing but also about the question “What do you want to read?”.

I know that I have a few people who follow my blog – either here or on tumblr, who click on it once in a while through my instagram or facebook, so this question goes out to you my dears.

Do you like what you read, do you stay because you are too lazy to unsubscribe or because you are interested in what I’m doing here?

Throw topics at me, I would love to hear what you think!

Until then I do what I do and I blog what I blog and I wait for comments and am happy if someone clicked the tiny star under my post.

Take care!

My first short story is finalized and now?

My dears,

Today I need some advise. I finalized my first short story and now I’m thinking about what to do with it. It is fictional and has 2.857 words and the title is “The life changing fortune cookie”.

Finally I decided to just give it a try and self-publish. I don’t have anything to lose, do I?

So here we go – I proudly present – tatatatataaaaaa:

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Looking forward to your reviews / comments / thought,
yours misssfaith

A happy new year 2014…

A happy new year 2014…

…to all of you out there!!!!

I’m partly back, but as my husband is still with me I will not post too regular during the next two or three weeks.
Whenever we are together the time we have is precious as we know the next weeks of being apart are just around the corner.
The weeks when I’m alone I love to focus on writing as my evenings or weekends give me the time to do so.

But a small update here – we spent a wonderful Xmas time at my parents with lots of food and fun and joy. After Xmas we went to Belgium for two days where we visited a part of my husbands family and welcomed the newest family member who’s just three months old.
We spent nice hours there again with food, fun and joy.
I love how welcome we both feel in the other’s families.

After our return to Munich we prepared our first New Year’s Eve together and enjoyed the fireworks in the middle of Munich – my crazy (mahjnoon) husband dragged me to the Marienplatz and everyone who knows Munich can imagine that it’s not too much fun to stand in the middle of a crowd. It was hard to stand straight with so many people pushing and trying to get closer that I was happy when we left. We walked through the cold night for almost two hours and knew that we have a warm place waiting for us with cake and candles to enjoy this first night/morning of the new year. A perfect start!

Today I started to work again so the normal day to day routine is just a few days away but before that we will spent the weekend in Salzburg and enjoy a bit of wellness, spa and sightseeing.

Hope you all had a wonderful time as well as a good and healthy start in 2014!

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Are you jealous?!?

Are you jealous?!?

Are you jealous_!_

Do you know the feeling of being jealous?
I do not mean being jealous because there is someone near to your loved one.
No, what I mean is being jealous about what others have.
Are you sometimes envious when you see that others have something you may have not?
I’m not a jealous person in general and in most cases I’m just happy for the others when they have something I don’t have.
Sometimes because I don’t want to have it, sometimes because I already have it or sometimes because I’m not interested in it at all.

But there are these days…
These evil days when I see for instance a couple walking hand in hand on a nice autumn day, their feet kicking leaves and both are laughing and seem to be totally happy.
These are the days when I start to be jealous as I don’t have it right now.
Take for instance supermarkets on Saturdays.
I truly hate to go there on a Saturday afternoon! I’m surrounded by couples and for sure I don’t know their story or something about them, I’m not interested in details as well, but I imagine how it would be when my husband would be there.
All of them may do the grocery shopping for their weekend, cook together in the evening, snuggle up on the couch for a cosy and romantic evening, starting the Sunday with a breakfast in bed but I can’t do all this (and I hate breakfast in bed unless it’s a hotel and I don’t have to care about changing the bed sheets, but if I see them I even want that).
All these stories are just in my mind because I start to hate to be alone.
I’m actually not alone, I have a loving husband and family and and and
BUT I am alone when witnessing these strange mind invented couple stories while just looking at a normal couple and they may even be just best friends, nevertheless they trigger the feeling of lacking something in my life.
Isn’t there a way to schedule opening hours for singles in supermarkets?
And can we adjust these hours during the times when my husband is with me?
Another question would be since when it is allowed to kiss in public?!?
They don’t know what they do to single human beings when celebrating their love in public.
I try hard to ignore it as best as I can and forget for sure completely that I was ever thinking about it as soon as my husband is back in town…
Talking and laughing happily with your spouse while others sit next to you or walk by – be careful, it’s a risk for all, who are alone, to become slightly depressive.

Wouldn’t it be an idea to invent couple restaurants and single restaurants, couple supermarkets and single supermarkets (in this case really worth a second thought as I don’t need family packs just for myself), couple parks and single parks, I would have many ideas to be honest.
What to do when I need to stop at a traffic light just after my husband went back to work and the car beside me inherits a couple – separate driveways or dark windows for couple cars may be a solution.

I think I’m desperate to be complete again and can’t wait for my second half to arrive.
Nobody told us that long distance relationships and in our case now a long distance marriage aren’t always easy to handle (indeed it were lots who told us, but we make our own experience!). We are now married for three and a half month and were physically together one month. That could be the explanation for my developed strange thinking, couldn’t it?

Fortunately the countdown started and I promise that I will do all the things which are “annoying” me now throughout his whole stay!!!

Are you jealous?

 

An extract of my work – journey towards the unknown

I’m writing – that’s why I’m here. My plan is to have written one book at least one day – no time schedule up to now – and here is an extract, I’m on my way but I wonder what professionals would say as well as for sure readers.
If you take the time to read what I produced I would be more than happy to receive feedback!
Please be honest, I can stand it 🙂

Thanks a lot upfront!!!

Downstairs I’m standing now with my suitcase and the keys in my hand to remember where I parked the car. It’s autumn already and I always try to find a place away from the trees. I walk through the autumn filled air to my car, it’s covered with leaves already although the autumn just starts. I see it but my mind is already traveling, far ahead of me. My scarf isn’t protecting me from the cold air, or is it just my inner feeling?
The first thing after starting the car is turning the heater on, I’m freezing. The way to the airport is an half an hour drive and normally I turn the radio on and sometimes I even sing along but today I don’t even realize the silence in the car. My mind is loud enough, thoughts of how it will be and how I will feel. The streets are still empty, it’s early morning and weekend. The river besides the street is flowing quietly, no more kids playing there before they head off to the school, just a few people go for a walk with their dogs. We have many dogs in the city, this is what my husband realized quickly when he was here for the very first time. He’s scared of dogs and to have one as a pet is normal here but completely unusual for him. There are dogs existing where he is and he even had one as a child but nowadays it’s not common anymore.
I stand a the first traffic lights, wondering how often I drove this way and when I will be there again. The way to the airport is well known, I went there a felt thousand times. In the past mainly for catching flights for work, after I changed my job position the drives were rarely. Once or twice a year for work or holidays but it wasn’t my weekly drive anymore. When I met my husband the first time in person it was the first time for me as well to drive there and wait for someone to leave the arrival area. Someone I rarely knew at that time. It was exciting, scary, a strange feeling deep inside on what will happen and how we will spend the weekend.
Since then this airport has a special meaning for me, or better said, two.
The pick ups every few weeks are the happy drives. When I am near I even imagine in which arriving plane he may is or if he is already so near to me as I wish. The departure drives are the sad ones and we both try to catch every second of us before he is walking through the security check. I mostly try to walk away quickly so that he is not seeing the tears welling up. And also not to be one of those movie women at airports, crying because a spouse is leaving. I want to be stronger.
My car is parked and I am on my way to the check-in. The flight is on plan so far and I don’t have to hurry. Time to have a coffee and check the duty free offers but I’m walking like absent minded through the shops. I buy his perfume as it’s cheaper here and I love his smell so much. At home I open his wardrobe from time to time just to catch his scent. It’s easing somehow. He’s not there but I can smell him.
The gate opens and I walk between strangers into the plane. This is not unusual as I did it many times but this time it feels different. The language already changed although we haven’t started yet and I am happy that the stewardesses speak my language. I’m able to communicate at least until I arrive. Most of the passengers seem to be residents of our destination and the cultural difference is already present. Women are covered, some loosely, some from head to toe. They smell different than European women. I’m feeling slightly uncomfortable as I have the feeling as if everyone is staring at me. Who is she, the blonde woman, uncovered on her way to their country. I’m not uncovered like uncovered in a European meaning. I’m wearing comfortable jeans, flat shoes, a T-shirt and my wool jacket as I’m always freezing in planes. My scarf is in my bag, I’m sure I need it later on when the air condition of the plane starts. I’m pretty sure that they aren’t watching me because I’m not covered, they will always do that as I’m different. I will never fit into their picture on how women should look like and I will always be whiter and blonder. At this moment I’m glad to have booked a window seat as usual, that way I can snuggle up in my corner without strangers stepping over me to grab their bags, needing a toilet or whatever. A last message is sent to say that I’m in the plane, arrival time should be on schedule and that I will call as soon as I have arrived and the phone has net. Time to plug in the ear phones, music is always calming me down. Not because I’m scared of flying, I like it, but in general. To listen to my favorite music while starting is one thing I love. Everything is getting smaller below me and we break through the clouds and fly directly into the shining sun. The sun will be the same here and there but its intensity will change.
I am leaving, I am really leaving and am on my way. It’s kind of exciting and nervous at the same. Yes, I’m nervous as I go into a country I have never been to before. A country where the war is just over and it’s still not as calm as I would wish. A culture so different from ours. I tried to imagine several times how it will be but I will never know until I’m there. Imaginations, pictures, scenes from TV news, everything is running through my mind.

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A birthday post…

A birthday post…

…yes, it is my birthday today, and yes, I’m staying home and work normally like each Monday.
And no, I’m not lonely or weird (kind of lonely as I would love to have my husband around, but that’s another story). For weirdness, hello, it’s my birthday, so nobody can say today that I’m weird even if I may be from time to time a bit out of the range of “normal”.
I’m just not this “Heyyyy, it’s my big day and I HAVE to celebrate it”-type of woman.

I honestly like my birthday because it means I’m still here and I’m growing older, getting more wise sometimes, learn more, and have a day where the courier pops by to deliver nice surprises. Not celebrating doesn’t mean I don’t like gifts!
Mom is baking each year something I love and sends it frozen so that I can start to eat the yummie things right after arrival.
My parents, my sister and friends (which are all not living near) are sending greetings and presents and I love it.
Being on Facebook means that at least once per year my timeline is full of new posts and this is the reason why I started this one here.

Ok, I’m one year older and it’s a sign of good behavior to congratulate. I learned that as well when I grew up. But, and that’s a big but, why do people think I don’t like my age?
I got messages this morning like “all the best to your 28. birthday” or “Happy hatch day”.

I’m 36!!!
I’m neither losing my mind and think I’m younger than I am nor am I a chicken!
What do these people think?
Earlier when I had my sister on the phone I was suggesting to write on Facebook later today the following entry:

Thanks for all congratulations today! Just to clarify, I like my age and I’m hardly doubting that I have a hatch day as my mom confirmed she went through labour 36 yrs ago. For the ones who mentioned the word hatch or a number which is far away of my real age – thanks for being my “friends” throughout the last years but I think I have to get rid of your profiles through to unbridgeable differences in thinking and growing. Getting older means being more mature and sorry to say that, but as you seem to remain at 28 over even younger (hatch) I’d rather say goodbye instead of ripping my nerves.

Would that be too rude?

And what can I do about all these online shops which are sending me emails today?
I was thinking to reply back to each single one:
Dear (amazon, iTunes, Miles&more, Dove, Biotherm, L’Occitane, Cosmopolitan, Elle, miu miu, Harrods, Tiffany, Lafayette,…I think you’ve got it, so I don’t list all the others.),
It’s really nice that you took the time for checking your calendar and realized that it’s my birthday today.
Also thanks for sitting down and writing such nice words just for me to honor my day but instead of offering me a discount of 10% with a minimum order of 150€ or a free mascara with a minimum order of 75€ or something similar may I explain something?
If I’m not wrong the birthday should be a day where I receive gifts and gift means, according to Wikipedia, the following:
A gift or a present is an object given without the expectation of payment.
Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free.
In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to social cohesion.
Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy. By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favour, including forgiveness and kindness.

Said this I want to point out that if you want to make me happier or less sad I attached a list of objects – you can choose whatever you want as all of them would make me happier.
The shipping address is added and I look forward to see what the surprise will be in the end.
If you can’t decide as the list is too long, don’t worry, no one said a birthday gift can only be one item.

Thanks for your understanding and best regards,
Miss Faith

Writing this post already made me happier to be honest.
You can start to congratulate now if you like – haha.
Have a good day and take care!

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My husband & my best friend

My husband & my best friend

My husband & my best friend (1)

My husband and my best friend are one and only person.

I truly believe that this is the key for a good relationship.
We are not only husband and wife, we are also best friends.

There’s nothing I’m afraid of telling him. In good times and in bad times, I think that’s the most important part of it. Whenever there is something happening to him or to me we are calling each other and telling each other the news.

I want him to be the first person to know whatever is going on in my life, and fortunately he’s thinking the same way.

I not only love him, no, I trust him, I rely on him, I adore him, I laugh with him, I cry with him, I just want him to be around and to be the most important part of my life.
There are for sure many couple things we are doing together, grocery shopping, candlelight dinners in the evening, serious couple talking or future planning, building up our home, holding hands while strolling through the park, visiting the family and helping each other through tough times.

But there are on the other side also many friend things we are doing together, like sitting in a coffee gossiping about people walking by, chatting about nonsense the whole evening long, watching movie after movie and eating unhealthy things, clothes shopping (even shoe shopping although he is a man) or just sitting on the couch and talking for hours.

The time I spend with him is the most precious time in my life, even if we are fighting from time to time about stupid things, every second belongs to us and this is what I love most.

Whoever said that relationships have to be totally serious is wrong. Most important from my point of view is that you have to find the balance, the balance between being serious as a couple but also having lots of fun.

For sure if you’re tying the knot this is serious, but just because we are now husband and wife doesn’t mean that our personalities changed completely, we are still allowed to laugh out loud when we want to and to take life just as it is.
All facets of life should be displayed in a married life as well. We go through fun times and through sad times, we act serious and not serious, we behave like adults and we behave like children, and if you found the person where you can be all at once without getting a serious or a strange look, then you can be sure that you found it, the love you were looking for.

Keep it safe, hold onto it even if times are hard, it is a gift and it is so unique.
Many out there trying to search for it, they sometimes lose sight of the importance and search for something perfect and get frustrated because they’re not able to find it.
It will find you!

But it will only find you when you stop searching and if you get a way of wanting something perfect, it will never be perfect. It just can’t be perfect because we are humans. I’m truly convinced that these relationships happen by accident, accident in the best sense of the word accident. They hit you when you’re not expecting it. That’s the surprise of the meant to be.

Nobody ever told me that I have to go through so many struggles before this happens, but in the end I can say all these struggles were worth it. We found each other without searching and that was the best thing that happened to us. Now it’s our task to keep it going and we will give the best in us for the future.
Stay faithfully and never stop hoping!

 

If religion seems to be a must

If religion seems to be a must

If religion seems to be a must

Which religion do you have?
I can say confidently “none”, as it is the truth.


How is that? Don’t most of us have a religion by birth?

Yes, probably many have. I had one as well but I have chosen the non-religious way.
And non-religious doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in something.
There will always be this “how to be good” thing within me.
There are times when I have the feeling as if I’m devilish, as if the devil is within me, just because I’m not written to religion.
True, my passport doesn’t contain that I am a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or whatever religion we may have on this world. And?


Am I a less valued person because of that?
I never killed, I never cheated on someone, I never have stolen something, isn’t that proof enough that I’m not the devil?
The struggle for me is that I will find something good in each and every religion on this world and that I will on the other hand find many bad things also in each and every religion on this
world. So what would be the correct answer?

I’m a Christian but I don’t like the institutional church, I’m a muslim but I don’t like the pressure to pray five times per day or the women suppression in some countries, I’m a Jew but I don’t like to eat kosher or I’m a Buddhist but love to eat beef?


To be religious you’re supposed to have one religion, that’s my problem.
I haven’t found the ONE religion yet and I’m not searching actually for the ONE.
Okay, you should never say never, I agree on that. Maybe one day my eyes will light up and then there is the one religion for me and I know exactly this is my thing.

But honestly, up to the day, if it may ever happen, who knows, I will stay like I am.
Wouldn’t that be a big lie, even worse than that, in a religious meaning, to say now I’m a Christian although I’m not totally convinced and I’m not standing 100% behind it?
When I was a baby I got the christening which means I’m Christian because I got it but that wasn’t my choice. I grew older and I have chosen not to be a Christian anymore, I have chosen not to pay for an institution which is from my point of view not what I expect.

I truly believe in so many things, just see my name “faith”, I believe in faith, I truly believe that there is something called destiny, things that are meant to be, I believe in trust, in honesty, I vowed to my husband that I will be there for him in good times and in bad times, I can say sorry if I know I did something wrong, I am thankful for the life I have, thankful for the people surrounding me, I believe in hope and sometimes in little wonders, isn’t that enough?
And yes, I’m against so many things, there shouldn’t be hate and war and people killing each other, but all this does not count as religion.
Do I not have the right to find my own path, my own way of life? As long as I am not harming anyone I think I have this right!
I believe in love!!!

Why this topic? I can explain it to you.
I’m married and my husband is a Muslim. This is not a problem at all for me or for him. As long as we love each other there is no need to fight about something. He lives his religion and it is going along perfectly with my way of living. We made some compromises like no pork in the fridge, no alcohol in our flat and so on. Why do authorities think they have the right to interfere? After the wedding we’ve got our German family book. So the next thing to apply for was the Libyan family book. And here we go where the struggle starts.
To accept me as his wife they want the certificate of my religion. I’m honestly angry, i’m legally his wife, I carry his name and they start to treat me as if I am nothing.
The story has not yet an end, let’s see how we will manage it.

Meanwhile the story had an end – they accepted my christening certificate, that seemed to be sufficient. If that’s correct stands on a different paper.

Bein stamped doesn’t make any sense for me at all, especially not when you look back in history or just open your eyes in the now. Crimes in the name of a religion. It will never be the religion itself but the people who interpret as they wish. The people who stamp themselves as belonging to a religion although from my perspective they aren’t religious, they abuse the religion for their evil and cruel actions.

I don’t want to get a stamp rather than human, because that’s what I am.

Being religious vs being spiritual – I choose spiritual as it feels more like me.

If religion seems to be a must Click To Tweet
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Writing – passion or possession?

Writing – passion or possession?

And what about my day job…

Since I joined wordpress and imported everything I wrote before, this page is getting me back to what I thought blogging is in first place.
Even more to be honest, it’s really the best platform for me to do what I want to do around my blog.
And here it starts, now that I get more and more into it I want to spend more time with my writing passion – the problem is that I have a day job which consumes lots of my time and sometimes doesn’t leave much for enjoying my writing.
What’s dragging me to the blog – several reasons if I listen carefully to my heart.
It’s not only that I love to write and to pin all ideas down, it’s also kind of thrilling when I see likes coming in or persons start to follow.
Follow me!
Who am I that persons click the follow button?
Is it really interesting what I do on this blog or is it just me, thinking that I may improve now in writing?
Are they following because it’s a bad example on “how not to start a blog” or do they understand what I mean?
If I would write now that it is for sure that I am good and that’s the reason for people following me, the great thinker and writer, it would be insane.
I really think sometimes I’m getting insane, but vice versa.
From the bottom of my heart I believe that I’m not the dumbest person alive, I was always interested in many things with a certain kind of intelligence to understand them properly. Literature is accompanying me since I read the first word. A life without books is impossible for me, it’s like the air we need to breathe.
But there are times when I start feeling insecure. Am I really good enough? There are so many blogs, why should mine be the one dragging people to it?
Isn’t my layout too easy, shouldn’t there be more features included, but in the end I find back to myself and back to the reason why I have started.
I want to write, purely and simply write. So why to have the most stylish layout if the main focus should lay on what I write?
To be honest, I don’t want to spend hours on trying a light green background with purple dots or a sidebar with pop ups and polls as I see more purpose in using the time to write new posts.
Yet it is another kind of life story what I’m doing here. My life story, sometimes mixed with fiction, sometimes pure reality, and sometimes just things I love and adore.
But if I see how I am, then it’s not yet another life story as I’m the kind of person who loves to listen or read from someone else’s life. Not because I’m a stalker or jealous on how others go along, no, just because I think that each life is unique and each story can fulfill needs.
What needs?
There are the ones, which can amuse us, or make us cry, the ones that raise awareness and let us realize that we should be thankful for what we have, the ones which are similar to ours and which may show us another way when we feel to be on the one way road. And still there are so many stories out there which should be written but can’t as not everyone is in the wonderful position of being able to write, read or having a computer and electricity.
I hope you see the point, this is why I am writing.
I wouldn’t call it a possession although I realize since I’m here that life is so much more than working – where is my way, is it really to work through the day and write through the night?
Is my passion to have a lack of sleep because I need both?
I think I’m on my way and this is indeed something good already. I’m curious to see where this way will lead to but it would be far too early to know now. Another story which still needs to be written, one day, when I may found out the purpose of this passion possession.
What was your first intention when you started to blog?

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Do Rock Stars Need Social Media Strategies

Do Rock Stars Need Social Media Strategies

Yes, they definitely do!
I’m not a social media expert but I’m a social media user. This is written from my point of view, the user site. I’m not a fan in the meaning of the word fan but I like some singers, songwriters, etc. and I realized that there a big differences for instance in Facebook fan pages.
In times of Facebook and twitter there’s no way to ignore these media. But it’s not done with only sharing a fan page.

Fans want to get updates on what’s going on in their idols life. And most of them do not only want to read news about the development of a new album or getting the next dates for gigs, no, they want to have the feeling of participating a bit. They wanna see pictures from “behind the scenes”, having insight in the ‘private’ part of them.
On the other hand it’s absolutely understandable that the artist him/herself is not keen to share too much private life and to draw a strict line between business and private life.
That’s the reason why strategies are needed. What to share when and what not.

Surely one important thing is how known the artist is. If Justin Bieber is posting the view from his hotel room he may run into problems. Some of his fans will know the city where he is currently staying, some the view itself and the hunt is opened whereas some “unknown” or niche artist can do that without sharing too much information.

To develop a strategy the artist him/herself is needed. It doesn’t make sense if a management is updating and the artist not involved at all.
People realize that. There are some good profiles which proof that it’s working whereas you have also the bad examples in masses out there.
I don’t even believe that the amount of likes or followers is the most important. It has an importance but it’s not the key to success of a page. We all know that the follow or like button is quickly pressed but that doesn’t mean they are all honestly interested.

Connection is another bullet point on the development list.
Spread the message on many social networks instead of focussing on one.
You will always have some who love for instance myspace whereas others just log onto twitter.
Technology nowadays makes it really easy to take one network as a main page but connect it to several others ones so that one post is distributed to all – so all get the same message at the same time.

If you don’t want to loose fans or followers, inform them! There’s nothing bad in posting that you will be on holidays for two weeks and therefore not posting but that there will be news on the date you return. This way they’ll stay curious and wait for the next message.
Also inform them about dates, not only gigs, when are TV shows, press conferences, radio interviews, etc. Here it’s important to let them know in time. Is a date fixed, inform them. You still can send a reminder on the day itself but too short notice will minimize the audience. Not everyone is 24/7 on the web but many will put notes in their calendars if they are aware upfront.

Read comments – you don’t have to read them all as that would in some cases fill a full day, no, sneak in randomly – it’s always good to see what they think or may request. “There was no update on the new album release, when will it be on the shelves?” – this is a good comments to base the next post on.

Interact, not like talk to all of them personally but ask – did you like…, what can I improve…, where do you want to see me…, etc. they will have the feeling as if they are a part.

Give them previews on new things, they follow you because they expect to have a bit more insight than the public mass. “I’m working on a new song called…, stay tuned”.

Add small challenges – to give away an album or autograph doesn’t hurt you but will keep your fans happy.

Mention cities where the audience was awesome, they get the feeling as if they were special.

All in all what I want to emphasize is that this is a wide spread topic and that it’s not enough to just have an account. It needs to be feeded.
Good luck!

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Interesting fact from the Libyan herald

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Interesting fact from the Libyan herald

While preparing all our wedding documents beginning this year we were quite shocked when hearing that the German embassy in Tripoli closed.
Fortunately we had all stamps and legalizations we needed shortly before.
Now it’s even more interesting to find the article below, explaining that the German embassy never closed down all work in Libya but instead just moved to another building.
And how were the “wrong” news spread?
Read it below 🙂

German embassy working as normal explains new ambassador

Tripoli, 23 September 2013:

Despite reports to the contrary, the German embassy is open and working normally, the new German ambassador, Christian Much, has stressed.

“We’re busy, dealing with commercial, cultural, academic and many other matters such as de-mining and visits,” Much said today.

The embassy had closed its building in central Tripoli at the end of April because of security concerns following the attack on the French embassy and moved operations to Palm City in Janzour. However, the change of location was not noted by numerous Libyan organisations and the belief spread that the embassy itself had completely shut down – a belief reinforced when the Prime Minister said on 28 April Libya was at risk of frightening embassies away and that it would make it more difficult for Libyans to obtain Schengen visas.In his statement, he mentioned that the German embassy had closed. He meant merely the building but others, including Libya officials, thought that the Germans had packed their bags and left.

Another of the reasons for the mistaken view was that as a result of the move, Germany stopped issuing Schengen visas in Tripoli.

That has now changed, the ambassador noted today. Visas are gradually starting to be issued again in Tripoli. The embassy was looking at organising the visa section by using a visa service, similar to what some other embassies are doing, which would help people to fill in their forms and submit the applications, he added. A full visa service would be up and running well before the end of the year, he said.

Much also indicated that once he had presented his credential to the President of Congress, Nuri Abu Sahmain, he would be looking to increase Germany’s profile in Libya.

Read more: libyaherald

My window into a new life

My window into a new life

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You see the window on this picture, that’s “my” window, it was taken while we were on our first holidays on Cyprus.
My husband gave me the sight back – I was blind, blind in regards to life.
Too many struggles, never ending thoughts, resignation, running in circles, I simply lost the view towards my own future. Life was mainly dark and silent and then he stepped all of a sudden into my life and was so optimistic.
Life is not easy but we should live it as whatever is meant to happen will happen – his faith. We are both faithful persons but in complete different meanings.
What counts is the outcome – being able to love yourself, listen to your heart, trust others, look forward instead of living in the past.

The past is not our life anymore so we need to let it go.

This window is special as it was in an old castle and the way up scared me, always the abyss in sight and for me far too close to the car.
He reassured me, nothing will happen.
He was wrong – something happened – within me!

I trusted because he was confident to take us up there safe.
I looked forward to discover the ruins.
I enjoyed this amazing view with his arms around me, safe and sheltered.
And most important – I was absolutely sure that this view will change my life, this view we enjoyed together, the old ruins we discovered but then left behind like our past.

Sometimes you need to fall, but there will always be one person helping you getting back on track if you struggle and are scared of making it on your own.
I was on the edge of my own darkness, I crawled up slowly throughout the year before these holidays and I have to thank him for dragging me out there before I may fall in again.
This last piece of the way was what stopped me. Maybe because I had no aim to walk towards to.
Love is a great power in both ways, the good and the bad.
Today I can say I found the good, the one that is real and the one where you are loved just the way you are.