WONDER AGAIN

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The both of us sit in the metro, looking around. I am looking at the people crowded around us, the surroundings we pass…I catch him doing the same, carrying a facial expression as if he were in deep, complicated thoughts- my 5 year old brother.

I ask him, out of the blue and after a few minutes of silence: “What are you thinking about?“
The answer is: “About nothing“

Thinking about nothing, when have I last thought about nothing? Where I was still present, still absorbed the impressions of my surroundings, where my mind, however, was free of cloudiness and clutter? It must have been a long time ago, as I cannot recall…

When I think, my thoughts circle around memories, which are in the past, or what I will do once we get off of the metro and are home, how my plan is for the upcoming day or week. Though I exist in the present, my thoughts are generally in the past or future. What about the present and no thoughts at all?

Letting go of all these thoughts that circle our heads has been forgotten. Being a child again. They do not have this sense of time we have, so the only option available is living in the moment. Living in the moment to me means enjoying the little things, embrace the bad equally as the good and most importantly open up one’s heart to wonder. This sense of wonder dies within us with every year we become more “mature“, “grown up“…more socially accepted as “adult“. We are taught to think about our future, who we aspire to be, with whom or not we want to be, what we want to become and accordingly our thoughts are shaped, not solely by us, however. It is also not wrong to spare some thoughts on these subjects, but they should not control our existence, being in the present and limit our capability to live in the moment and merely BE.

I, for my part, want to save this little piece of wonder within me and stay a child in this aspect, the typical Peter Pan syndrome you might think, but no! Maturity is important, but so is wondering and living in the moment- we need a healthy balance. Some of us will need to learn to wonder again, but the more you wonder the more you learn- about yourself, the world and people around you.

Sometimes we just need to declutter ourselves, let go, dance and finally live.

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Shot by Sarah Johanna

CREATIVE MIND, STYLE OF LIFE

New and Unknown

Daring to act; withstanding expectations, rules and opinions. Stepping outside of our comfort zone is something we rarely do on a day to day basis. What is it that hinders us from doing so? Fear- of failing, disappointing or not living up to expectations. Are these, however, expectations from us to ourselves or what others expect from us? If it is the latter we need to gather the COURAGE to step out of our comfort zones. Our motivation should not be for pleasing others and thus gaining a certain status or self satisfaction, but rather for the „thing“ itself, whatever it might be. So why not gather the courage and act upon the ideas we have and want to realize. Disregarding the doubting questions of whether this new step we are about to take complies with our previous actions, what others expect from us or even what we expect from ourselves. Dare. Be Courageous. We grow with our actions and the littlest of things could be outside of our “comfort zone“- expressing a thought that might stir up a discussion, standing by your opinion or approaching someone in public. I might have been shy or nervous when doing some of the previously mentioned, yet they are not outside of my comfort zone. There is not necessarily something I have done that I would label as daring or courageous. Nonetheless, I am eager to say yes more often, despite it potentially being beyond what I have imagined or thought of for myself.

The “new“ things were often “unknown“ or “unimaginable“, yet by gathering courage we can make these known and imaginable. When do we consider something as new? The definition varies, yet the process undergone is most likely the same- the innovator or creator has taken the courage to create something unexpected, unthought of and thereby shapes the standards of what is considered as being “new“ and people’s opinions. Society might first question the idea, yet once it has become reality they might think differently. Most importantly however, we need to rediscover our IMAGINATION. It might have been forgotten due to expectations, ideals and etiquette. Only so we can think without being in a box in the first place, outside of our comfort zones, outside from society’s standards and outside from expectations.

“The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it“ – Oscar Niemeyer

The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg is now considered as the prime landmark of the city. After 10 years of construction and cost overruns, expectations and critique kept on growing until there were mainly two opinions: hate or love. To me, Pierre de Meuron and Jacques Herzog, the architects of the Elbphilharmonie, have created something “new“ and previously unimaginable- a landmark, residential building, hotel and acoustically advanced concert hall all in one. Standing on the escalators themselves was already impressive as it is. I felt a little like Alice, falling down the rabbit hole, being drawn into a different, to me still unknown world- the light installations, rounded off stair cases, the daring contrast of white and brick. Personally, I cannot wait to attend a concert at some point, the tickets are sold out for months in advance at the moment… For the time remaining I can appreciate this landmark’s architecture, visit the Plaza and enjoy its power of bringing people together. Most importantly, however, it has inspired me to dare, be courageous and live and act without the limitations of the known and expected.

Shot by Sarah Johanna

STYLE OF LIFE

ON THE GO

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When out and about, we are always in a rush, heading from one place to the other in the hopes of cramming as much activity as possible into one hour or day- it is only limited to 24 hours and we need a minimum of 8 of these to sleep; at least I do. This leaves us with 16 hours to complete our daily duties- work, cook, eat, commute from one place to the next…We have the urge to complete tasks faster, get more done and thus rush ourselves. Living in a city strengthens this “rush“, which I find sometimes very motivating and enlivening; being amongst a crowd, though strangers, pursuing different goals and destinations and yet sharing a space. I think this is why many are attracted to life in cities- being amongst a crowd, surrounded by vibrancy, movement, life and yet being to yourself, living in your own bubble.

Despite the fact that I might be on the go, or have to be somewhere at a given time, I like to take some time for myself to re-energize and have a little down time before going back into the storm. For that reason I like to carry my On-The-Go coffee and tea cup with me. It allows me to treat myself, such as purchasing a coffee with oat milk or a nice fresh green tea, and still take it on the go. Also, I am contributing or rather alleviating some stress from the environment by reducing my waste production and carbon footprint.

We are let to believe that the cardboard coffee cups we purchase at all the main coffee shops are being recycled, we even throw them into recycling bins. However…

most on the go coffee cups are lined with polyethylene to make them waterproof- this aggravates the recycling process, since there are only few facilities with the capabilitity of separating this layer
fewer than 1/400 cups are sent for recycling; even though you might have decided to recyle this does not imply they will actually be recycled in the end, some don’t even get to see a recycling facility
50% (150 million) of the American population drink coffee in its various forms, in the UK 10,000 cups are used in 2 minutes, making 7 million a day and 2.5 billion a year. This underpins the vast coffee community and the impact it can have when making sustainable and conscious choices
coffee cups are also not made from recycled materials in the first place, enlarging the carbon footprint one leaves

The facts were new to myself as well, yet have supported my choice of turning to re-usable on-the-go coffee cups instead. If the line “CAUTION! CONTENTS HOT“ is why you rather turn to the disposable, non-recyclable and non-reusable coffee cups I can assure you, my silicone lid has the same line written on it AND it is environmentally friendly. The only real drawback is that my lipstick is really hard to get off of the silicone lid, but this is something I am willing to accept for the many, many benefits my ceramic cup brings along. I do not only use it for on-the-go beverages, but also as a usual cup for tea at home. The rounded off top is just so nice to drink from, and the black hearts instantly make any drink look more appealing to me.

At home or on the go, I love drinking from my ceramic cup. I can enjoy my “hot contents“ with delight and a good conscience. What other thoughts would you wish for when enjoying the first coffee or tea of the day?! I wouldn’t know any better. See some cute options below!