HOME

What is it that we call home? Is it a person, a place, a house or a state of being? Arrival. A mindset.

The inner monologue counts. It speaks through my eyes, my body- rearranging the current, the frequency and the atmosphere. Eyes that see- for seeing and observing – not for judging or criticizing. Ears that listen- to understand and absorb- not to reply. A heart open- to everything. This is home. You are home. I am home. Repose- within.

A never-seizing quest to find this eminent condition of arrival – within. It pullulates, occasionally, then seizes and resumes once water has been poured on this sprout. In this time, however, of pullulation- I am. Beyond expectations, duties, responsibilities and opinions. Stripped down to this nakedness of my being. Me: weaknesses and strengths, laughter and tears, dances and tantrums, screams and kisses, Peter and Wendy- boundless, eternal.

Others, need to allow me to preserve these qualities- support not suppress them, love not hate them, challenge not judge me- let me be me. I have arrived- here with me. I am waiting for you to join me- dancing wildly, pondering meticulously, laughing whole-heartedly, drinking voluptuously- here. Commence this synesthetic journey- see with your heart, hear with your eyes and feel with your eyes – and you will arrive. At home. Unbenannt-2 ABOUT RADICE:

Radice is a sleepwear company founded in Munich, Germany in September of 2017. It is their mission to create something one can wear all day, but also at night. As we spent 1/3 of our lives asleep, it was also important to create the best sleeping experience that is relaxing and rejuvenating, but most importantly something that feels good on the skin. Sustainability is very important to RADICE as well! They produce and source their fabrics from Shanghai, where silk has been tradition for over 5000 years. After visiting countless manufacturers for silk they stumbled upon a boutique founded by three women, who now produce their high-quality and exquisite silk sleepwear. Silk* is a natural and organic fabrics, which is comparable to the human skin. Thus, it lets our biggest organ breathe whilst we are asleep, regulated our temperature (it cools in summer and warms in winter- the perfect insulator), helps reduce stress and therefore improves the sleep quality.

The prints were created in collaboration with European artists to reminisce travel destinations and memories. Radice embodies the spirit of freedom, what you love and realizing your dreams.

*Silk is made by silkworms and therefore NOT VEGAN. I am personally still struggling with clothes in terms of veganism, but I am taking one step at a time. In this instance, I am arguing between the stress and harm placed on animals vs the pollution synthetic materials create in our ecosystem. When synthetic materials, without helpers such as the GOOPY friend with which I wash all my sportswear and synthetic clothes, are washed they release micro plastics into our water, rivers and oceans which might eventually end up on our plates again. This is not a problem with organic and natural fabrics such as cotton (vegan), wool or silk. Hence, I am still debating this matter! This is one of RADICE’s arguments for silk as well.

*This post was made possible due to the kind team at RADICE sleep, who’ve sent me their sleep-wear on a loan basis for this shooting.

Shot by Sarah Johanna

MerkenMerken

LET'S TALK, STYLE OF LIFE

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

SOPHIE MARIE X

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