Time to act

I first heard about Greta Thunberg when her speech about climate change in Davos went viral. Today, I found her TED Talk.

Her brutally honest words should shake us up.

“Instead of looking for hope, look for action.” Take your steps. Educate yourself. Prioritize. There are many things you can do, and most of them won’t even effect your own comfort. Maybe you need to be more mindful and plan ahead. Maybe you just have to look into what’s available and do a tiny change. Just be aware of your own footprint and its effect on the World – we only have one from it, so we should treasure it and take care of it not only for ourselves, but for the future generations to come.

What are some easy steps you could take?

• become a conscious consumer and think about what you purchase and its impact on the environment
• use public transportation
• eat less meat and dairy
• stop using single-use plastic items
• pay voluntary carbon tax if you wish
• change to sustainable power companies
• lead by example

You don’t have to do everything and you don’t have to do all of that at the same time. Change doesn’t come overnight. But if we all start to take baby steps, it all adds up.

Michael Jackson – Earth Song

Tick-tock

Time flies fast. Sometimes I am wondering if I had waited for too long to spread my wings. But as soon as I start thinking about this “what if”, I realize I needed every step on the way to be where I am now.

I believe that in general, everything has its own time, and we all have to get to the point to be ready for the next step to happen.

I don’t think I have wasted much of my time. I needed that time to experience, fail and learn. That makes me who I am today.

Agnes Obel – The Curse

Stay positive

Even in the hard times. That’s where you force yourself out of your comfort zone. That’s where you push boundaries. That’s how you learn. The waves above your head are only temporary. They are only there to show you how strong you can be.

Naxatras – Waves

Experience

Gathering practical knowledge only comes through fighting your way through obstacles. You don’t always realize, but you gain experience with every step along the way. Even the steps towards a wrong direction teach you a lot. You hardly ever realize how much you’ve learned, as there’s always something new that comes up.

Lately I started to note how much I’ve evolved.
I learned who to trust and who to rely on. I learned to rely on myself. To trust others, and most importantly to trust myself. To not question my capability of doing things. To not stress about new, unknown challenges.

Many of my friends like my positive attitude the most. That’s one of my main characteristics, they say. Little do they know how much work is behind that optimism. How many times I have bumped my own head into the same walls over and over again to know that there’s always a solution. But more importantly, that failing is an opportunity to learn.

I manage to give decent advice regarding a bunch of different topics nowadays. How to register a dog in Berlin, where to look for accommodation, which direction to take. Who to contact if something went wrong with the yearly bills. Tiny things.

Fortunately, I also managed to build a network of good friends here, who always help me out when I’m in need.

I feel like I’ve arrived. For once and for all. I am home.

We Lost The Sea – A Gallant Gentleman

Obstacles

I feel like I levelled up today. I managed to assemble a wardrobe without instructions, completely on my own. I’ve overcome the obstacles of which screw goes where and how do I start. The one thing left to do is to stand it on its wheels. This is a task for two.

It’s funny, how we’re capable of almost anything, and yet the most simple step could become a bottleneck.

Learnings for today:

• I can always learn new things and I’m creative if I face some challenges.
• What I do myself, gets done.
• It’s always better to take obstacles with humor.

My new wardrobe will sleep on its back in the living room tonight. I’ll get some help to get it running tomorrow.

Cymande – Dove

Between the bars

Hearing one of your favourite songs referenced in a movie is always a nice feeling.

Elliot Smith – Between the Bars

Love, love, love

Kevin Morby – Harlem River

How far we’ve come

International women’s day is becoming a public holiday in Berlin. Someone has built the shoe-house from a fairytale as a tiny home. Scientists have found a way to reverse aging in mice.

What have I done recently?

I moved to a new country, found a job that actually fits my interests, and after starting less than a year ago, I am going to be mentoring together with my mentor from back in the days. Small achievements step by step, that make me proud.

I also work on my translation project, that’s an investment for my future.

I am having exciting times, and I can’t be grateful enough that I am in this position to have all these opportunities.
Life is good.

Matchbox Twenty – How Far We’ve Come

Freezing

Today, it’s freezing my eyes cold. Crispy.

Kevin MacLeod – Slide Path

Rearrange

Some friends come and go. Some disappear, then return for a while. We are temporary arrangements, and pillars in each other’s castles.

The Greenhornes with Holly Golightly – There is an End