Spirit of the River

Sometimes, there are things that make me angry - and usually it has to do with thoughtless human beings who don't think much and simply repeat the views of the general public, i.e. what they have heard in some TV show, what their family says and what they have heard from their friends. One statement I have heard one time too often is the statement about some animals being a "pest". It doesn't matter which animals people refer to . Be it rats, mice, possums or pigeons. I usually challenge people when they talk about "pests". One of the first times was when I still lived back in Germany. I used to live in Heidelberg and many pigeons live in the city centre. I always enjoyed watching them when I was waiting for the  bus or tram. They were beautiful and they had a certain grace. I never got bored of them. One day, an older man was standing next to me and apparently he was a bit bored. He started a conversation with me with the words: "Don't those st...

Xena's smile in the intro of the series It's time that I explain my love for Lucy Lawless a little. Facebook suddenly started flooding me with ads for gay and lesbian dating - tells you a lot about what FB is reading into the things you post on your timeline. I find it quite amusing and my friends also know the joke: If Lucy Lawless ever came my way, left her husband and decided that she wanted to have me at her side, I would not even think about saying "no"! ;) I think, I just have quite a healthy admiration for someone who helped me to discover a lot about myself. Nothing wrong with that - and with some jokes! So when did this all start? The Warrior Princess It started many years ago, when I first saw the TV show Xena. It was screened every Saturday or Sunday afternoon (I don't really remember which day it was). When I was a teenager, Xena turned into one of my favourite shows, however, it was only when I re-watched the whole series on DVDs a few y...

No matter how cloudy it might be, the sun will be somewhere behind the clouds -  i.e. no matter how many dark clouds are surrounding your spirit at the moment:  they will never be able to completely distinguish the light within you. When we have to tell bad news to someone, we often try to sweeten them up by also adding something positive. After all, we don't want to be responsible for the other person's anger, sadness or despair. If we have to communicate something negative (i.e. "I'm sorry but you will have to look for a different job"), we often try to add something that puts the other person into a positive mindset (i.e. "I am sure that your skills will be very welcome in a slightly different kind of job.") I am sure you can think of a few examples on your own. In general, we are responsible for how we react to bad news. In the past, bad news really got to me and it was easy for me to fall into a very negative pattern in which I thought thin...

Napoleon Hill was one of the people who believed that we could achieve anything we want to achieve (I recommend his book "Think and Grow Rich" even though it's quite an old book). He said that our minds are our only enemy and that - as long as we believe - we can do anything. It is also the same kind of thought that is behind "The Secret". Yes, this is a blog entry about the law of attraction and I would appreciate if some of you would comment on this because it would be interesting to see what others think. I have read many books about this kind of topic, with my favourite being "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. It's not really about the law of attraction but falls into that kind of category. It helped me to get back on track with writing. Before I read the book, I had given up on writing. I believed no one would ever want to read my words and that no one would ever pay me to write anything. I didn't believe that the book could he...

The tree was right beside Frodo's bedroom in Rivendell. Gandalf was in that bedroom, i.e. that tree might very well have been touched by him! During the last week of January 2012, I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a friend who is living close to Wellington. A friend who had never seen "Lord of the Rings" before! My mission while in that area was: 1. to turn my friend into a "Lord of the Rings" fan 2. to visit "Lord of the Rings" locations 3. to run into Ian McKellen I managed 1+2, but still have not seen my favourite actor! Anyway, in this blog entry, I would like to show you a few photos of the locations I have been to (the seagull photos will get their own blog entry one day because they deserve it and I will combine them with the seagulls of Taranaki, Whanganui and Bethell's Beach). The very first location we visited was Mt. Victoria which was the location for the scenes in which the Hobbits fell down the hill and then encou...

During the last few days, I noticed an increased number of messages that went along the line of "follow your heart" or "trust what your heart is telling you".  A fortune cookie I opened today (a real one, i.e. not online) told me: "Do what you have been longing to do". This makes me wonder: Is it always right to follow your heart? Of course, I can see the point in all the positive messages that would like to encourage people to trust in their own heart, in their beliefs and their dreams. I used to be someone who believed that the heart is a very important guide and that it could take you into the right direction. But now I am not so sure about it anymore because my heart is telling me things that can't be. I will not tell you what it is in my heart as it is a long story and it is not something I would want to share with too many people (even though this blog is not very frequented, there will always be some visitors who are strangers to me and ...

Here I am - taking a break from writing... and what do I do? I write even more. This morning, on my way to the supermarket, one of the local black-backed seagulls was flying along my side for a short distance and I was wondering about the life of seagulls. I wondered whether they have similar problems to human beings or whether their life is easier on an emotional level. Of course, there are people who say that animals do not have emotions but I believe that birds have souls and that they are very intelligent. I think that we simply never really studied seagulls closely enough - at least I have never seen anything written about the social life of seagulls (apart from the usual stuff life breeding, nesting etc.). However, when you watch seagulls, you will notice that they all have different characters. Some are more careful than others and there are always a few seagulls who could be called "unpopular". They try to be part of the group but often get picked on. It might just...