Adjusting the stripes

The ubiquitous presence of jalousie in German was new for me when I moved here. The exterior blinds or shutters that protect windows and interiors are brilliant. The jalousie we have on our windows at home are easily adjustable which allows for us to let light in, keep light out, or somewhere in between. It also brings a constantly changing and beautiful pattern of stripes and dots when the sun filters through the blinds into the interior. I revel in these stripes, their variations and how they interact with what is inside.

This equinox, I’m pondering the connection between the interplay of the light, the jalousie and the interior. Perhaps I can adopt a metaphorical set of jalousie for my exterior that is also easily adjustable to keep my exposure with the inside and outside flexible.

CREDIT: Sonoma Night Sky photo by Rob Stevens

Balance, symmetry, equinox

As I emerge and create a new life for myself I'm trying to find balance. I often struggle to keep my feet grounded and my mind open. There are times when I feel defeated by where I am. Then I remind myself, I am. I am here. I am safe. I am free. I can find balance and every time it is new and different.

Zurich fountain ©R Kirch 20220218_091903.jpeg

Shine a Light in 2022

2021 was an intense year. It was a jumble of emotions and a string of adjustments and changes. I was carried through the ups and downs by my community and my connection to my internal light. My incredible yoga teacher, Sophia Katschinski, reminded me and my fellow yogis to recognize our light and shine it out into the world like a spot light. My goal for the new year is to see, honor and share my light. Warm wishes for a glowing 2022.

Half Way

We are now half way between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice and I find myself looking for balance. I created this painting for the logo ‘i’ dot and favicon around the equinox and intended to use it to represent the balance of light and dark in the days surrounding equinox. The painting was there, however the final representation took some time. Things are taking more time for me these days as I try to find balance and grounding. I’m trying to open my eyes to the fact that yin AND yang is in everything always and living with that duality is onerous and awe-inspiring.

In Between

The Equinox is a time of balance – equality in the length of day and night, the middle point between the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, trees which are starting to sprout but are not yet full life – things are in between. And yet, the world feels unbalanced in many ways this Spring Equinox. There is comfort in the cycles of nature, knowing that they come and go as they have for a lifetime. Here’s to holding onto to what we can grasp as we sway in the uncertainty of the times.

PHOTO by KT on Unsplash

Fall Equinox: Can we be still?

Stillness is a strange concept for a human. Even if we think we are perfectly still, we still experience the rise and fall of our chest as we inhale and exhale. Even if we can learn to reduce the physicality of our breathing we are still in motion because we are all stationed on a moving planet. Perhaps it is not possible to be human on earth and be absolutely still. And yet, I’m drawn to the practice of being still and the questions that arise from that practice: How can I be still when there is so much happening? How can I make my mind still when thoughts continue to arise? How do I feel about being still? What’s it like to be still right now?

The recent drastic shift in how we interact with our world has been helpful in allowing me to find more stillness. There seems to be less pressure to go there, or see that or to talk about this. I find that many of us are letting go of the things that we did not hold dear allowing for more time, space and stillness for us.

Photo by Wayne Dahlberg on Unsplash

Summer Solstice in a Transformative Time

Never in my life have I felt more uncertain of the future of our shared humanity. The intensity of the unpredictability is at once unsettling and releasing.

Most of the world is, or has been in some sort of shut down. Seemingly simple things – like giving my friends a hug – are no longer a given. And there is a beauty in the fact that we are all experiencing the effects of Corona. Maybe this united experience can begin to break down the sense of otherness that we sometimes feel. ‘This thing is happening on the other side of the world. That thing is happening but id doesn’t really effect me’, in these times the validity of these ideas falls away because we are ALL experiencing the isolation, uncertainty, fear and grief of living in a time with COVID-19.

I feel the universe saying more loudly now than ever before, ‘you are all one people, one humanity’. And my heart is full to see the world wide protests in support of Black Lives Matter that are echoing this message.

Perhaps we can all listen. Listen to the universe, listen to the resurgent movement(s) for equality, listen to our own experience and our own emotions and listen with a new openness to each being we interact with. We are all here sharing this earth, sharing the experience of the present and sharing our humanity.

Life Cycles in the Pandemic

Many minds around the globe are occupied at the moment with thoughts of COVID-19 and its repercussions. The Corona Pandemic is reaching us all and reminding us of our shared humanity. We’re all on this planet, we’re all susceptible, and we are all connected. While we are connected we are each in the arch of our own life cycle, Mother Earth is also reminding us that cycles continue with or with out a pandemic. Spring is here in Germany, the crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips showing their colors. This visual reminder of the new life of spring – from the ground, from the trees, from the bushes – is helping me in this complex and novel time. All is change, that is life. Now we are changing from winter to spring and we are changing to a life of freedom of movement as we’ve known it for 100+ years to restricted physical interactions for the foreseeable future. What will be the next change?

Photo by Lyndee Uhrich on Unsplash

Perspectives for a New Decade

Happy new year & happy new decade! I’m delighted to be stepping into the twenties. It feels like a new chapter. Perhaps this portrait from today, with my stretched shadow across the frosted grass, will help me remember that the multitude of perspectives, if noticed with curiosity, can change how we see and how we live.

Wonderful winter solstice

On this winter solstice, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, may you enjoy the beauty of your inner light on this longest night of the year.

Beautiful Decay

I treasure the discovery of moments of beautiful decay. Berlin is full of examples of things that seem to have been forgotten or looked past for decades and the signs from the past patiently wait to be noticed. How did this pile of bike parts become a heap coated with rust on the sidewalk? What can we tell from the side of the building that shows where the former rooms from the adjacent building once were? How many times has this wooden front door swung open to allow someone in or out? If a picture can tell a thousand words, what can the beautiful decay tell us?

Bright Thanksgiving Weather

Growing up in California, I didn’t notice the weather on Thanksgiving, most likely because it was probably sunny every year. Only when I moved to New York and started to feel the onset of winter in November did I take notice the weather on the fourth Thursday of November. For many years in a row I enjoyed a quiet Manhattan in the morning of the holiday while walking through the quiet city on a bright, crisp, cold and sunny day. There was somethings special about those mornings of light that made the day feel special.

This morning I woke up to the same, sunshine. It was especially remarkable because Berlin has been under a blanket of clouds for days on end. Today, American Thanksgiving day, the fourth Thursday of November, the sun lifted the blanket to kiss us with its warmth. I’m thankful its sunshine and the ever changing weather.

Power of Water: fountain

Most of us know how powerful water can be. Its ability to transform a multitude of materials is spectacular. For me, the power of water is also meditative. I crave a place where I can interact with water. With each place I’ve called home, I’ve found a place where I can be with water and enjoy its ever changing form. I often return to this simple fountain to entice my sense of sight, smell, sound and touch.

Fresh Start on the Fall Equinox

The Fall Equinox, which lies mid-way between the summer and winter solstices, marks the day where the day and night are equal. This idea of two balanced sides of a single day is comforting and grounding.

This day also marks the middle of the autumn, a season of change and preparation for the winter ahead. I’m grateful to live in a place where seasons are present and palpable. I grew up in California where there wasn’t a noticeable change in seasons. Yes, it rained a bit more in the winter, and we had snow in the Sierra which allowed for snow sports, however, I didn’t experience the sharp changes in temperature, color and mood that went along with each season until I moved to New York. New York taught me that winters kept folks indoors, a tough lesson to learn in my first year. Spring brought bursting bulbs and a bounce in peoples steps, including mine. Summer often felt like hanging out on a sagging dog’s tongue, warm, moist, lazy. Fall was perhaps the most startling of all for me because I could not have imagined the extraordinarily vivid colors produced by the foliage. I still remember being glued to the car window trying to absorb the variety of color on the hillsides during trips out of the city.

This fall brings a change for Tinge. A new website, a new identity and a new blog. The logo of Tinge has a touch of texture, can you spot it? This texture will not remain static, it will change and continue to renew itself. What will it be next? I’m not sure, we will see. However, the new Tinge begins today, on the Fall Equinox to bring balance to its fresh start.

Berlin Tempelhof

I participated in a guided tour of the buildings at Berlin Tempelhof. The massive arced main building was created for many purposes: arrivals, departures, hanger space for planes, restaurants and services, etc. The original plan was to create spectator seating on the roof that could accommodate thousands of people to watch the airfield.

Perhaps my favorite part of the tour was hearing the stories of how people interacted with the buildings. Who conceptualized and built the structures, who used them and why, the memories of the ‘Raisin Bombers’ heard from the people in our tour, the top secret listening rooms with in the buildings, all of these made the walls seem to come alive.

It felt wonderful to be in the Arrivals Hall again and remember a snowy December evening when I arrived there shortly before the airport was finally decommissioned. I was awe struck by the high ceilings and the consistent palate of browns and tans. It was so completely different from any other airport that I had ever experienced.

I feel lucky to have witnessed Tempelhof as a functioning airport and now as a multifaceted gem in the middle of Berlin.