Back in the Swing of Things

Hi everyone! I got back from my visit to Germany about 10 days ago and am trying to get back into our routine at home again. Visiting with my family and friends was wonderful - relaxed, rewarding and fun, fun, fun! Everyone is doing well and that's the most important thing of all!

And I got to enjoy Germany in the summer. There were two days with some rain but other than that the sun was shining and it was warm. Some days even a little too warm for my liking. But Germany in the summer has a special kind of beauty and I'll be sharing my photos with you little by little.

While I was traveling I was thinking about the things I usually do at home and one of those was this blog. I thought about how it has changed from what it originally started out being - my thoughts on my journey into creativity - to more of a show-and-tell blog. There is nothing wrong with that, except that it lost its appeal to me.

I thought about not continuing with the blogging, but I realized that I have really come to love writing, especially paired with photos and art, your comments and our interactions.

So I will continue with this blog, but I'll go back into the direction it had once had - I will go deeper again. Into myself and what I am thinking about. Some things will always remain too personal to share in a public forum on the internet, but many things aren't.

And I bet that many of the issues I think about as my life changes to one of more creativity, of more art, of being in my 40s, of feeling the first twinges of peri-menopause, of trying to be of value even though I am not working at a "regular" job, and of so much more - are also things that many of you contemplate.

Lately I found that I keep many of those thoughts to myself and that brings with it a feeling of "being the only one," of isolation and for me much anxiety.

Several of my close friends are facing enormous issues at the moment from health to finances to family dramas - and that makes me think about how important it is to savor the moment and enjoy life while it is enjoyable! I have such deep appreciation that all is well in my family at the moment!

And I realize how important it is for me to live deeply - which actually I usually do - and to share that with the world - which I often don't. Lately I have been more of a listener than a sharer and I can tell that somehow there is an imbalance within me. So, more sharing it is! Get ready!! ;-)

From when I can remember (and I very clearly remember back to when I was three years old) I have been a deep thinker. Always! I remember not even being in school and contemplating eternity and endlessness and realizing that I couldn't picture it in my mind. Ok, so I'm a little weird... ;-)

All that to say that my blog is going to change a little and become a bit more personal again. I'll continue to share photos and recipes (food is a huge part of our life) and art as soon as I start getting creative again. That, too, is changing and I'm not sure yet how.

As always, I hope you'll continue to accompany me on this journey that we all seem to share as we make our way through life. You all have become very important to me!

❧ Silke 

P.S. These pictures were all taken in Münster, my home town, this summer. The open air market that takes place every Saturday and Wednesday, rain or shine, is a must visit every time I am in Münster. Last time it was winter - cold and raining - and not nearly as pleasant as this time around...