Happymind

Recently a certain thought has been crossing my mind. What would I do, when I suddenly had a lot of money, so much, that I have never have to worry about money anymore and can have a good life for the rest of my years?
I thouht, what will I do then, and how I will feel, and think about what and if something changed?
Mmmmh, good question. Interesting question. Never really thought about as I have spent the last couple of years being a rather poor student. Lived in a dodgy student appartment, spent most of the monthly budget on clothes and parties, and that was all -- surprise - surprise financed by a student loan I got from our house bank.
Anyways, to come back on this particular question, I would start with a very generous money transfer to this bank, and pay everything back in one time, to be once and for all off with it.
Next thing I do, is to buy something, which I would never have bought before with a "normal" (--What is normal? One which is gone by the end of the month? Something like that) budget. Thinking of an incredibly expensive pair of shoes (yes, I know.... soo girly) or a handbag (always wanted to have one of those from Hermes). If that is done, I make a list of all beloved family members and invite them all to a big family dinner and share a huge part of the money with them, that they can let their children study (so they need no fu**** study loan), pay for their morgage, or fly into a nice far away vacation or whatever they would really like to have or do. Then I would make plans to visit my dear friends in those various parts of the world - holiday destinations are taken care of too now. I would buy a couple of horses to ride and breed them. As my material wishes are finally settled now, I try to be politically active. Promoting Europe (united one of course) is one of my favourite topics. Suggest high taxation on meat. I would work as a volonteer. Where? I do not know where people are needed at this moment, but I am sure that I find a place very soon. Otherwise I go and walk dogs from the animal asylum. Perhaps adopt one. Would my state of mind really change? No, I do not think so. OK, having money saves some stupid thoughts wasted on worries, but a happy mind is a happy mind, or is there something like overhappy?

Stufen

Wie jede Blüte welkt und jede Jugend
Dem Alter weicht, blüht jede Lebensstufe,
Blüht jede Weisheit auch und jede Tugend
Zu ihrer Zeit und darf nicht ewig dauern.
Es muß das Herz bei jedem Lebensrufe
Bereit zum Abschied sein und Neubeginne,
Um sich in Tapferkeit und ohne Trauern
In andre, neue Bindungen zu geben.
Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne,
Der uns beschützt und der uns hilft, zu leben.

Wir sollen heiter Raum um Raum durchschreiten,
An keinem wie an einer Heimat hängen,
Der Weltgeist will nicht fesseln uns und engen,
Er will uns Stuf' um Stufe heben, weiten.
Kaum sind wir heimisch einem Lebenskreise
Und traulich eingewohnt, so droht Erschlaffen,
Nur wer bereit zu Aufbruch ist und Reise,
Mag lähmender Gewöhnung sich entraffen.

Es wird vielleicht auch noch die Todesstunde
Uns neuen Räumen jung entgegen senden,
Des Lebens Ruf an uns wird niemals enden...
Wohlan denn, Herz, nimm Abschied und gesunde!

Hermann Hesse

Greenovation

When I was diving through the internet today I bumped into the plans of Greenpeace who plans to launch a campaign against high energy usage and big tech firms.

They were were looking for a name for this campaign on social media and I am happy to see that within a couple of minutes there where already many shares, likes and comments.

As being involved with green electronics myself I truly believe that soon the green revelution will go loose and the big giants as RWE, E.On and other huge energy suppliers have to go down on their knees.

I believe that soon we will have more transparency about energy usage of big companies. This could be provided by smart meters and sensors which could be visible online, visible to everyone.

To launch press releases about a company's green activity is nice. But can that be proved? Difficult.

So what we should have is a tool which shows us who is using what and how much, so that there is a "size-it-down" competition. Smart meters can already show how much a private household uses compared to the whole district, so why not making a network of the "big fish"? To really show, who is wasting, who is using green energy? I think that could really make a big step ahead to push the green revolution forward! And it would help to make a difference: If the big ones go a) down on energy usage and b) switch to green energy, the energy giants are forced to switch as well.

To come back to Greenpeace: They have also made a list how to contribute, with Things you can do, which you can find here. I really like the "donate a tweet a day". That is something everyone can afford and can have so much effect.

Come on, let's tweet again!

A room with a view

I always like to experience things. That is especially connected with going to different places, meeting different people and connect to different cultures. Therefore travelling marks an important part of my life. I probably have to differentiate my definition of travelling: Travelling is different from vacation. A vacation means for me to travel to some place and put relaxation in the foreground. Spending time on the pool, sleep long, read books which I always wanted to read but never had the time to (yes I am a book nerd, but sometimes, I am meeting characters in books which are -- how to say, a little bit difficicult and require more time and attention than usual- a vacation is perfect for this) and hanging around the cocktail bar. The hotel should be nice, and the service conveniant. travelling for experience is therefore completely different as going on a vacation as it simply serves the experiencing-purpose. Yes, there is (mostly) a hotel involved. But it does not need to have a Spa or some all-inclusive trallalashallala but a cosy little room with a view and a place where some croissants and coffee is provided in the morning. The relaxation here comes from experience. And experience supplies inspiration. Inspiration releases energy and this leads to relaxation and happiness. That is at least how it works with me.
for example to find out, and experience how it feels to be part of a particular place I mostly go to a news stand close to an Underground station and buy a local newspaper. With the newspaper in my arms or in one of my large shopper-handbags I am walking off the big main streets, mostly some 20 mins into the streets of "real life" to find a sweet little, sometimes rather dodgy cafe, where I see just ordinary people sitting and sipping their teas and coffees, reading, iPadding, or busy with their mobile phones, preparing for an ordinary working day. That is the place I go in and communicate with some stranger-waitress / shop-owner for the first time, and experience the local accent for the first time. After having a look around I mostly could see what people are having (Triple chocolate muffins, cappuccinos, double espressos, English breakfast teas or CHAI Lattes (the latter I skip, as I am not the biggest fan of cinnamon) and order the same to experience what people are having in the mornings in this place. And- not to forget the local newspaper. I so love the moment when hot drink and newspaper lying on the small table ready to be experienced. I just love to have a look at what people are busy here - it kind of gives me an idea of the cities' vibe. A little bit more difficult it is with languages I do not speak at all. With native German, and humble Dutch, English, French and Spanish I at least can manage to get around in a lot of parts of the world (What am I going to do in Asia, or in the Arabic countries? Or Russia... Also very big part of the world though). Anyways, I am still sitting in this cute coffee place and after diving into the city's news and main topics I sit back and look randomly at passing people - what is their mimics, do they look happy, do they look stressed? I find that super interesting. Iam finishing my drink, and pay and step out of the coffee shop, looking left and right to see where I should go for my longing for experiences.
to continue the experience -where can I go next?
What I almost everytime do to experience is to go for a walk in a park, visit a public library (did I already mention that I love libraries?), the "dogdy end", or travel in the Underground in the rush hour. To go and visit major sights is of course also part of the program. But too be honest I seldomly have a different feeling than looking at it on a picture in a magazine or seing it in a documentary. but there is one opportunity to boost this experience and discover a places' pure beauty: That is the rather uncomfortable action of getting up early, jump in the trainers, grab the camera and take an early morning walk to capture the sunrise. It is a moment of you and the city alone. Amazing experience. No hords of tourists, fighting for the best place of snapping a picture from a major sight, blocking all entrances of the undergrounds, or standing in one's way. Being up at 4 o'clock in the morning, and the only people to meet are the last party animals on their way to the night bus or a very early jogger. It leaves the city some sort of untouched and innocent. The huge buildings can now expose their true expression, parks leave us in a moment of magic allowing the imagination of itself in long past times and a castle unveils the true demonstration of power and wealth. Wonderful experience.

an experience wishlist for 2012
I have already made. The first place to go is a place in Northern Italy were we have to travel for work. OK, 90 % of the time we will be busy with the project, but I have planned in a small extra day to quasi leverage THE opportunity to see Venice. Already scheduled for March: Visiting Paris. Not really scheduled, but really really wanted is to celebrate New Years Eve in New York. I would find it utterly cool to walk through the streets of the City and experience it - with a soundtrack sung by Frank Sinatra, wearing an elegant evening robe, and having reserved a place in a far-too-expensive but very hip bar, to drink incredibly expensive champaigne out of also very expensive glasses while listening to lounge music and being on top of a skyscraper.... OK. Maybe not. Maybe it is more likely to celebrate it in New York but in a rather dodgy b&b, and due to not knowing the area having bought extremely expensive but sweet & disgusting tasting sparkling wine from a 24hrs corner shop together with some plastic cups and cheering at midnight in an even more dodgy backyard.
But still- I would wear my evening dress and have Frank Sinatra's songs in my head. And either way- it would be a perfect experience!

Books and memories.

Reading is different from watching television I find. It is more active and means being personally involved. First, because the reader follows the scenes and the dialoges (similar as watching a movie on television) and second because he is reflecting everything from his point of view and imagines everything as he likes - But - and that is different from a rather passive activity as watching a movie - he has to as otherwise the characters are not talking or acting. They would keep rather quiet and remain without colours. Because a book requires some action from the reader it also became part of him, and the reader becomes part of the book. Fascinating.

I started reading as soon as I was able to. I was 7. Probably. I already loved to dive into a story and share the protagonists sympathies and feared the same characters they feared, loved the same they loved and felt their disappointment, trust and love.
This love for books did not turn less throughout the years - it kind of has been institutionalized as part of my life, the protagonists of a book are my companions for the time being. I always read only one book at a time as the protagonists kind of become my friends and I don't know why and it maybe sounds odd but otherwise I feel that I am not loyal towards them.
Reading it is a little bit like co-existing in the story and co-experiencing everything what is in it. It is like travelling, after having been somewhere I have vivid memories from the place. But to be honest those memories, do not really differ in quality from those booky memories I have when I read a book. It is like it really WAS.
It just doesn't works with sci-fi stories, or fantasy - as my mind immediatly told me that this IS NOT. That is maybe why I never really fell for these kind of genres. Funnily enough, this doesn't count for settings at another time, like the past. Maybe because it HAS BEEN. I actually particicularly enjoyed walking around in old draughty castles, or spending extensive time on horsebacks, just exactly until I get up and make myself a cup of tea using a kettle or switching on the heating to get warm again - how comfortable. But memory works the same way, it feels like travelling. Kind of time travelling then. Cool.
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I think I'd like to have a library later. A whole room full with wisdom and knowledge, adventures and love stories, means a room full of life! To sit in there to study, to read, to have conversation must be utterly inspiring. Uhhh- how perfect it must be, sitting on those old Chesterfield sofas, having a cup of tea and talk with a friend about politics, philosophy - or bookish memories. How utterly delightful.

Dancers in the sky

Letters & hats

There is nothing but a good costume movie. It seems almost every time to be true. To be swept away by long past times where the worries are so abstract from the fears and worries we have today and where the clothes and the language are showing an impressing height of sophistication. The cosy little world to dive into was so clear, everyone knew his or her place and about their challenges. The romantic depiction of love suits in so perfectly that the fact that real and true love was almost not achievable due to arranged marriages and financial force is completely forgotten by the first appearance of a handsome face, beautiful word or perfect (anti)hero.
The most absolute example has - of course been given- by the BBC and its production of Pride & Prejudice with starring Colin Firth. He turned the search for Mr Right into a modern fairy tale and made Mr Darcy be the embodiment of the utmost perfect match for a woman in the 21st century. Darcy will probably stay this "ideal" until we all forgot the password of our facebook and other social network sites and get a real life again where "real" rendezvous are back in fashion and we stop denying somebody because we might meet someone better / richer / more handsome in the place we will fly in tomorrow, as business travel brings us there...Until then we continue watching all adaptions of Jane Austen's movies, and try to believe that courtship is going to re-appear.
Also those with caped heroes are capturing my attention. if it comes to costume movies and a touch of romanticism: D'Artagnon & and the Musketeers, Robin Hood and Zorro are falling into this category- where the crown, a love or a country needs to be protected from the immanent evil. Highly enjoyable as this leads men to figure out similarities of the hero's character with themselves and women to kind of passively experience "real" protection which in today's emancipation almost never exists anymore. Win-win situation, and both-men and women can enjoy the movie.
Another utterly delightful TV entertainment is the series "Downton Abbey". The setting is an old venerable almost-castle inherited from generation to generation by the male heirs of the Grantham dynasty. With it comes the rest of the aristocratic family and the house servants who more or less stick to loyalty towards their Lordships. Aristocratic arrogance as well as true generosity towards their personnel can be seen, orchestrated by some more or less interesting scandals and love stories, surrounded by the beauty of clothing and all items in and around the almost-castle bring a complete joy to one's evening in the sense of television entertainment (given, you have all episodes of the season to watch in a row ;-))

Next to the actual plot there are other things which are triggering my attention: I am always surprised about the importance of "real" letters in former times, as they were almost the only means of communication over distance. They would have been impressed about the speed, quality and quantity gossip has reached today: While being able to keep up the speed, quality and quantity of gossip in their village they would perhaps not been much behind, as spending their major amount of time a day with it (next to being occupied with accomplishments like drawing, playing the piano forte or studying French or German) was a woman's daily routine. But how fast we are informed now about someone getting married or being in some place (thanks to Facebook status notifications) would truly surprise them. And we would be - I dare to say- be surprised by a handwritten letter. To look at a fine handwriting is expressing so much thought - let alone the time which it must have consumed as it needs to be brought to the post office is quite touching and cannot be compared with 3 and a half lines in an email which has been written in 1 and a half minutes...
Another thing which amazes me is that everyone is always wearing a hat. I find that the hat has deserved a revival. It embodies true elegance with both, men and women and is actually an accessory which I find really underrated. I do not know at this moment if the purpose of a hat was to a) complete an outfit, b)had the task to cover up one's untidy hair c)is there to protect the hair from untidiness through the weather or d) is to be there to protect against colder temperatures. But I assume it would at least serve one of those points very well today as well. I t would be such a pity if the profession of a hat-maker would further disappear and only serve the ladies at the races or the theaters.

With writing and of course receiving "real" letters and wearing hats from time to time we can maybe bring back a little of the romantic touch from older times. People will possibly inquire about those hats and start to spend "real" time which each other. One can even think of the return of "real" courtship and "real" rendezvous....

Happy Rain

This year's season seems weird. Instead of a real winter-winter with masses of snow and temperatures far beyond zero degrees ready to freeze our noses as soon as we stick it out of the door, we rather experience an unexciting 9-degrees pseudo-winter - with a lot of rain. I like rain. Rain is a weather which provides a melancholic veil and gives me sometimes the permission to spend the whole day in bed and dive into my favourite book, hang on the phone or sitting on the sofa with a cup of hot tea in my hand and watch the raindrops making small roads on the window. I also love the sound of rain when it is blown against the window or even nicer - the sound of raindrops pouring on the umbrella or stepping into a puddle with my wellies. The rhythm of rain..Or the smell of rain - this clean, sweet smell...
And there is one particular sort of rain I absolutely love, which is the gentle rain. It is an undisturbing and happy sort of rain, which is rain enough to refresh my face but not hard enough to destroy hair or make-up. What I love the most is to go running in the gentle rain. And today I was lucky that I could do my workout with my favourite running-weather. Running always de-stresses my mind and I completely enjoy every step I make (if I am not exactly in a "actually, I am very tired and am gonna stop soon"- phase) especially with paying attention to the nature around me.
What captured my attention on my rain-trip around the lake today was this winter's temperatures and the immortality of nature which comes with it. Therefore I was seing a lot of crocus flowers and roses in all the gardens I have been passing on the way to the lake. And the meadows I saw- fat meadows, with luminous green, which I would not expect before April - usually. It made the grey winter-scenery look prescious - just as a painter would have made it. A mixture of melancholic winter grey - seemingly dominating the view, as the sky was light greyish and the lake a dark shade of green-grey. But the small meadows in between were putting it marvellously aside. Like an oasis in a desert it was bursting from vitality.
Just when I looked at the bold trees they did not really fit in. I wondered if they might have fallen down out of routine?

Italian top flop

What would you think if you order a service and get something else than you order? Becoming brunette instead of blond, being brought to the wrong place by the taxi driver (I am not talking about countries where taking tourists to the wrong place to exploit them is business as usual) or ordering fish and being served with meat? The latter happened to me yesterday. We googled for an Italian restaurant (where the quality of the food is better than the quality of their politicians) in our city - which is at least the 5th biggest city in the Netherlands. We landed in googles top-hit in the city centre, expecting a decent, but not outstanding dish.
I was quite astonished how apathetic the waitress reacted when I told her she had brought the wrong dish. She rather tried to made the meat appear dishy and nice and completely disregarded the fact that the fail was with them. I expected an apology and already prepared to have to wait again for that they change my meal to the right one, or -at least offer some dessert or an espresso for compensation. But I seemed to have been terribly mistaken and obviously suffering from a misleading thought of professionalism in the Dutch hospitality sector: Maybe not. It became to dawn on me when I took a closer look around us. Old interiour, not to talk about design here - simply old furniture. Music annoyingly loud and fake grapes everywhere. With a layer of dust of course. In the background sat the owner family and busy with their small children running around in the restaurant, and sometimes catching one of them back from underneath a table. And no, there where no other guests. And no, they did not change the meal, just asking me if I not possibly want to eat it. Still not in favour of meat (if I'd fancied meat I would have ordered it) and small little bit stubborn as I am, I refused the food and found that at least it goes in sync with my eat-less-diet. My darling ate some oversalted pasta and has a belly ache now, btw.
Still being flabbergasted my mind was back to business. I find it such a pity that there are Chinese, Indoneasian and Japanese restaurants everywhere (You make great food, guys) but that one sometimes also just fancies something simple, unfancy, familiar. Given the fact that there are 4 Italian restaurants in the city of Eindhoven listed in google I assumed that those four at least take their business seriosly and harvest what's out there. A lot, that is to say. With giants like Philips and ASML and a considerable amount of all kind of other companies this area is the most productive area of the Netherlands (Rotterdam has a harbour, that comparison is not fair (-:and Amsterdam only has banking, which doesn't count). This simply is a wealthy area with a lot of people working hard, work long or travel for business and go out for dinner anyways.
What we found out later when we paid was that this restaurant was just recently taken over by a family from the middle east. They were extremely friendly and had no intention of delivering bad food or bad service. Instead of being angry I just felt sorry. They perhaps left their country for good to make a new start over here in Europe. Will they be aware of the fact that a few minor investments could turn this place into a gold mine? Decent menu cards, leaving out 90 % of whats offered now (basicly everything an Italian restaurant could possibly offer), the use of good quality and fresh products, hiring highly committed and motivated personnel (students usually long for small jobs they could do to finance extra pairs of shoes, new laptops or travelling) who know what 'service' is and make us come back. Replace cook for one who actually can cook (and not just throw everything into one pan) as good food makes us come back. And make the place look nice - modern? Stylish? Cosy? Whatever it takes for a public place what makes us stay longer than necessary - and makes us come back.
I might not be or let alone call myself an expert on advising businesses, but out of compassion and a little bit of selfishness I might go back tomorrow and tell them how great everything could be great for them. And for us. Or leave it and cook myself.

Beam me up

Technology is moving forward into the last corner of our lifes. When we we had the first remote controls for our television sets in the 80ies it was already a hurray. Switching channels without leaving the comfy sofa-fantastic. Being able to record a movie. Wow! That we are now able to control our entire home via the internet from our sofas is the reality of tomorrow. Or even later today?
Being involved with the home automation business opens up a new world for me. And if there are always early adopters, I am most definitely a late one. But after becoming friends with tablets and apps I am amazed what opportunities are opening up. Home automation means that you are able to control all or at least a few electronic devices in your house or appartement via a remote control, or even more advanced - online via your iPad or smartphone. Also there are even applications available where you can watch your energy usage, use a switch on the interface of the mobile device which ebnables you to disconnect the coffee machine from power supply while you are on your way or change the intensity of the light.
Mobile phones are really the gadget where everything is in one spot. Videoconferencing, calculating, emailing, searching for information, recording or listening to music. I am just waiting for the development of one particular tool. The beaming tool. Which takes me to my desired destination. That would be fantastic as I could frequently see my friends in other countries, and be back for dinner for example. It would be time-saving, inexpensive and not harming the environment. Could that please be the next iHit?

iLife

Getting acquainted with a new technical device is always taking me some time. It has already been that I had a digital camera, which I never used - until I had a mobile phone with a build-in camera- That was handy, because I found out that it was absolutely fabulous to have the gadget always around me and therefore the opportunity to capture the most awkward moments. This of course reminded me on my digital camera which had now a layer of dust on it. To be convinced that a digital camera makes a) better pictures and b) looks by far more professional I carried the thing to a birthday. As I never had it with me, of course I did not take one pic and there it was again - forgotten. This time in my pink handbag which I carried to the birthday.

Since I have been surprised with an iPad which my darling gave to me, I have changed my mind a little bit and turned almost into a gadget-nerd. First thing in the morning-news and email-check. Before going to bed: Email check and news check. Really nice this thing. Can take it everywhere -so handy and also it surprisingly never chrashes or takes way too long to start up. So I can say I really fell in love with this thing. (Never thought that I -who had her first computer at the age of 20 and did not care would have a tablet!!!)
Since I got to know the technical sphere a bit better I learned to appreaciate those devices and especially the ones from Apple. I always wondered, why the people who walked along the university campus with a MacBook already also were mostly completely equipped with iPod, Pad, Phone and i-Idunnowhat I thought by myself, they must have an iLife.
But finding myself suddenly surrounded by all those well shaped, well designed, working and handy products I must admit that they are highly addictive and - as soon as there is a new device to be bought - it needs to be the iVersion. Or none.
Now, as the iLeader passed away I wonder if he eventually has left an iHeritage? What will be next?

Europe 2012 ?

Europe. What do we think of it at once? A cultural diversity on a small continent? About the major sights like the Eiffel tower in Paris, the Big Ben in London, the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, the Collosseum in Rome or the Grachten in Amsterdam? The great heritage of famous thinkers like Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Goethe, Schiller, Vermeer, van Gogh, Max Weber? Well, that would actually be a good thing. Unfortunately our leaders and carriers of political positions are currently drawing people's attention almost violently towards themselves with headlines which are not really undermining the belief that they should be in charge of leading our countries. It was already sad to see that some minister's doctorate degrees hasdbeen reached by cheating and that our political elite is struggling with the English language. As that is not already enough we have been embarassed by the leader of the Italian Club who made himself more popular with blow-job affairs than serious state affairs in order to solve the national financial household of his country.
After realizing significant gain of right wing parties in the Netherlands and in France we had to observe that a Dutch politician is publicly discriminating citizens from Non-Western countries and being idolized by a sick-in his head Nordic who was responsible for a massacre with almost 100 dead people. The French president was mentioning the "Kaercher" in order to get the city cleaned out.
The great wars in Europe should have taught them that this is more than foolish and definitely not working out!!
Belgium as one of the founding fathers of the European Union did not manage to form a government until only recently. Its financial situation remains fragile but they are not moving away from its tax-paradies state, especially for Dutch people who live and enjoy advantages of luxury life in Belgium and have a sorted work life in the Netherlands.
Furthermore, the British PM is distancing himself and his country from the EU without taking the consquences well into account (imagine China decides to throw "some" GBP on the market.....), Germany's president made himself distrustworthy by strange prìvate loans and threatenting affairs, and in Spain the unemployment rate has reached 21%.

It is about time to change something, I guess.
We have the capabilities to rescue Europe financially, unite it and agree on and stick to common values and make compromises. It is maybe also time that the generation of legislation should change and taken over by our generation. We need a wind of change, a feeling for the future, of innovation and sustainability.
The only question is how can we get this done and progressed? If we would now spend a quarter of our time watching the Voice of Holland, Pop idol, and Germany's Next topmodel or Champions Leage rather on thinking about our future and help to develop action plans for that, we would already have a first step and a good chance.
Politics, political programs and topics have to be (more) accessable and less complicated. We have to integrate "the future" maybe more into our daily lives, in schools and youth programs. Teenagers know everything about Lady Gaga and the Twilight movies, but do they also know what it means that Denmark is stepping out of Schengen and puts up their borders again? I am not blaming them but if someone to blame it would be the older generations? The European Union who is not undertaking enough effort to advertise itself and their advantages?
Nevertheless, we can look at Europe and say "poor Europe" or we can choose not to. We can stand up against it and take action.
Maybe we can start with convincing our politicians to do serious state business (again?) and our Southern member states that going into pension with the age of 55 is a little outdated, That outsourcing to Asia only makes Asia rich, not us. That keeping production here, and the quality high - than "made in Europe" will remain a quality-label, also and maybe especially for Asians. If standard of wealth and income is rising further there, they might come to outsource their production to Europe and tadaaa the (economically) good times are coming back again.
It is certainly not solving all problems, but a first step is made. And when thinking about Europe people start remembering a prospering continent with a rich cultural heritage, able to remember the beauty of its diversity in people, language, landscape, history, customs, and great thinkers who once lead us to what we are today.

The pursuit of happiness

A large income is the major source of happiness. Many people would immediatly hold against it saying that it is not money which makes us happy, and that the source of happiness is - of course - more to find in friendships, relationships, own state of mind etc. But what if monetary wealth actually might be THE source of happyness? Could it not be that a human being is (only?) able to express himself to the fullest by having enough monetary means available to do everything he likes, experience everything he wants or needs to experience in order to be happy or surround himself by things he feels good or comfortable with?
The reason why I am thinking about this is because I was exactly doing it. I caught myself figuring out and making a list of items I further need for example to decorate the house (to feel even more at homish), or for the office (to be able to work more efficiently), which clothes I still need in my closet (to be prepared for the occasion of a walk in the snow or a chic reception, or to just have the 32th pair of pumps) or how I can reach to get more fit and lose some weight (in order to feel more comfortable with myself). In the end I realized it is all - not one- but all about money. Sad. Was my first thought. But I am not satisfied with an answer that quickley. I started googleing and found some rather interisting aspects:
Janes Austen already said in her novel Mansfield Park that "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of". Jane Austen lived some 200 years ago, but it sounds already good that I do not have to find myself alone having selfish money-thoughts (OK, besides all greedy or money minded persons of course who have no sense for being social).
Also I found a rather interesting paper about "The science of getting rich", which you can find here, if you like.

OK, I have to acknowledge that this is something from a hundred years ago. Also pretty out of date it seems.
But there are other people who picked up the same string of thought with their books which became famous around the world I found out: They wrote a book called "the Secret". They claim that "Everything is possible. Nothing is impossible". Should that also involve monetary aspects of life?

I am wondering now - am I now trapped in a New Age-way of thinking or should I actually allow myself to strive to get rich in order to be able to be in a pursuit of happiness?

Happy New Year's Resolution

New years resolutions. Do they actually help ? Does someone still remember new years resolutions after the third week of January, when Christmas and the tonnes of food, which frequently lead to at least one new NYR are forgotten, the blastering headache after the party on New Years eve cured (another one - drink less!!) and stress at work has taken up again (and yet - another one). At last, do people actually still remember NYR a good time after this old year / new year change is over and the everyday life has picked up again with everyone ? To be honest I do not think so. Well- apart from those NYR-nerds who are in March still sweating on the treadmill pretending to stick to NYR. In fact they are most probably just heading towards the new force: Get bikini -shape in order...
I personally believe new resolutions can be made at anytime ... everything else is rarely more than procrastination...

Happy New Year !