we are just back home from 2 relaxing, heart-warming days with friends. 4 kids, ages 3 to 9, playing together all the time & getting along wonderful. 3 women, enjoying the time together talking talking talking. what a wonderful life! thank you so much!

what do you eat (& do) to keep yourself warm on days with -10° celcius or less? up to last week i felt like eating things like avocado, coconut & sweet potato (fat & carbs) to keep my body warm. a few days ago i found that even at this chilliness i feel better on eating fruits & greens. low fat.

this is what i had today:

• 1,5 ananas (not at once, of course )
• about 200g miner’s lettuce, mizuna & other salad
• 2 small persimmon
• 1 medjool date
• 1 plantain
• 6 leaves of savoy cabbage
• 1 apple
• 1 carob bean
• about 7 BIG leaves of curly kale
• 2 oranges
• about 30-40 big blackberry leaves

since i am somewhat inspired by “green for life” from victoria boutenko which i just have read, part of the greens had been blended: plantain with savoy cabbage turned out to be really yummy! but i still prefer to eat the things as they are … the best meal today was eating plantain & cabbage in the sun in front of our house

anyway, what really helps to keep me warm isn’t food but exercise. move! i do 3 to 4 small workouts a day, 5 to 20 minutes each, on the stepper or doing sit-ups, pushups, stretching or something.

we all were born for a reason. it was not a mistake and it didn’t occur randomly. we arrived exactly when we knew we would, into the exact environment we planned on arriving into, with full knowledge of what we were getting ourself into. only that in the moment we arrived, we forgot all that.

our challenge is to remember that reason & then, if we choose to, to fulfill it. the reason is our purpose for existing. it’s why we’re here.

(inspired by john p. strelecky)

knowing the reason why i am here can help me in making decisions – it’s like my personal compass for life. a very helpful step on my way to remember my purpose for existing is to realize what is (& has been) really important for me, the big themes in my life. what do i want to do, see, experience in this life? so i am just about to find out my “big 5 for life” …

my dear friend christie sent this to me – thank you so much for your loving support!

“ein krieger des lichts fürchtet nicht, verrückt zu erscheinen. [...] in dem augenblick, in dem er losschreitet, erkennt ein krieger des lichts den weg. [...] wenn er auf den idealen augenblick wartet, wird er nicht von der stelle kommen; um den nächsten schritt zu tun, bedarf es einer prise verrücktheit.” “ein krieger des lichts tut immer außergewöhnliches. [...] wenn er spürt, dass die stunde gekommen ist, läßt er alles zurück und bricht zu dem abenteuer auf, von dem er immer geträumt hat.”
(quelle: handbuch des kriegers des lichts, paulo coelho)

imagine after your death there will be a museum, an exhibition of your life. filled with all the things you did during your life. things you spent a lot of time with will take a lot of place in this museum whilst others, you only did seldom will be little presented – irrespective of what you really wanted to do, loved to do, prefered to do! it will be your job to guide others through your museum & to show them your life – every day. you will have to spend there all your time – with YOUR LIFE.

what to you want it to be filled with?

me, i want mine to be filled with love, joy, happiness, colors, pictures, art, sun, people, communication, journeys, nature, … !

funny test: what type are you. it’s about typography, only 4 questions to answer. password required is “character”.

according to this, my typo is cooper black italic:

emotional, assertive, progressive, relaxed

though there are days i feel rather understated than assertive … those will be my “dot matrix days” from now on

we celebrated a friend’s birthday today. had a nice afternoon …here are a few pics from the “coffee” table:

chocolate tart ... very yummy, very filling

beetles on a branch

apple casserole