“Im Westen ist wie im Osten. Im Osten ist wie im Westen.” (“Far Away, So Close”, 1993, dir. Wim Wenders)
Sometimes I tend not to see the beauty around me.
Moving to Berlin I have always had a certain picture in my head of the cool neighborhood I would be living in. Well, I am not living there. I ended up living on the 9th floor of a panel flat in East Berlin.
I was complaining about it for a while. Ask my poor friends. Then I realized that I am about to fall in a trap of closing my eyes for all the beauty before my eyes. And I still believe beauty is hidden in the most unexpected places.
I opened my eyes and saw the most incredible red and golden trees near my building. Autumn is an artist who can blow your mind.
Then I thought about the foxes who I often meet on my way from the metro station to my flat. I feel quite special that these urbanized forest creatures cross their paths with me of all people. Foxes don’t seem to have these prejudices against the East, obviously.
Finally, it occurred to me that never before have I lived on such a high apartment floor. I have the most incredible view from my window. From my bed I see only the sky. And I do have this thing about the sky over Berlin. Wim Wenders is to blame.
I decided to make this experiment with the sun, the sky and … me. Every day in October I would take a picture of what I see from my bedroom window. The result: I am happy with what I have. Berlin makes me happy.
You can see the pictures here:
Closing our eyes for all the beauty around, is mostly because we were used to do or to be somewhere else very long time. I was use to live in a big city, traffic and people around me. I liked that, I felt I was not alone. Now, I live in a small town. I was also complaining to my friends but you know what, I didn’t realize that, when you are the only one on the street, you are the master of the street and you notice all the beauty around, trees, grass, flowers, sky and music of the leafs. That make you feel special and I know how special you are now on your 9 th floor:-)!
I agree with you, Lile! I guess when you realize where you are and what you have before your eyes, when you feel “present”, you are already special.
‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.’ I have often heard people say this and I have even said the same words to many people, but your writing proves that it is really so. Autumn might be an artist but the author is no less – you have managed to bring Berlin to life, especially the foxes! The photographs are really amazing! I just love them as the sky fascinates me too. I look forward to reading more 🙂
Thank you so much, Tots, for your most kind words!
Beautiful! Keep writing, keep posting!
Thank you so much! I will.
BRILLIANT pictures and beautiful thoughts – I will stay tuned for more posts in the future! 🙂
Thank you very much, Clara!
I love your uncle Atanas’ writing (we had similar yet different issues w US rez) and now yours too! And I love Far Away so Close (vorh hs movie I saw 20+ yrs ago and the music I listen ro whenever I ‘get the zeitgeists’). Keep on writin’ (after USer keep on truckin’ LOL)
Thank you very much, Andrew! I will keep writing. After getting so much support it will be much easier for me.
We have at least two things in common – I love my uncle’s writing and “Far Away So Close” as well. 🙂
And I definitely have to check out the soundtrack – no soundtrack from a Wenders’ movie has ever disappointed me.
All the best from Berlin!