Conscious Unconscious Choice delivered

So, when I mentioned a few days ago that ‘I know what I don’t want, but not what I want’, a friend from high school answered, “that’s your problem”.

In the meantime, 5 sunny days in a row I bicycled south of Leipzig to this lake, 25 min ride. Everyone bicycles in Leipzig, all ages and persuasions. At the Cossi See > lake, I found the first day a couple in their 80’s, naked, just having got out of the water. 59 degrees F outside max, with a breeze. I didn’t have the nerve that day, but a day after I got in, then the following a little longer, and again the following day getting my head beneath the surface, freestyle and backstroke (very limited time in the water), but did it. I then explored the Tierpark/Animal park where I’d go to on the way home, looking at and feeding leaves to goats, seeing other wild animals. I felt sorry for the owls, in too small of cages.

During my pondering over where to live, I was considering Freiburg after talking to my girlfriend in Berlin, she mentioned Vienna as well, so did another woman. Freiburg is small. I checked into Vienna, too large (although Berlin is larger, but familiar)…but I couldn’t make either of these moves. In the meantime, the hostel said they can’t continue to extend my stay. I moved to a smaller 4 bed room alone, after finding weird actions from one of the men in the 8 bed room. I feel relieved for that, but realized i had to step on the gas. I saw one apt in that town where the lake was, Markkleeberg, but it would become completely empty. Germans, as Italians, take all of their kitchen (all components) with them when they move; fridge, stove, everything. A tradition in my opinion that causes much more expense and hassle to the renters.

Now had a deadline. Had to skip a day of bicycling to nature….

….I began again in earnest, not to look for housing in Leipzig, but in Berlin. I updated my ads, WG-Gesucht, Ebay Kleine Anzeigen, Craigslist, and mainly put out my own ads. I had previously contacted people in WG’s > WohnenGemeinschaft = shared housing.

Then today eating my oatmeal in the hostel, I looked down and saw my phone had a call, i hadn’t yet turned the ringer on. It was Klaus. He had seen one of these ads, he phoned me saying he has a room. Previously he had rented it to a Polish girl. He has two cats. He spoke exclusively in German. Good that I can understand and speak it. I called him a bit later to make sure I had the name of the town correct, yes, Kaulsdorf, directly east of Berlin. 1 hour bicycle ride, 38 min. S-Bahn (public transport train line) to the station of this town. I later phoned him to get the address, and he told me, then sent it on the phone. 10 min walk from the station, 16 min. bicycle ride from the house to the 3 lakes by the town. That’s right. I’ve been going to swim every day and to watch and listen to the ducks, and there they will also be. And I see there’s a Tierpark Berlin which is a 25 min. bike ride from his address. 

So perhaps I was consciously/unconsciously choosing what I’ve adored, and after putting out all these new ads, this person found me. 

I then walked to the Leipzig HauptBahnHof (train station) and inquired about ‘regional’ train tickets to take my bicycle, and was given several alternative times, then walked down two levels below to purchase the tickets. I haven’t yet booked a hostel, but have informed this man that I bought the tickets and will phone him as I get on the train, he’ll meet me at that train station and then we’ll walk the 10 min. (google maps) to his house. 

I then walked around Leipzig today, without a bicycle, in the rain, taking some photos of the standing architecture of antiquity that wasn’t destroyed in WWII. I walked in a church and saw that Johann Sebastian Bach worked there for several years, creating songs continually, in the 1720’s, and taught singing… 

So, I actually looked and saw no other responses. He seems fine, gentlemanly over the phone. I haven’t asked him a price yet, I said €400 max in my ad. Also, though there are high rise buildings several blocks away, this is in a neighborhood with self standing houses and lots of trees. 

I feel immense relief, because I think that I really didn’t want to venture further away from Berlin, a city I am familiar with and know several people, and could once again play ultimate. I also put out ads looking for musicians. This man says that there’s WiFi there, hopefully it’s not merely via his telephone. I will wait and see. If I have to ‘commute’ 38 min. to Berlin via the train to go to libraries or cafés, to sit and work, I will. And bicycling home would be like going from Annville to Hummelstown. That was my guess, and it is exact. 1 hr 2 minutes, 11.4 miles. And from Berlin train station to Kaulsdorf bicycling is 16.9 km 1 hr 4 min.

So, I somehow believe that it will be a nice reverse, being in nature, then commuting to the city. 

Feeling relief, even though I haven’t met him or seen the place yet. 

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.

Me in Berlin on Halloween

Portrait of a guy

Here’s a portrait of a guy I drew in about 15 minutes, after we did an even shorter portrait exchange. It was an evening when I needed to quickly make some money and brought my sketchbook with me. We not only laughed and had fun, drawing one another and then doodling more, but I made the money I needed to as well.

portrait of a guy

subject of portrait

he drew an ink portrait of his cat and dog merging from the middle

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition.

Carol sitting under the trees

COP21 Activists Sharing their Stories & Solutions to Seed the World

Snap decision to go to Paris to be among the flurry of events around the COP21 – which most people call cop as in policeman, rather than spelling out ‘see oh pee’. The actual commencement of the talks between the delegates began on the 30th of November. You can watch these live at any of the following links.
http://unfccc6.meta-fusion.com/cop21/           http://www.cop21paris.org/agenda
http://unfccc.int/meetings/paris_nov_2015/meeting/8926/php/view/schedule.php

Place de la République shoes Nov 29 representing marchers

The huge anticipated March in Paris was announced by the government on the 18th of November to be cancelled due to the attacks on the 13th in Paris. The French coalition of at least 250 different activist groups http://coalitionclimat21.org/en answered this by organizing a shoe in, where at Place du la Republique’ in Paris people placed their shoes, representing that their presence in spirit for the March.An Sung Sui as well as Pope Frances expedited their shoes to place them there as well.

Aung San Suu Kyi delivered her shoes

Pope Francis delivered his shoes to Place de la Republique

The photograph, compliments of a Frenchman from Lyon, who together with a group of other lawyers and judges are organizing legislation as a means to protect spaces that are ‘in between’ other countries’ ownership and property: the air, water…

10000 people form a human chain Place de la République

I’m so very fortunate to be staying at the St. Christopher’s Inns which has been occupied by Place to B

Place to B, Agenda COP 21 Events, Program, Seminars, Radio…

which is packed with continued events and information, speakers. There are 600 people booked here representing 40 different countries and a plethora of different movements. Many of the women in my dorm room in the hostel are members of Act!onaid | ActionAid International. Women who have come from numerous countries in Africa, the director from Johannesburg, South Africa.

An Inconvenient Youth, by Slater Jewell-Kemker

Basically all the different groups here have organized meetings and methods to place themselves and their activities into the public’s eye; organizing and staging peaceful & quiet public demonstrations in the streets to inform and place their activities into the public’s awareness. http://www.globalplatforms.org/about-activista

TM Transformational Media Summit Storytellers, media professionals and changemakers

I’m presently attending a workshop regarding ‘creative storytelling and how this compels people to action’. Hosted by Katherine Adams, a woman who has used her talents in many different ways, among which is the director of Goodness T.V. Reporters d’Espoire : Pour une information qui donne envied d’agir/Reporters of Hope: for information that fuels the desire to act Emotion is at the heart of creative storytelling and this is what will induce people into action. Stories that tell of innovative solutions can be shared so that these will spread all over the world. One person’s resilience and solutions can be shared. The words here among the network of people here at Place to B is talking about how the media has to change the way in the way that they transmit information. The message has to be towards the solution.

‘Climate Heroes’ film by Maxime Riché, Project Founder, Photographer

The day has been packed with a string of events; a summit with numerous different panelists talking to an audience of bloggers, writers, journalists, entrepreneurs, designers and more – a full repertoire of very valuable information that is being extended by people who have made differences in all different arenas. They and the messages they are exchanging are about making the necessary changes to the world – economically, politically and economically, from the bottom up. I’ve only participated for one day and am quite blown away with all of the captivating information shared through workshops I’ve attended, hosted by the Place to B platform of discussions about confirming new paradigms and ways to talk about a variety of subjects. Many of the talks are in French as well as English. This evening had big enough names and a big enough crowd to use a live simultaneous translator for Naomi Klein and the climate scientist James Hansen. At different times the Place to B program brings in musicians and artists to discuss as well as perform. There are lots of creative and passionate people who really are ‘following their bliss’. There’s a plethora of stimulation and fantastic exchanges that occur when you’re among a bunch of people with a mission to use their hearts and minds to make positive changes. Many of the talks are about how to change the paradigm of how the media and art can inspire the public with messages that deliver hope. And that change – which must be imminent – can best happen from the grass routes level, as people spread among one another success stories from all over the globe that ripple into more and more communities following to create more of the same.

I will be interviewing a few different people over the next weeks to add to my blog and sit some days at the location where the delegates are continuing their 2 week climate talks.