There’s always something magical in the first warm day of the year. Today, the third of March, Berlin is under the sun’s spell, reaching 17°C at 16:00.
I am in the Monbijou Park, trying to rest from an emotional week. But my mind wanders. The world around me does the same. Wandering, moving, playing, shouting and running.
There’s a the really good busker singing in front of the Bode Museum. A human, a guitar and an amplifier. Sometimes that’s all it takes to stop the earth from turning.
People don’t know whether they have to wear their coats are not. Some machos in T-shirts show off their muscles. I laugh about it but like the eye bath. There’s a lot of smiling faces. This is a pure Vitamin D reload. The stalls on the weekly book market look more alive, the owners less grumpy. Babies are taking their first steps. Despite being still shaky and uncertain holding their father’s hand, they’re looking at the world as a Palace of Wonders. Which it is of course. Babies are often right. They lack so many filters, they’re not conditioned. Not yet at least. And take a look into the father’s eyes when he looks at his baby: pure love. He knows now how fragile the world is.
The magic of life lies in the encounters, in the space between the atoms, in the beauty of souls, in the hesitation of a certain touch, in the dancing of the bees and in that one blue note that makes you cry.
Book hunting at the Büchermarkt. Including a great 1968 edition Frans Masereel “Der Weg der Menschen” (60 woodcuts)
I also look at the world within me.
Memories of long lost lovers. And of recent tender encounters. Thinking of different countries, of all the homes I had and how liberating it is not to be attached to a country or a pile of stones. Thinking of my daughter who is far away. Of my son who is also far away but then metaphorically speaking. And how vulnerable -even more vulnerable than I was- I made myself by having kids. They are growing extremely fast which also means I am growing old. The laws of nature are without mercy. So be it. Wrinkles and wisdom form a perfect couple.There can be a lot of beauty in a single wrinkle.
Beauty can also be found in an old man’s hand, or in a young girl’s eyes. In a Vermeer painting or in a kinky tumblr blog. In the flight of a condor and in death leafs. In the poetry of Pablo Neruda or in some lines written on a wall in a seedy corner of the city. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to be able to find it. And sometimes there’s no beauty, just greed and bitterness to be found. Ignore that. Step forwards. Continue your path. Reach for the sun. And always, always keep on dancing.
Berlijnse mijmeringen 