Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Wednesday 5 June 2019

You See What You Want to See



When you come back from a holiday - and this was a short one, just a week in Bavaria and Austria - it might happen that you see things in an utterly different way.

At least for a while.

Or you might forget what seemed to be a huge problem before. In the last week I had completley forgotten the chaos in our "Hinterhof" (Hinterhof is how Berliners call the huge backyard - if it looks like ours).





Before I left I thought: that is an invitation for burglars. Then I forgot.

It all depends on the way how you see the world:
pessimists would say: "Britta - I must warn you - that might be the start of dementia!" (Sorry, what did you say? And, by the way: who are you?)
The ones with the rosy- tinted glasses (or the Buddhists, who are no optimists) say:

"You see what you want to see."

So: life is about perception, and finding balance.




12 comments:

  1. No, I am with you. Scaffold is an invitation to burglars. Years of experience has taught me this. The Arabs have a saying: 'Trust in God but tie up your camel'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tom - I love the camel-metapher! Our main door is always open - many bikes have been stolen, and the flat downstairs was 3 times burgled (there they didn't need a scaffold..) - the houses here look too temping.. streetwise at least.

      Delete
  2. I have to admit that I am an optimist. I tend to see the good rather than the bad. At the same time sad experience has taught me to "tie up my camel"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Emma: I am also an optimist - but as you say: this time I was a bit afraid. The housekeeper promised to close the maindoor from 18:00 - but of course: nothing was done...

      Delete
  3. Out of sight out of mind. I forget about everything the minute I lock the door and go on holiday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That, Rachel, is a very good way to live, I think: if I worry in my holidays, I will get anxious, thus spoil my fun - although I cannot do anything.
      (I asked my neighbours to look in a random way after the camel :-)

      Delete
  4. Your holiday destination looks so pretty! A part of the world I've not been to yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Pipistrello: it was lovely and completely different from noisy-brimming Berlin. Lovely nature, and very good weather.
      I had never been there before either. Someone asked me to visit it - and that was a fine idea.

      Delete
  5. But as you said, Britta, Tibetan Peace Flags to them all. My camels often wander the backyard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha, Joanne: the camels might be there in the backyard - lost in a sort of plant-wilderness (the Hinterhof is overcrowded).
      If I - a gardener by heart - look at the state the flora is in, I need a Tibetan Peace Flag to comfort me.
      Meanwhile I use your lovely tea-towels (honestly, without fun: they have a calming quality - they feel (!) so good, thank you again!)

      Delete
  6. Those would have been my thoughts too Britta - we have locks on our windows, and a burglar alarm, but I suspect that anyone who really wants to get in will.
    Best to forget whatever is going on back at home, as you did, and enjoy yourself whilst away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Rosemary: they broke in a house on the other side of the street. I saw the big police van and a man with a knapsack surrounded by police with guns - scary.
      But as you said: I care for the camel as good as I can - then I go.

      Delete