Earth Day 50th | We Love The Earth | Confronting Anthropocentrism | Look for the Good

Here is to looking forward! Change our hearts from our anthropomorphic view of only seeing the earth and all of its different creatures as resources and objects to use, to loving all earthlings. and recognizing our interdependency.

We Love The Earth

We Love The Earth animated video By Lil Dicky – Earth

The

50th Anniversary of Earth Day

was officially April 22, 2020. I watched the ongoing broadcasts and listened to many very articulate youth activists who fully impressed me. There were numerous featured scientists, artists and musicians and indigenous people bringing forth informative and inspiring messages as well. Thank you all so much for sharing and being part of the voice of the new evolving story.

What prompted me to write this blog in the first place, was synchronistically coming upon this powerful 20 minute video presentation by Eileen Crist, in her ‘Confronting Anthropocentrism’. Powerful information as a mirror for humanity to look into the mirror, and move forward.

Confronting Anthropocentrism presentation by Eileen Crist

Even Pope Francis speaks to power. The pontiff said that the (Wuhan virus) Coronavirus outbreak offers an opportunity to slow down the rate of production and consumption and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world.

“We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods?” the Pope said.

Pope Francis says Wuhan Virus Nature’s Response to Climate Crisis

Imagining a Post-Coronavirus World: Ending Ravenous Capitalism and Our Consumer-Driven Promiscuity

Imagining a Post-Coronavirus World: Ending Ravenous Capitalism and Our Consumer-Driven Promiscuity, Andy Worthington

The Solutions to the Climate Crisis No One is Talking About with Robert Reich

Storyteller and film maker Julio Vincent Gambuto wrote an excellent article talking about moving forward. “Prepare for the Ultimate Gas Lighting”

“What happened is inexplicably incredible. It’s the greatest gift ever unwrapped. Not the deaths, not the virus, but The Great Pause”

And with this, I only will add two wonderful music videos by artists who contributed their work for Earth Day.

This astoundingly positive message by Jason Mraz – Look For The Good

Living with Less is Living with More: Co-creating a New Story – Our Relationships

I was going to tack this video within the post c-change conversations with respect to the spiritual relationship we need to co-create, with ourselves, between one another and with the water, the sky, soil, a spider, a bird or rhinoceros. Yet his words and viewpoint needs to stand on its own.

Living with Less is LIving with More Co-Creating a New Story A New Relationship with Earth and her Creatures

 

Living with Less is Living with More: Co-Creating a New Story A New Relationship with Earth and her Creatures
Our hearts and intuition contain the answer to co-creating this new story. A story in which we are not clumsily or hurriedly passing through, busying ourselves and not-wasting-any-time in our stress-filled harried lives.

“Can you imagine a more beautiful world your hearts knows is possible?

We have inherited a culture without any critical inquiry.”

 

Leo Murray talks of the need to decouple the relationship between standards of living and quality of life.

Authors, visionaries and thought leaders who are inspiration to less is more: Charles Eisenstein, Daniel Pinchbeck, Niki Harré, Yuval Noah Harari, David Holmgren, Masanobu Fukuoka, Bill Mollison.

 

authors visionaries and thought leaders inspiration less is more

Here is information some of these visionaries have communicated.

Masanobu Fukuoka states that man does best by doing as little as possible. He unlearned culture and science and realizes that nature does everything.

Masanobu Fukuoka Talks About the One Straw Revolution

Charles Eisenstein’s speech New Zealand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Niki Harré talks about her book “Psychology for a Better World”

Niki Harré talk about her book “Psychology for a Better World”

 

 

 

Niki Harré talks in this video about the Psychology and the Infinite Game In it she describes the distinction between the Finite and Infinite Games.

 

The purpose of the infinite game is to continue the game.

The purpose of the finite game is to win.

The infinite game invites others in and is full of creativity, the rules continually change and all are flexible in their interactions.

The finite game includes only select people, it is all about replication and does not bend. In life, the finite game winnings are such as getting a trophy, owning property, getting a degree, a promotion, publishing an article, get funded for a program.

She talks of the amazing power of symbol and metaphor. And that in order to keep the infinite game in play, we need to trust people and promote creativity. It’s up to all of us to bring this awareness into our workplace, schools and communities.

Yuval Harari Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind – 5 year anniversary

A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari

 

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

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carol_keiter_greg_altman copy

 

Humanity Needs 16 year old Greta Thunberg to Shake it Awake

good evening America, morning to Europe, afternoon to Australia. Re posting this article written by an Australian. 

Hopefully as people read this, they may be instigated to finally act, which would cause his title to shift dramatically towards success. 

…and since the US, Brazilian, Australian…governments are ignoring reality in favor of the business-as-usual paradigm of profit over, e v e r y t h i n g    a n d    e v e r y o n e    e l s e, there is no more clear reason to drop everything, strike for the climate globally, Friday, and continue striking. if only all the truckers, police, military, agriculture and gas industries… would somehow grasp this picture, listen and decide to work together. maybe Greta Thunberg will have a huge impact on world leaders at the climate summit. But what she realizes, is that leaders, as long as they only see through the veil of economic profits, will continue to DO NOTHING. Therefore    i t    i s   u p    t o    t h e    p e o p l e  to wake up and take action, for however long it takes, to demand and follow change.  Greta knows this, she came all the way over here to the US and then to Chili for climate talks with global leaders, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, TO RALLY THE PEOPLE TO GET THE FUCK OUT IN THE STREETS AND WAKE UP.

 

Tim Flannery Aussie Activist

Greta Thunberg explaining to the grownups on a psychological treadmill.

Greta Thunberg explaining to the grownups on a psychological treadmill

Why? Why not? Wake up! What could be more important?

global climate strike with Greta Thunberg, Sept 20-27

 

Greta Thunberg, climate strike, 150 countries, massive Friday climate strike, international protest, UN Climate Action Summit

 

why, why not, wake up, what could be more important

 

Rise for Climate | September 8th | Speak Out Walkabout

Rise for Climate global action September 8th, 2019

Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice: USA Highlight Photos
350.org writes:
“On September 8, 2018, more than 30,000 people rose up for climate action, jobs, and justice in San Francisco — alongside more than 250,000 people in more than 90 countries around the world. We rose to demand our elected officials at all levels of government, everywhere step up and join us in building the just, bold climate solutions people and the planet need. And it was incredible. Check out some of the best photos from Rise actions in San Francisco and across the US here. (Photo credits: Survival Media Agency, unless otherwise noted.) Check out even more of the best photos from all over the world.

Why? Because we share this planet.

Go out into the streets and participate.

All of this is preceding the Global Climate Action Summit

Global Climate Action Summit Sept 12-14, 2018 San Francisco, CA

We humans produce noise pollution constantly: beeping cars to lock them, revving motors, sitting in cars with engines idling contributing to rising CO2 levels.

Unaware, uneducated, uninformed, peoples habits collectively are damaging the planet and affecting other animals’ habitats.

I will be dead in 50 years, but your children and their children will not.

What exactly do you want them to inherit? A completely deforested, paved planet with only a hint of other life forms other than humans? The lack of humans to realize how their independent actions contribute collectively to the destruction of the earth and the habitats of other creatures is beyond nearsighted. It is reprehensible. I have said everything I have wanted to say in previous blogs. I have pointed to other writers such as George Monbiot Incompetence By Design, who tells the truth.

Charles Eisenstein We are Interbeings Anything happening in the world happens to us

We are not here on this planet to buy and build. There’s something way more delightful: creating, art, music, storytelling and community.

We opted in to this life style, we can opt out and demonstrate a better way.

Helen Keller quote security is a superstition

Helen Keller Life is a daring adventure or nothing

Small back pack and messenger bag.

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

The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.

Let’s Act Differently-Embrace All Life-Change Habits-Incite Responsibility-Share Incentives

I am sending this letter today, right now, to one after another individual and group on the list included at the bottom. Talk about complete transparency. I want each to realize who all the recipients are, so that they may also add to the list. I need a job, and this is what comes to mind; gathering many to coordinate education at the grass roots level, that all of us can participate in.

I’d like to work with you in starting a global, grass-roots educational campaign – coordinated between all – re: ecological emergency; informing and inspiring public response to changing habits and actions.

Hi, 

I would like to work with you towards shifting peoples’ perceptions from complacency to fully recognizing how their actions and habits make an impact on their immediate surroundings and cumulatively affect climate change. Offering education and incentives that people can relate to, to guide them to think and act differently. An edutainment campaign which reaches to the public to give them a voice, through asking them to participate in providing ideas, questions, answers and listening to their responses. The idea, that by allowing people to engage and participate, they will feel more connected, more empowered and motivated, more responsible, and feel excited and involved as they watch how their messages like waves, ripple to bring other people together. 

I don’t believe anything can happen unless everyone is involved. That’s why I’m writing to each of the (individuals and organizations) resources of information I’ve valued and whose messages I’ve shared. Altogether about 40 at the moment. In fact, I’ve just decided to include the entire list of who I’m writing to, so that each of you can fill in and add some more people or groups to the list; who may in fact be more pivotal and effective in initiating this. I’m a female American who loves to write, draw portraits, paint trees and landscapes, play piano and bass guitar, and use computer music programs to compose electronic music. My compositions often incorporate the sounds of different creatures: whales, dolphins, penguins, insects and birds, so far.

I am ready right now (as I will probably have no housing nor money to pay rent in a matter of weeks and am able and willing to relocate virtually anywhere on the planet) to join a movement that coordinates education to raise awareness and offer guidelines towards immediate action. I believe that by working together, across individual and organizational boundaries, across disciplines, that we could engage the public to respond, as if life on our planet depended on it. Well, because it does. Complacency or lack of information has no place. Leaders and polluters will not inform. Therefore, though the odds may be dramatically against us (comfort over change), we could nevertheless try to inspire a movement of actions from the ground up, for each of us to collectively change some habits, that may actually gather so much momentum that people will start to care about what BIG energy hogs and polluters are doing, and BEGIN to speak out to them. New habits are difficult to start, but if everyone starts to really engage because the same messages are rippling out to the public globally by a team of people who are echoing what you and your collaborators have improvised, there is no telling how a critical mass of people with awareness and action and their heart into it, may start to make this grass roots message really move. 

The idea is to instigate people to re-define their relationship to the planet and its life forms and inspire them to re-imagine a dramatically different relationship to all of life, in which humans act responsibly as guardians to the plants and creatures with whom we share the planet. Messages which convey the realization that our greatest treasure is the life that surrounds us, supports us and delights us on earth; containing inspirational guidelines as to how we can change our habits, to live in harmony with other life forms and feel their value; the natural cycles, beauty of flora and fauna and fertility of the earth. You could say I’m an idealist. 

I’m primarily concerned with the loss of well, everything, all life with which we could live in harmony. Defenseless species of plants and animals lose habitats through the encroachment of humans, their residual noise, air and water pollution, chemical poisoning and the formidable elephant in the room, global warming, for which human behavior and industry are responsible. A trend which could collapse all systems on earth that have sustained life as we have known it. Given, Americans are the biggest energy abusers, without recognizing their contribution through the demands they put on having ease and comfort. By its nature, the capitalist formula is based on ever increasing profits, measuring success through the GDP, without factoring whatsoever, the health and well-being of all systems on the planet. This perception and motif has been perpetuated through the mendacity of those wishing to uphold it, in their allegiance to profit. We could actually shift our awareness to valuing deeply every single species as part of the labyrinth of life on this planet which we share. Effectually shifting from the notion of primacy of humans, to one valuing and being guardians to the sovereignty of all life. 

I speak conversational German, French and Spanish, pretty close to fluent. I love to communicate. I’m presently available to relocate anywhere. I live minimally, acquire a bicycle wherever I live, have no dependents and am healthy, strong and resilient. I gained new perspectives quite different from how I was brought up in central Pennsylvania, though I’ve gathered quite different perceptions of the world through having lived in a variety of quite alternative communities (New York city, Washington D.C., Taos, New Mexico, San Francisco, California, Berlin, Germany where I lived for 7 years altogether, Paris and Montpellier, France where I lived last year for 7 months. I’m adaptable. I’m also a person who has all my life been able to walk up to strangers, approach people and begin conversations. There are plenty of other people who with the incentive to save the planet, would be happy to do the same. I have a strong appetite of curiosity and creative drive to communicate. I have to admit that many of my blogs and music need to be more concise to be more easily approachable. I’m working on delivering more elegant and simple message. I also think vlogs are the way to go, more powerful and compelling, with images and music for people who don’t have the time or patience to read.

My dream is that outspoken individuals and organizations like yourself would actually stretch across each of their own boundaries and work together to create a resoundingly clear and transparent message and movement. A message that moves people emotionally to act, because of how overwhelmingly obvious and compelling it is. And a message that is spread through teams of people who go out into the streets to talk with people and collect information from the public. Messages that are informative, humorous, and elicit community participation. I can help you to create this message, I can’t do it on my own. We can do it together.

Below are links to my blogs, music and book trailer. I am in search of the best fit.

I came upon this quote when I was writing an article in 2003 which I just re-located on my HD. This from an Adbusters article in March-April 2003 Issue, “our first problem is one of denial. (and that) our crisis is not fundamentally one of technology, but one of the mind, will and spirit.” The author wrote that our ” denial must be met with a world-wide ‘perestroika’, predicated on the admission of failure: the failure of economics, which became disconnected from life; the failure of our politics, which lost sight or the moral roots of our commonwealth; the failure of science, which lost sight of the essential wholeness of things; and the failure of all of us as moral beings, who allowed these things to happen because we did not love deeply and intelligently enough.”  

With heart, intuition and intent,

Carol Keiter

carolkeiter@gmail.com

(720) 243-2953

skype:  carol_keiter

social networks:

http://www.facebook.com/carol.keiter

http://carolkeiter.tumblr.com

résumé:

http://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/curriculum-vitae-portfolio

portfolio:

http://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/parcel-of-my-portfolio

blogs:

http://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/

I searched under the themes of environment and happiness in each of my blogs, which resulted in several pages in each consolidating articles on these subjects. 

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/?s=environment

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/?s=environment

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/?s=Happiness

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/?s=happiness

ebook A Seahorse Tail trailer:

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/educational-ebook-trailer-a-seahorse-tale-a-spin-on-the-matter-of-motion/

music:

https://soundcloud.com/more_nomadbeatz/sets

https://www.reverbnation.com/nomadbeatz

http://www.myspace.com/nomadbeatz

podcast:

https://deliciousmedicinalfood.wordpress.com

Recipients as of August 24^th 2018:  

Alternatiba
Avaaz
Beautiful Solutions Lab
Bill Maher
Bill McKibben 350.org
Brian Thomas Swimme – Center for the Story of the Universe
Center for Biological Diversity
Charles Eisenstein – The More Beautiful World
Climate Warriors
Collective Evolution
Dalai Lama
Daniel Pinchbeck – 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
David Wolfe – Environmental Defense Fund
Defenders of Wildlife
Democracy Collaborative
Democracy Now Amy Goodman
DJ Spooky – That Subliminal Kid
Earth Guardians
Earthling Ed
Elon Musk
Gabor Maté
Gar Alperovitz – Democracy Collaborative
George Monbiot
Global Climate Action – Climate Network
Greenpeace
Interfaith Power and Light
International Animal Rescue
James Gustave Speth – World Resources Institute WRI
Jeremy Narby – Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
Joe Brewer
Jon Stuart
Michael Moore
Naomi Klein
National Geographic
National Resource Defense Council – NRDC
Next System Project
Noam Chomsky
PlaceToB – Paris COP21
Pope
Prince Ea
Rob Brezsny
Russell Brand
Save Animals From Extinction
Stephen Colbert
Trevor Noah
Vandava Shiva
WildEarth Guardians
WWF – Nikhil Advani – WWF Lead Specialist, Climate, Communities and Wildlife

EchoActivate | Education, Communication & Fun | Working Side-by-Side, Empowering through Participating | Cleaning, Reusing, Planting & Restoring Habitats for All Creatures | Global Climate Action Summit

If India was able to plant 66 million trees in twelve hours with a million + people side by side doing it, this same action could happen around the world towards any environmental movement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-plant-66-million-trees-12-hours-environment-campaign-madhya-pradesh-global-warming-climate-a7820416.html

Word cloud of involved actions in EChOACTiVate

I meditate daily and ask the four forces – earth, air, water and plasma – practicing heart rhythm meditation. My intent is to carry my voice to peoples’ platforms I can participate in and for information and guidance to be carried to me. It’s an intuitive process of trusting in the intelligence and consciousness of the universal force. I feel that many things that appear to ‘happen’ serendipitously, arrive because of intention to connect to this information. Magic? Today, for the first time i clicked on and read this info from this community that I learned of while taking courses when living in Pennsylvania. Interfaith Power & Light: A Religious Response to Global Warming. I’d go to multidisciplinary talks with religious leaders from all these different faiths putting forth their viewpoint on various questions. Opening it, i found out about this, http://globalclimateactionsummit.org/. The Global Climate Action Summit happens to be taking place in San Francisco, September 12th to 14th. Just a week before the ccc reunion.

lets mots, les activité
pour EChOACTIvate

It seems to be an excellent place to continue to disseminate my idea. The idea started years ago, imagined actually right before the COP21 Paris climate talks, which I went to, to Paris for two weeks with 20 dollars.

Previously I named the idea Eco Revolution, then EcoActivate, because the first was taken.

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/calling-for-echoactivate-partners-core-team-refugee-manpower-best-weapon-is-education-and-empowerment/

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/calling-for-echoactivate-partners-core-team-corporate-sponsors-government-subsidies/

lo que tu puedes hacer con EChOACTiVate

The idea is to bring the information to the people, through a cyber portal of information, and a mobile unit that comes to a community with needs that people perceive or perhaps aren’t aware of at all, that they can then do together to clean up and build sustainable energy, transportation and to plant community gardens, bee and butterfly highways, plant trees and build animals bridges…

The idea is to bring people together in a celebratory, participatory way. With the knowledge they need to create, transform and participate in greening their own environment.

Education is the tool. People power is the engine.

was EChOACTiVate ist

Why I Think This World Should End | Prince Ea | Eloquent Storyteller & Poet

Spiritual and social commentary eloquence that I feel is necessary viewing and learning for everyone on this earth.

Prince Ea Brandon Sloan Cinematography Why This World Should End

blogger Carol Keiter

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

I need some guidance about how to Market my eBook to Educational Material Brokers: private/public/home schools/charter/expeditionary learning..

Hello there,

Any parents, teachers, home-schoolers, educational book publishers, agents, promotors out there who have a clue about who to contact in the arena of educational material brokers? In other words, I need help knowing where to start in the marketing end, to get my book into schools as auxiliary learning digital reading material? When I was a substitute teacher in Santa Fe, New Mexico all the elementary school students had iPads, and the middle and high school kids all had laptops. So that’s the gist of it and the arena I’m aiming for!

I’m writing an educational ebook for kids & young adults; i.e. private/public/charter/home schools/autistic/accelerated/expeditionary learning | 2018-19 year | I need help marketing it to educational material brokers. I am (92%) completed and really excited about it. I haven’t had any council about how to go about doing this: agent, marketing, self-publishing?

It’s designed as a learning tool. My intent is to market it to kids and young adults (home schoolers, autistic/accelerated students, public/private/charter and expeditionary learning schools.

I’ve designed it uniquely as an eBook for digital audiences, I’d never get away with the cost of printing, with almost every page featuring a color image. For the most part the book,

“Adora & Vitali: A Spin on the Matter of Motion”

delves into the world of energy and information, electromagnetism and systems theory. It’s a tale incorporating a great deal of information about physics and the interconnectedness of life. The subjects evolve as the characters unveil them. It is an interplay of art, science and spirituality.

As said, there are images on most of the (circa 180) pages, most in color. Many feature my artwork illustrating characters as well as graphs and images with documented sources, which illustrate the subject matter.

Each ‘chapter’ is a page. The table of contents is a searchable index of subjects. The book can  either be read from the beginning to end, or the reader can skip to different subjects; to focus on that topic or contents for a day, or week. I’ve designed the bibliography in google docs to enable the links to be cross-referenced alphabetically.

I have never done this before. I do not have an agent, nor any tentacles in writing groups or marketing channels. I am doing the research, writing, illustration and editing myself. I intended initially to market it myself, however certainly there are people who specialize in specifically connecting educators with educational material – through educational market brokers.

It will be completed by this summer. Now wait, that’s technically 4 weeks. Yes, I could conceivably pull that off!  Yet, the specific market I’m aiming for is the coming academic school year of 2018/2019. I have no income or sources of revenue presently and am in credit debt. That’s why I’m commuting to the library by bicycle every day: in order to have a desk, electricity, WiFi and an extraordinarily pleasant place to work. (I can’t afford to sit in a cafe and purchase an Americano every day to linger and loiter there….it ads up.

I would appreciate any advice or leads. Naturally, detailed information about the contents of the book are readily available. I’m so excited, hardly anyone has even taken a peak at this. Wow, and it’s been at various bursts, my baby. I’m ready to give this little body of work a life of its own and  share it (at a price) with the world. Hey, I share all the information in the blogs I write, for free, giving the information away. I do foresee wanting to do a lot more writing and music, and do have to pay rent and things like that. Presently, I’ve been camping in a room in the state of Rhode Island. I couldn’t stay in France, no VISA presently. I am so excited to hear the responses and really believe in what I’ve been crafting. As I’ve heard other writer’s say, at some points I feel like the book is writing itself.

I look forward to guidance about what my next step is in bringing this to the appropriate recipients; buyers.

Carol Keiter
carolkeiter@gmail.com
(720) 243-2953

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

carol the blogger March 24th, 2017 in New Mexico

Carol Keiter contact

Migratory Starlings in Aix-en-Provence | Etourneaux | The Most Magnificent Site & Sound

I was sitting in this cafe and went outside for a pause. What? What in the world? Were these parrots? Birds at night in huge flocks like the parrots in San Francisco who found one another after each having escaped their cages?

The first person whom I asked, a young guy walking down the street in sports clothes, knew immediately the answer. He says that it happens twice a year in Aix-en-Provence. They are Etourneaux, I asked him to write it down for me. He then wrote down the English after looking it up on his phone.

Starling ‘ballet’ in danger as bird population declines

I am in tears again as I read the headlines of this article in the Telegraph.

Starling populations migrate south and west in winter

“The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) blames changes in intensive farming that means trees and hedges have been chopped down so there are fewer places for the birds to roost and breed. The use of chemicals and monoculture has also been blamed for reducing the amount of seeds and insects available for the animals to feed.”

Though I don’t have the equipment to record their sound. I was ASTOUNDED.

The ‘common’ starling. (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European starling, or in the British Isles just the starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. I think it’s vulgar to call it common, the common starling, will be common no more, once they have all declined.

This bird is resident in southern and western Europe and southwestern Asia, while northeastern populations migrate south and west in winter within the breeding range and also further south to Iberia and North Africa.

They were moving – in the darkness – along the trees lining this very famous street. I found this video, which at least documents them.

Starlings Etourneaux Aix-en-Provence
Migratory birds which will return to Africa

Frankly, I found this to be the most magical thing I saw all day. I appear to need a new profession.

carol the blogger March 24th, 2017 in New Mexico

Freiburg Germany stranded in hitch and discovery of fabulous graffiti

On my hitch from Germany east of Stuttgart to southern France, I stopped in Freiburg, Germany. I arrived at night, and walked around checking out the town, the craftsmanship, the canals, the river. Had already heard about this town as a pretty cool place; progressive, liberal, open-minded population. Also that 100% of its energy is derived from renewable sources.

Freiburg, Germany graffiti
tunnels

Freiburg, Germany graffiti

funky elephant Freiburg, Germany

miniature puppet swinging beneath bridge
Freiburg, Germany

lovely detailed inlaid stone sidewalks
Freiburg, Germany

I intended to hitch out of the town early the next morning. No ‘daylight savings time’, I was shocked to see that the sun only rose at 8am. I started nevertheless at 6:30 or so in the darkness. Lots of traffic, no one picking me up.

Freiburg, Germany fantastic graffiti

Freiburg, Germany style

Decided to purchase a coffee, then espresso, pretzel and the pastry. Went back to the road. Hours later, still not getting picked up, though this was the feeding point to the entrance to the autobahn several kilometers away.

Freiburg, Germany graffiti bridge art

Walked forward, no place for cars to stop. Asked someone if there was a gas station anywhere near this road, and was told there was one behind me, about a kilometer. Went there, still no rides. Saw some colorful graffiti, ran across the street to look at it. Then started walking down these stairs to a tunnel, and discovered loads of graffiti. I decided to myself that this was why I couldn’t leave town. I was supposed to discover this while getting stuck there.
I took pictures until my phone was almost out of space and battery.

Feeling very content with this discovery, and as the hours passed, now I was interacting more with people and just hitching from any random place along this road. I discovered the cool little mini person (puppet) swinging on a swing under the bridge. Chatted with a few people. Then a man approached, saying that he saw me that morning when he was on his way to work, and now was seeing me again after he returned from work. Having hitched himself, and knowing the difficulties of this particular town and the fact that this was mostly local traffic, he offered to drive me to a service station on the autobahn outside of town. I thanked him profusely. Turns out he had a lot of information to deliver. Said that Freiburg, years ago, was a town with a lot of squats, just like Berlin was a decade ago, but that in both towns, they’ve been cleared out, became rentals or just now not allowed to exist.

Freiburg, Germany graffiti

What I hadn’t known, is that where he dropped me off, now bypassed the place where I had mapped out that I was going to take as my route. It was a truck driver who said after I asked him and showed him my hand drawn map, that I had already passed that particular road, but that I could get off at such and such exit. It sounded like ‘German’ to me. I was inside starting to get worried, that I was going to be stuck here too, going way out of my way. But I consulted maps and found the names he spoke of.

Lots more story to tell, but I’ll just at least get these pictures out and describe more later. It was a fascinating hitchabout as far as insights into human nature and the whole gamut of types of people. It was also one in which I was stuck two nights in a row with no housing or food, and yet improvised and really enjoyed myself, even with the challenges.

Freiburg, Germany fantastic graffiti

I really do feel like a survivor, who can improvise and find means through creativity and resilience, to make things work, and even laugh about it. Of course, I’m not a refugee who has been forced to leave behind everything to seek a new life, nor someone who has just had my home burn down, ravaged by the exigencies of climate change. Just someone who has chosen to go on an adventure, who knows that I will bounce back into an accommodation I had planned – the workaway – host I was heading to in the south of France near Aix-en-Provence, from the host I left behind in central-southern Germany near Stuttgart.

The one I left behind was a nice learning experience, the one I’ve just surfed into is already exceeding my imagination and really fantastic. I feel very fortunate and appreciative.

Freiburg, Germany graffiti

carol the blogger March 24th, 2017 in New Mexico

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz ~ As an avid blogger who is presently picking up where I left off with my eBook to complete it and and beginning again to compose music, I ask you rather unambiguously and unabashedly to please donate, if you are able. !-))