Category: parenting

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contemplations Germany inspiration LEBANON morning coffee talk old age old people parenting Photography street photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 79/365

Our fireplace today in Germany~

As long as I remember, when I still lived in Lebanon, my father would sit by the fireplace at our home at the foot of the mountain and on cold days continuously feed wood to the hungry fire and watch its raging flames and listen to its crackling sounds as it vanished into ashes.

It always made me think that there is a romantic in there hiding behind his seemingly hard exterior that he presented to the world.

The last 3 days, and in the middle of a storm here in Germany, our heating system broke down, so as we shuffle to get it fixed, I started using the fireplace as a means of generating warmth on these very cold days.

And guess what? I find myself as hypnotized by it as my father was and still is at over 85 years of age.

Life sometimes turns full circle on us…

Photo of my dad staring at his chimney 2 weeks ago in Lebanon taken by my sister.
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children Germany inspiration lockdown morning coffee talk parenting Photography Tuscany

Morning Coffee Talk~50/365

Lea playing on the swing in Tuscany~2012

Good Morning,

This image is one of my favourites that I have taken of my daughter and is both sentimental for me and expressive of her playful nature.

I was looking at it today and thinking of how important it is to remain lighthearted and free. We get that bashed out of us as we get older and what a a pity that is.

I tend to dedicate a part of my life to silliness and I don’t plan on giving that up any time soon. So cheers to the goofballs of this world, some of which are dear friends of mine. I miss you all and quarantine will end in a few days! Yay.

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contemplations lockdown parenting Photography street photography

Morning Coffee Talk~ 49/364

Good Morning,

Sitting here at home and caring for my lovely daughter who is in quarantine with covid, I find time playing games with me. It goes fast, then very slow only to go fast again reminding me that I have absolutely no control over it.

That is one of the natures of time, it is a law, it does not bend to our will, and we cannot change its course. I have gotten so used to the fact that my tomorrows are not pre-determined and that surprises are around every corner. I never could foresee this time and if I remember correctly, when covid started, I expected it to last a few months at the most.

Here we are in the third year of this bizarre time on planet earth and curved balls keep coming our way. What is next, I wonder?!

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Germany lockdown morning coffee talk parenting Photography

Morning Coffee Talk~ 47/365

Good Morning,

I suppose it was inevitable and at some point Covid would come knocking on our door. There is a positive test in our home today so we will be in quarantine for the next 7 days at least.

Luckily we live at a time when we can remain connected with loved ones, friends and colleagues online and much homework will get done.

Hoping to surf through this without too many health issues. Stay healthy, get vaccinated and be well.

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children contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk parenting

Morning Coffee Talk~26/364

In the forest on Christmas Day

Good Morning,

Every year since my daughter was a small child, we visited this forest near the town of Xanten in Germany. This year was no exception. I always walked with her there and upon arrival we stopped and took a moment to greet the forest. One hand on a tree and she still recognises her tree till now, we announced our presence and pledge to do no harm to the forest. She always loved this little ceremony and so did I .

If you have chance to read the book, ‘secret life of plants’, you will see the overwhelming evidence that our planet and its fauna are so alive and so communicative in ways we hardly can comprehend. I do completely believe that our presence in the forest is felt and communicated from tree to tree and that intentions can also be felt.

It has been proven that the life of the tree retreats in the face of harmful intent and hides in its roots and that it can actually feel distress. There is so much to research about this subject and to experiment with as we reconnect to this marvellous garden of plenty that the planet offers to us so generously.

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children Germany inspiration morning coffee talk parenting Photography

Morning Coffee Talk~1-365

Good morning to you from Germany. How shall we start this?

I have been planning for a while to restart my 365 project that I did in the past and loved immensely: a picture and a short writing every day for one year, and today felt like the right day to begin.

Its’ the first day our home tradition of exchanging 24 small gifts before Christmas and for this, my daughter has always woken up very early to see what awaits her. There are 24 small boxes that contain 24 small gifts and thoughts of care about her and she has grown to love that.

This year, she gifted me one back, and now I can smile knowing that the tradition will carry on…

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art CHINA inspiration parenting Photography

Discovering the ladder of understanding~

ascension

This morning I was driving my daughter to her weekend Chinese class and we had a very interesting conversation. She was complaining about her inability to always find interest in continuing to learn Chinese whilst living in Germany and this took us to musings about the human brain and how we, humans have so much unused potential. It has been said that humans only use 10% of the brain capacity and once we push and struggle to learn  new things, we are perhaps activating otherwise dormant wirings in our brain and faculties. She became very interested in the process and walked to the class with a spring in her step.

Day 68 of 365~ 

image is a composite of a wall in Hong Kong and a closeup portrait of my daughter. 

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children LEBANON life love parenting Photography

The gift that keeps on giving~

top of the world~_

When you have your first child you become privy to the most well guarded secret: you have just signed on for the most important and permanent job of your life. It looks so easy. Everyone does it. Our parents did it. Our friends and neighbors seem to do it. And then your child arrives! I used to hold important job after job before having my child, each with a heavy series of responsibilities, but I dove into them armed with the knowing in the back of my mind that I can just quit when I choose to. Then came the parenting job, and I realized that this is one job I can never quit!

I would not exchange this job for any other in the world because it is the gift that keeps on giving.

Day 58 of 365~

Image taken of my 8 year old daughter overlooking the valley of the saints in Lebanon, 2012

Categories
Germany parenting Photography

Home is Where your loved ones are~ Germany

The best part of every adventure is , for me, the coming back home moment. I always long to go but I long ever more to come back. Home is such a place of safety, recharge and warmth. When you are lucky enough to have someone there that you can’t wait to hug, then it’s only the icing on the cake.

Day 29 of 365

Images of my daughter as we played around with some lighting.

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children parenting Photography

Inking in priorities ~ Germany 


At this time, a permission is granted, to re-evaluate, to shed the extra weight of unnecessary stresses, to weed out unwanted obligations, to dedicate time and love to those who need us most…