Tag: pandemic

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Germany morning coffee talk Photography street photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 78/365

Rhein Promenade~ Duesseldorf

As Europe starts to gradually ease covid restrictions, I keep hearing talk of going back to our old normal, as if that is even possible!

Having lived through this pandemic and all the changes that we have witnessed, how can we use the words ‘going back’?

From here on, we can only move forward and discover a new normal, certainly not the same one we had.

Will they erase all these isolation circles that we got so used to standing inside of ? What about the way we wash our hands for 20 seconds? And the masks? Would the masks stay as they did in Asia after the SARS epidemic?

Let’s see what the future holds and how ‘normal’ is to be redefined.

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children contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk Photography

Daily Coffee Talk~56/365

Hi from a cold German Evening,

The world feels more and more alien to me with every passing day. 2022 is proving to be an even more intense transition into a changing future than the years that preceded it.

What kind of world are we leaving our children? They are a generation that was born and grew up in an accelerating age of technological advancement and an ever narrowing focus toward screens and social media with less and less connection to nature and its wonders.

How will they reconnect to what matters the most? How can we guide them towards a more harmonious, connected and natural state of affairs?

Maybe winter weather , shorter days and exploding covid numbers are promoting these thoughts and contemplations, but they are real and dominate my thoughts.

Good night from here and I hope you wake up to a bright new day full of promise and change to the better.

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children contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk Photography UAE

Daily Coffee Talk~ 55/365

free at last~

Hi my friends,

Lea’s quarantine ended today! We have a negative covid test and the birds are singing again in our neighbourhood. You don’t realise the importance of human contact till you go 10 days without it.

We have been smiling a lot today, hugging and being silly. I am grateful for her recovery and wish for this global pandemic to disappear and allow for a new kind of normalcy to return.

Stay healthy and well. Happy and gratefully signing off from Germany.

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Boracay morning coffee talk Photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 54/365

Self portrait ~ Boracay

Hi my friends,

I remember a world with less restrictions, a planet without a pandemic, a state of affairs when most travelled freely, and a time when the world as it is today was inconceivable.

And yet, here we are, at the end of an almost 3 year run at this virus’s stroll around our planet or is that wishful thinking?

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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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contemplations morning coffee talk Photography street photography Travel

Morning Coffee Talk~ 23/365

Good Morning,

Do you remember travel? We used to travel a lot more on planes, trains, cars and boats. These days, it’s getting so complicated to plan, prepare for and make the actual journey.

I am planning to travel this coming week and suddenly so many considerations enter the equation. Keywords get highlighted in my mind like, omicron (sounds like an avenger name ), quarantines, lockdown, 2g, 3g, face mask, social distancing, PCR, disinfectant and the list goes on.

Whoever is in denial about the fact that we are living in the age of a pandemic should plan a trip. It’s surreal how much the world has changed in the last 2 years.

In the meantime, let’s keep baking cookies and preparing for a peaceful Christmas Eve, wishing the world health, peace and light.

Well that’s what I am doing 😊

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contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk street street photography

Morning Coffee Talk~ 19/365

Good Morning,

If you celebrate Christmas, you must be counting down at this point to the event next Friday. Here in Germany, some of the cities like Duesseldorf are lucky to have their Christmas markets still open despite the rising Covid-19 numbers, but with restrictions.

At this point the change and strangeness of the pandemic can no longer be denied or ignored by anyone. Masked faces are becoming the new normal and we are learning to read faces from the expressions in the eyes. A city of masked super heroes who keep on going towards the holidays armed with hope, the will to live, the love of joy and being with family and friends.

The resilience of humans feels like an encoded gift in our genetic makeup. We somehow seem to adapt and keep finding the beauty in life despite the circumstances. History is filled with examples of this and it just makes me smile.

Enjoy the countdown and let’s see what this new year is bringing.

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CHINA contemplations Germany myanmar Photography street street photography

Morning Coffee Talk~18/365

young girl in Kashgar, 2011
woman in old alley, Shanghai, 2013
girl on bus, Yangon, 2016
girl behind train window, Istanbul, 2021

Good Morning,

It is winter in this part of the world and everyone spends a large part of their day indoors, seeing the world through window panes. How much of our lives is actually lived behind such barriers, in our cars, homes, schools, offices, airplanes, buses…

It feels like we see the world and the people around us through a frame, a view finder and that can only be part of the picture. How much does that influence our communication, tolerance, understanding of others, well-being, and humanity?

As the pandemic progresses, this lifestyle becomes more and more the normal way of going on and we are limited to our confined environments and lack of physical contact with others.

How many of our children are living mostly behind screens and communicating virtually with their friends? What influence will this have on our future as a human race?

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Photography street photography Travel

Istanbul~ a 7 day Journey

Windows to the soul~
Pandemic days~
Through glass windows~

Waking up on the second morning here in Istanbul to the sound of the call to prayer, a stark reminder of where I am, traveling again, exploring the amazing quirkiness of another culture and the inner worlds of other people.

What first met me in Istanbul on this trip was incredibly unrelenting traffic jams, impossibly busy streets, strange smells and sounds, enchanting architecture and local color, but most importantly, HUMANITY.

It’s a great reminder of why I love to travel and why I do what I do. It’s the people. The common thread that binds us all together, we are born here on this planet and find ourselves in this strange, difficult at times and yet irresistible journey of life, finding hope around every corner.

It took coming to a place like this to reignite my wish to write and share these impressions…

From a hotel room overlooking the ferry station in kadikoy, it’s 6 am, still dark and I can hear and see the rain washing this bustling city.