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We are prisoners of our emotional imagination, caught between fantasy and reality.

-George McEwan, movie „Salt On Our Skin“

Comment: Sometimes….but everyone is responsible for his or her own imagination.

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Dmitri Shostakovich - Second Waltz

„Love. The reason I dislike that word is that it means too much for me, far more than you can understand.“

-Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

„All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.“

-Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina

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Stanley Kubrick - Eyes Wide Shut - An Interpretation

„Both are grateful that they have escaped the real and dreamed adventures unscathed. ‚Now we have awakened‘ - says Albertine - ‚for a long time‘.“

-Arthur Schnitzler, „Rhapsody: A Dream Novel“

„When two people achieve lasting happiness, this is not solely because they are great lovers but because they are also - I must put it crudely - good people: controlled, loyal, fair-minded, mutually adaptable people.“

-C.S. Lewis, „We Have No Right to Happiness"

…back to Tolstoy‘s „Anna Karenina“ who shows different kinds if love:

Anna’s love is intense, possessive, and isolating. She gives up everything - her marriage, her social standing, even her son - for Vronsky. But this love becomes a prison. She feels increasingly insecure and paranoid, especially as Vronsky begins to pull away.

In contrast, Levin and Kitty’s relationship starts with heartbreak but grows into a deep, spiritual bond. Their love is grounded in mutual respect, shared values, and family life. Levin finds meaning in love through daily acts of care, not grand passion. For him, love is a path to truth and purpose, not destruction.

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Not all, but some!

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Sometimes a journey brings insights in many ways

A journey to Australia at the end of the 90ties brought many insights - sometimes some that you didn't necessarily consciously look for. My heart was still wounded – and a change of scenery clears the mind. There's nothing in a foreign place that reminds you of someone specific. I was anything but „in the mood for love“ – so I hung a „taken sign“ around my neck: „My girlfriend at home...“ – a casual phrase with hopefully definitive effect! To my surprise, this was more of an encouragement than a deterrent for some party-loving women on that trip. Perhaps it was the location – „relaxed“ and far from home? Perhaps it was also my mistake to book a group tour with this provider in my „inner state“? As a man, you then could experience things that my gender is often accused of „at home“: clumsy advances and unsolicited groping. Aha, so this is how a woman feels when she is seen purely as an „object of desire“. „Sisters“ have no problem stealing another "sister's" partner (so much for solidarity among "sisters") - if they're „in the mood for love“. Aren't men always ready for an adventure? No, they're not! Rejection usually hurts, no matter how nicely packaged it is. It's always judgmental in some way. But it's not my problem if the other person can't handle rejection! You can learn something from every encounter. But some people don't. Sometimes you just have to leave it at that - and simply agree to disagree and wish them a good life.

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„Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.“

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Phantom Of The Opera - All I Ask Of You - Andrew Lloyd Webber

No more talk of darkness

Forget these wide-eyed fears

I'm here, nothing can harm you

My words will warm and calm you

Comment: In a relationship, it should be natural to be there for each other, to look after each other, to grow with each other… to be a unit without giving up one’s individuality. For me, that's love...and that's something completely different from "falling in love" or "sex". The latter is part of it, but it's becoming increasingly less important - especially with age. At least, that's my opinion.

….turn my head with talk of summertime!

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The Way It All Ends- the five endgames that all women face

Maybe an article worth reading for women!?

“One reason why your partner may always seem upset is that you weren’t her (first) choice“.

-Chris Rock – explains to men why some of their wives are always complaining🤷🏼‍♂️!

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….I’ve once learned….if you feel this….go your own way!

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…now it means to be joint in a relationship: separate, but one!

-Marlee Matlin alias Sarah Norman in „Children Of A Lesser God“

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The Cure - Lovesong

Whenever I′m alone with you

You make me feel like I am home again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am whole again

Comment: In the song, Robert Smith – frontman of the gothic rock band The Cure – describes his wife Mary Poole. Mary Poole has been a significant muse in Robert Smith’s music, inspiring some of The Cure’s most iconic songs - like the one above: a gift to her for their wedding. Her compassionate nature and dedication to helping others deeply resonated with Robert, and he has often spoken about how her kindness and strength have inspired him.

There are many women who seek such a deep and exclusive relationship - but fail because of their high expectations and behavior. They are so self-absorbed that they wouldn't even recognize their luck if they were to encounter it. Who wants to sail the rough seas when they can catch fish in calm waters? Only poor creatures who need a different kick every day to even feel like they're still alive. Such women will never understand a woman like Mary Poole, who gives a man what makes him feel, as Robert Smith describes in the song. That's the reason he stays with her!

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Inside Passage

With the arrival of Russian fur traders in the late 18th century and later Spanish and British explorers charting these waters, the Inside Passage became a strategic marine highway linking the Pacific to North America’s rugged interior. Its name reflects this well-guarded route “inside” the barrier of coastal islands - a natural fortress against storm-tossed open seas.

Today, this thousand-mile waterway from Washington’s Puget Sound up through British Columbia to Alaska’s panhandle remains one of the world’s most navigable and scenic coastal voyages. Towering temperate rainforests, fjord-cut cliffs and hidden coves guard the passage, creating calm waters that sustain fishing communities and burgeoning wildlife tourism. Vessels weave past First Nations cultural centres, tiny villages and bustling ports, each still shaped by the flow of goods, ideas and marine life that first drew explorers and traders here centuries ago.

In a week we're traveling to Western Canada. We're really looking forward to reliving the most beautiful part of our 2011 journey from Alaska to the American mainland: the Inside Passage. What will we experience this time? Again, brief glimpses of majestic bald eagles or humpback whales feeding on krill and small fishes in the nutrient-rich waters?

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Synchronicity

„Synchronicity is the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer.“

-Carl Jung

Carl Jung says that coincidences become synchronicities when they align with the psyche: when an external event mirrors an internal state in a way that feels „meaningful“ - even if there’s no causal link. Something becomes “meaningful” when it resonates with our subconscious.

„The soul has its own timing - and sometimes it coincides with the outer world.“

-Carl Jung

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Sting - Shape Of My Heart

He deals the cards to find the answer

The sacred geometry of chance

The hidden law of a probable outcome

The numbers lead a dance

Comment: The gambler's quest is a metaphor for life itself. Some people seek to decipher life and find a deeper meaning and purpose beyond coincidence. This is how their hearts are shaped.

….maybe in another life?!


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David Bowie - Changes

And these children that you spit on

As they try to change their worlds

Are immune to your consultations

They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Comment: David Bowie's "Changes" is about the inevitability of change and the challenge of self-discovery. The song addresses the struggle of adapting to different phases of life, the pressure to conform, and the realization that while we may occasionally change, the essence of human beings remains the same.

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A considerable amount of American consumption spending is not for the enjoyment of consumption per se, but to show off wealth, status, or sexual allure. In the famous phrase of the economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen, this is “conspicuous consumption“, that is, consumption whose main purpose is to impress others rather than to be enjoyed by oneself.

-Jeffrey Sachs

Comment: It is no different for Europeans today – influenced by US-dominated social media. If my happiness depends solely on how others see me, how self-determined is my life? Am I then free or a slave to my vanity? One thing I've learned quite early in life: Howl with the wolves - but avoid being eaten by them!

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Jacques Offenbach - The Tales of Hoffmann - Barcarolle (Venetian Gondola Song)

Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour

Souris à nos ivresses

Nuit plus douce que le jour

Ô, belle nuit d'amour

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Beautiful night, oh night of love

Smile at our intoxication

Night sweeter than day

Oh, beautiful night of love

Comment: What a wonderful piece of music! A suggestively rocking six-eight rhythm, a gentle theme that is as simple as it is enchanting. It's lovely music that entices us to dream, the soundtrack for longing and melancholy.

Karajan conveyed a profound emotional resonance in his interpretation. He understood how to express the longing and melancholy that resonate in the "Barcarolle" in a way that immediately speaks to the listener.