About the healing power of plants.

We are in the fifth month of some weird kind of lockdown in Germany. And the way it all looks, it won’t be over anytime soon…

Since the restrictions don’t bother me too much, it is more of this subjective impression, that nothing is going on these days. And I mean that in general, and of course also in my very specific situation with the job hunting. Everything seems to be stagnating and I feel so powerless in all of this. Sometimes I feel really desperate, even if I know that everything will be fine in the end (…and if it’s not fine it is not the end… we all saw Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, didn’t we?! LOL).

What really helps me in these moments is going out into nature. Well, in the big city you rather have to say: a walk in the park.

We go to parks because they offer us space, breadth and relaxation. On one hand, they give us the opportunity to deflate; on the other hand, also to breathe new life into something. They give us free space to better understand our situation in life and to grow into it. Looking around in a park means looking at different aspects of life bed by bed.

I have the privilege to live right next to one of the (in my opinion) most beautiful parks in Munich, the Westpark. God knows there are a lot of great gardens and parks in Munich (…I think I’ll have to write a separate blog post about that one day). And right now, in this lockdown, it is really worth gold to have such a green space close by. It has become something like my second home, LOL. I go for a walk there almost every day, do my jogging laps, listen to podcasts or music. And when i have the feeling described above again, when I don’t know what to do next, I get drawn into this green lung.

And then I see that something is going ahead, after all! Leaves change their color and fall to the ground, snow is covering the earth and suddenly crocuses and daffodils sprout… In nature, something is always changing! Because everything just keeps growing. Plants are in the world – just like us – to live, even in bad times and under unfavorable conditions. Despite all the regulations that affect us and to which we submit.

This fact and the awareness of it, always gives me new courage and hope. And that’s why i enjoy my daily walk in the park so much.