...IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR STREET

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, exhausted by today's flood of information, and thinking again subconsciously: “Look, the other mommies have time for fall handcrafts and are even talking about it on social media.” Grrrhm... that voice again.

My LinkedIn behavior has recently become more of a “I'd rather watch” attitude. Explaining arguments in favor of democracy — and in a business context — is something I really don't have the resources for at the moment. And, to be honest, the outside world has taken a back seat because I'm currently working on the most wonderful project. Ladies and gentlemen: the most rewarding and sensitive construction site in the world — our own home 😍🏡.

About a year ago, after groundly choosing between different lifestyles, we decided that we wanted to put down roots in our favorite hiking area. The stars aligned in July — and our house came to us. The house that I had had coincidentally visualized in a painting a week earlier. Just like this 🥹.

In addition to a permanent employment contract and an +1 coming soon 😍, my energy, inspiration, and, of course, my perfectionism are flowing into this wonderful project: an architect-designed house from the 1970s, lovingly planned, flooded with light, and honestly furnished with regional materials. When adapting the rooms, we focus on functional, communicative use and the principles of this expressive architecture: honest, natural, haptic. The tingling in my fingers finds peace in tile patterns, spackling compound, and paint in my favorite biophilic colors. But it's not all fun and games: for the first time, I recently laid floating concrete 💪!

Here, I can let my creativity run wild—while trying not to get lost in options, of course. I can do anything I consider is good and right and fits within our budget. I can follow my heart and lead others along with me. I can see the results right away, try them out, and sample them—and just do it without any evaluation from any stakeholders. Simply based on my intuition. It's like a huge creative playground for me. For us!

Surrounding environment is just fantastic: I finally arrived in autumn, and the forest welcomed me with my favourite mushrooms, which I used to collect with my grandmother in Russia. There were enough for a large pot of soup! "You are allowed to light an open fireplace “occasionally” – that's enough for me 😉.

Five years ago, I would have called myself “Spießerin 😒.” But if Friedrich Merz's statements find popularity, then I have to go to the forest with my beloved family – and build my own peaceful kingdom there. With plants, mushrooms, birds. I feel comfy and I feel right. And when the construction site is finished, Advent time can come. I'll snuggle up in winter (there will probably be snow at our altitude, by the way 😍) and wait a few more months until another loud person comes along to stir up our lives.

At the beginning of the year, I thought to myself: if the world isn't ready for Robert Habeck, then it's not ready for me either 😅. Now, judging by the polls, many people want something completely different for Germany than I do. We are who we are inside. And yet I still hope and believe that I can promote humanity, empathy, and charity through spaces.

One such space is now my sweet home.