roots & branches

"I am not interested in raw foods," the lady who owns the local health food store told me. I had invited her to my chocolate workshop. "It's too difficult, you know? There are so many nutrients and minerals that you can only get if you cook the food. It's too much work to find all the necessary supplements to make up for eating food raw."

There are people you can reason with, and those you can't. She seemed to be of the latter sort, so I simply replied: "I don't just do raw foods, I also do superfoods and-" She interrupted me: "oh, that's just some crazy American thing, we don't need any of that over here."

There are many things I love about Germany: obviously and first of all my family and friends, German culture. I love the energy of places that have been around for ages and have seen centuries, even millennia of human history. I love the revival of medieval culture, mythology, art. I am happy about the level of environmental consciousness as opposed to the lack thereof in the US. I appreciate the preservation of ancient ways of living, a more sustainable infrastructure, etc...

Basically, I love German roots. My family roots, my cultural roots, and Germany's historical roots. There is a fundamentally different energy in places that have roots. I feel like places have memory, like the energy of historical events lingers and gives those places a depth that makes you feel grounded and connected to the past. I love that about medieval events held at medieval castles, castle grounds that have hosted human drama, wars, weddings, deaths, births, love - all that is human life -for generation after generation.

Germany's roots run deeper, stronger, and richer than those of the hodgepodge culture of the US. But there is a flip side. Germany is so deeply rooted that it has difficulty branching out. It does not like stretching into new realms, trying out new things. Germans are more set in their ways. While the US lacks a certain groundedness, change is far more easily accepted. It is no wonder the hippy movement started in the US. And to this day, California, the West Coast, the US is known for new ideas, new developments, new movements.

And that is why I am moving back to the US. No, I am not an American patriot, I do not stand behind US politics of invasion and dominion, environmental degradation, and whatnot. But neither do I agree with everything the German government does, and above all, politics are fairly irrelevant to my choice of home. I live and breathe an alternative way of life that is so far removed from the sphere of "normal" politics and society that it matters little wether I live my life on the margins of the German or American society.

I am coming up on having spent a full year in Germany. I had to go back to my roots after the ground erupted beneath me in what seemed like my personal Armageddon. I survived and realized my divorce was not the end of the world, quite the opposite, it was the earthquake that was breaking the ground for a new life. I am in my 8th month of metaphorical pregnancy, carrying this new life and mission within me. It's been kicking quite a bit and many of you have had the chance to touch and feel what is about to be birthed.

The time is coming to shift from my focus on my roots to an exploration of my branches. I am ready to branch out, stretch myself high into the sky, and try out new things. In order to do that I am moving to the country that is more supportive of my branches. That does not mean I am cutting my roots. But I am ready to test how strong my roots are and let them support me as I branch out further and higher, reaching to the sky, as ambitious as a sequoia.