Yep, if you count exactly, you will see that a day was skipped - the last post was on December 9th, today is December 11th ... an advent calendar with a gap, ouch!

We are slowly starting the 3rd weekend in Advent - I worked through the 2nd weekend in Advent to finally get my website ready and to finish a paper for an online exam.

In the process, I missed a feeling to enjoy simple life. So yesterday I stretched out all fours and simply didn't do anything - there is now a gap that can no longer be filled ... except I feel myself!

Today, for example, I enjoy the sun, which shines directly on my desk from my window. I enjoy the blue sky, plus "Christmasjazz" from my favorite radio station to groove myself in with an atmospheric groove.

I write this blog in German and English - while doing some work in the last few days, I noticed that the English translation suggestions on the Internet for the word attitude towards life are quite disappointing: "Lifestyle"…. Hmpfff…. "attitude towards life"…. Najaaaaaaa - actually the English language is so much easier in expression, syntax and in its simplicity than the German language - but no, these translations don't do it at all. I like the French translation much better: "La Joie de vivre" - there is pure joy in it (la joie), right?

We all miss the joy of life so, so much: the exuberant girls' evening with one (or more) glass of wine, the excited anticipation of a good film in the cinema, with popcorn and good friends, drinking mulled wine with colleagues at the Christmas market when it starts to snow, Sociable St. Martin's goose meals with the clique, first training units for the new dance formation of the Carnival Spark, dancing stress out of our body in the club,flirting with a stranger, hanging out with roommates and their friends in the shared kitchen until the early morning - the list goes on and on.

This pandemic tears a painful big void in our attitude towards life - my forgotten blog day is a little worm against it.
I was infinitely tired yesterday - and I had bad dreams. The scenes that I remember could fit into a magic scene with Voldemort in a Harry Potter movie! Yes, I was depressed and extremely tired.

A book gave me a lot of courage this fall: Rutger Bregman, Humankind: The first chapter is about the mood and morale among the urban population of London in the Blitzkrieg attack by German bombers at the beginning of World War II. Scientists and leaders in the UK believed that the lockdown, threats and destructive attacks that have severely affected the quality ofeveryday life in the city and brought destruction and suffering will undo morale. But contrary to all expert predictions, that is exactly what did not happen.

There it is again, the magic word of resilience: Resilience properly penetrated means feeling compassion and consolation and support for the undeniable suffering and still not losing one's attitude towards life.

"If life has meaning at all, then suffering must also have meaning. It doesn't matter what you suffer, but how you take it on." - Viktor Frankl

Every day I look for my source of strength for my attitude towards life - yesterday the source of strength slipped very deep into the cave…. But it was there - and after a pleasant chat with my friend, I had a very uplifting online chat with three of my apprenticeship friends from Berlin. With a good mood (and also a glass of wine) we beamed a bit more lightness into our hearts again ... my virtual girls' evening, a bit of quality of life in the pandemic!