No Island

This is drastically out of order but I have to tell you this story.

I had no car for the move into my new apartment. This seeming handicap gave me two options: rent a car or get creative.

One characteristic of myself that I used to prize in another life was the fact that I was capable. If something needed done, more often than not, I could make it happen. And most of the time I felt good about this all the while unaware that it was making me an island.

The thing about friendship and community and collaboration is that its a two way exchange. Without reciprocity, it just doesn't work. Its quite simple really, when one offers, the other has to accept. This doesn't work when self sufficiency is your top priority. This doesn't work when you are an island.

My idea of independence has been tested often these past two years. And its lovely how many people have stepped up along the way. Showing their true colors in the name of my international move, I have been blessed with generous humans who have been teaching me the value of accepting help.

One thing I love about Berlin is its honesty. For better or worse, you know where you stand. There is very little sugar-coating. It's just the real raw story and you can take it or leave it. So when it came time to move the couch that my friend Eric so generously donated to my new flat and I had to figure out how to get it from his attic to my studio it felt right to ask myself one simple question: "What would Berlin do?"
The answer was clear...

Couch Moving Party.

5 strong men, 3 six packs of Berliner Kindl and 2 Kilometers later I realized something beautiful thats been coming for a long time now:

Im not an island anymore.