It's not that complicated! 😀
Newsletter from May 18, 2026
Hi dear student,
I met the mysterious black Raven again this morning, croaking at me and flying an extra circle close over my head reminding me to observe the wonders in life all around me. Also noticed snow-white ptarmigans and the exotic looking oyster catcher on this morning walk down to the river, where the short but intense arctic summer is exploding into a joyful display of fertility and never ever wasting a ray of sunshine or drop of rain. I was accompanied by my neighbor’s dog “Kastor” who keeps inspiring me not only with his sheer endless source of energy but offers me daily reminders of how simple life can be.
While the list of activities, materialistic gains, wants and needs that make me happy is rather long and never seems to get shorter no matter how much I think and work, all Kastor needs is a stick … and someone to throw it for him … again and again … and again. While busy Bernd gets overly involved with planning the future or finishing the new deck around his new workshop, Kastor is busy and happy with his stick. He loves to drop it into the deep hole I am digging for yet another foundation post. Rather annoying … or maybe not?
“Could you take a break for just a minute and play catching stick with me?” Yes, I sure can!
Kastor is one of the happiest beings I know. “He’s just being a Dog”, some might say.
Can we then “just being Humans” … and be just as happy?
Yes, I know, we humans have responsibilities, a mortgage and work … but can we also “just be happy humans” when we get f. ex. our daily dose of coffee, sitting down and enjoy it instead of “taking it to go”? Can we just be humans and enjoy the drops of water in our shower running over our body without thinking already about our long to do list? The list will be there for sure also after the shower! Could we rest in our human birthright of creativity and enjoy building our wooden puppets without judging how good or bad we are doing it? Can we just enjoy learning to sharpen our knives, keep trying and practicing until we get it right, again and again … like Kastor is joyfully chasing his stick?
It seems I am more and more concerned about nurturing the art of living as a creative human being, than just passing on proficient techniques of building and working with puppets. I am so grateful for our community of creative, kind and soulful participants, that support each other to be “just humans”, getting excited about a wooden stick for carving as much as Kastor is excited about someone throwing a wooden stick for him to catch.
Maybe this is all much simpler than we tend to make it and overthink it. We all can find a wooden stick!
Wishing you much human and creative joy in this upcoming week and sending warmest regards from the Whalefjord in Iceland,
Bernd
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