Looking at her made my breathing go shallow. Her whole demeanour shouted restraint, self-criticism, anxiety and yet she thought she was hiding it so well underneath that forced smile, that nonchalant masculine attitude and that layer of just a little bit too much body fat. She thought nobody noticed how she was beating herself up […]
I’m writing this post to my past self. The girl that was stuck in severe anxiety and nearly killed herself by wanting to do everything perfectly. That girl that felt she needed to be special, to do her utmost best and be a kind of prodigy in order to be deemed normal, to be accepted, […]
2017 has been a pretty spectacular year: I travelled to Hawaii, Mallorca and Paris. I found my dream home in Florence, I grew my business into a really enjoyable and successful venture and – last but not least – I found the man of my dreams. Now, this might sound like I was born with […]
It all started with a breakdown. A moment in which I crossed my own boundaries and betrayed my partner of six years. It was a painful wakeup call which showed me the crystal clear truth: that I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t enjoying life anymore. I wasn’t really living. This moment of turmoil turned a separation […]
Living in Florence is many people’s dream, but actually making it happen – and making it work is a whole different kind of story. I can tell because I’ve been making it work since 2010 and can call myself a rather weathered Florentine expat. And the weather hasn’t always been bright and sunny the way […]
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” I could stop here. Leave you with this message. But had I read this while I was still imprisoned by my anxiety disorder, I would’ve thought: “Great, wonderful, another quote that rings true, but HOW do I get rid of the self-doubt so I can start going […]
It’s like saying: “I first need to believe in myself before I do anything at all. And since I don’t believe in myself I’ll just stay stuck.” That is creating an excuse, a block that doesn’t need to be there – at all. And what does it mean to believe in yourself anyway? To know […]
How to not let crabs – or anything else for that matter – get between you and your mission. After a two-hour train ride, walking down a very narrow path between rocks that functioned to cover up the sewers – yep, there’s the crap – I finally found a place where I could sit with […]
I remember sitting in the garden, head down, staring at my lap, stuck in my head, fighting my thoughts and feeling desperation taking over once again. I wrote the following words in my diary: “I wonder, what wonder will one day help me stop wondering.” Simple maybe, but it showed exactly how I felt. I […]
