AvianAine

... is bird chirping weather. 🌳 🌞 🦜

Oh, birds, these flying jewels in the sky. There are few things that make me happier than watching birds. I am a bird woman. Whether it is the shrill call of the buzzard, the robin's melancholy song or a gang of high-spirited goldfinches chirping their heart out - every sound is so familiar to me.

My name is Anja and I live a contemplative life in a busy German city upon the River Rhine. I love to stroll through forests and parks with sharpened ears and my eyes turned to the sky.

Trees are amazing und the beech tree is the one I love most. Nature journaling is something I deeply enjoy. Sitting under a tree and looking closely at its bark while moving my pencil on the paper is so satisfying. Drawing a tree feels like thanking it for its beauty.
 

🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂 🍂

Throw a leaf from a tree into your envelope. It will surely make me happy. I learn to recognize trees by their leaves.

🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳        

• listening
• exploring the arts
• healing personal, ancestral and collective trauma

For me the spice of swap bot is getting inspired. Hosts come up with so many unusual ideas and the broad variety of swaps is stimulating. I learned quite a few new things here on swap bot such as making envelopes and creating zines. Groups are a wonderful idea. Somehow swapping within groups feels safer because everyone seems to be more committed.

  I belong to those who feel called to preserve the art of handwritten letters. I spend much time alone and appreciate writing as a means of slow and thoughtful communication. Writing to someone is like spending time with a friend. It feels good to address my words to someone unknown and I will always include something handwritten in my swaps. If you are into fabric, you may love wool or silk; for me it is paper in all its magnificent variety which makes my heart sing. I am a paper lover through and through and it hurts me to see good paper treated badly. In a previous life I certainly was a monk who spent his days in the scriptorium transcribing valuable manuscripts.

I read books from many genres (except thriller and horror, I had enough of this in my life) and I like to read a novel and a non-fiction book in parallel, preferably on the same subject. Early autumn is my favourite time of the year when the shorter days invite me for long reading sessions in my cosy wing chair, a cup of oolong tea in my hand. I love to read at dusk. Oh, and I definitely have a soft spot for smart teen investigators from Flavia de Luce to Sherlock's little sister Enola Holmes. If you have a favourite young sleuth, please let me know! 🕵🏻‍♀️ 👀 🔎

  My creativity laid dormant for many years and it was only through art therapy that my creative spark got reignited. My favourite medium is watercolour because it does its own thing. It's a bit stubborn and I adore this paint for its transparency and its ability to let light pass through.

Artists whose work I like: Frida Kahlo, Vincent van Gogh, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, Joseph Beuys, Mary Bauermeister, Yehudit Sasportas, Hilma Af Klint. I also love Aboriginal Art and Andy Goldworthy's Land Art.

• I have a MA in sociology, psychology and sport sciences and worked in public health for many years

• I would like to work (at least a few days) as: postwoman, wildlife camerawoman, bodypainting therapist, stationary shop operator, children's book illustrator, German teacher

• I speak German, English and also Italian (B2 level), perché amo il paese dove fioriscono i limoni; I would also like to learn Russian or Polish

• the most beautiful places I've been to: Altai mountains in Siberia, Russia, Femundsmarka in Norway, Bieszczady national park in Poland, Venice in Italy, Soča-Valley in Slovenia and Ring of Beara in Ireland...

• I have neither a garden nor a balcony but I'm growing herbs on my outside window sills. I could die for baked potatoes with rosemary 🌿

• seven things I love: the sound of a harp, the smell of frankincense, having dinner outside in nature, travelling on horseback, friendliness among strangers, sitting by the fire, handwriting

• I value personal experience and I believe that everyone has special talents and something unique to offer to this world

• I am a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Druidry is not a strange cult but a community of people who follow a spiritual path close to nature. We also develop our artistic abilities along the way.

  birdwatching, nature, trees, mountains, herbalism, horses, druidry, spirituality, shamanism, tarot, storytelling, poetry, symbolism, vedic astrology, archetypes, mythology, rituals, sacred geometry, spirit communication, animal symbolism, tennis, handball, horseriding, canoeing, hiking, playing guitar and ukulele, trauma healing, near death experiences, human and nonhuman consciousness, synesthesia, energy medicine, animism, ancestral medicine, dream tending, mental health, art therapy, music therapy, sound healing, meditation, biographical writing, psychological aftermaths of WWII, art, creativity, watercolour, calligraphy, drawing, journaling, art journaling, nature journaling , sketchnoting, illustration, design, labyrinths, mandalas, street art, urban sketching, magazines, sociology, psychology, sports sciences, language learning, tea, minimalism, genealogy  

Look at this life - all mystery and magic. - Houdini