Postcards

quiet still air

silenced feet walking around me

a distant voice speaking of the German past

warm

physically tired

mind anxious

When I think about the communist German museum, this photo is the one that stays with me the most. Isn't freedom the most valuable right we can be given? I'm walking now and staring at the photos that are covering the minimalist walls. I already know about the dangers of communism and the human pain it causes, I am even more grateful for the incredible country that we live in that grants us these rights without question. The furniture here is mute, the colors are silent, maybe this is how the people felt? What do you do when you know that what is happening is wrong but you still need to comply because you must survive, you must try and succeed. The life behind these Berlin walls seemed impossible to survive.

mumbled voices

darkened hallway with dim lighting

footsteps all around

a business to move forward, right, left or out

the voice of the tour guide explaining the names

a dry smell in the air of...almost paint

This was a shocking image. Not only was this art piece intriguing to look at but what I found to be truly remarkable was the recognition of every Parliment official and even those who were harmed by the Nazi regime. I love that they paid attention to these details and that everyone was included without exclusion (except for the years under east German control because there was no Parliment.) Each darkened name, each darkened box is illuminated by this single bulb that brings with such a clarity. It appears that have no end, I think that may be the intention though, to show that true government, honest and pure government always continues and will never end.

Peers taking photos

making jokes about getting our licenses

warm hot wind blowing all around

aching feet

chipped paint

fenced in, unable to touch

This piece of art is so fun to look at, it brings back so many good and bad moments in life. I made and heard comments about people and the accidents that they got into as a young adults and I heard the comments on the choice of a light blue background. Yet what I found to be powerful about the art was the idea of breaking through the wall and entering not only a new area of town, or even a new state but what essentially was a new world to those from east to west or west to east. What a sad but incredibly historic time to be in Germany and what a wonderful way to depict this struggle.

very quiet

light steps of walking people

the sound of pages turning in notebooks

scribbling pens

a light and gentle breeze

the smell of fresh air

a bright sun shining on everything and everyone

In my daily journal I discuss the importance of this image and of what this memorial means to me so I won't go on very long in this postcard entry. Besides its beauty (lush trees, mowed lawns, cemented statures, the symmetry...) and the very real emotions that it made me feel, this memorial says a great deal about the respect that must be paid to the dead regardless if their life was lost or taken for a bad cause. Life is life in the end and not one persons life is worth more then another's.