🚉⌚️ Waiting for the train to the next stations of life…

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🌻🪻🚶‍♂️🌳🌲 I've made the most of this year with lots of walks and hikes. Starting tomorrow, I'll hardly have any time for that anymore. But that's only for a little less than a year – afterward, maybe I'll find a way to organize my life a little more freely again, in accordance with my neurodivergence needs.

⌚️📆📈 While I was previously able to organize my work hours very freely, my course now forces me to work at fixed times. This will be a challenge, especially given the sensory overload I have to deal with due to my ADHD. After all, it's in classes with many people, especially younger ones. But I feel ready for it because I've worked hard on myself over the past two decades (diagnosed in 2006). I've made a lot of progress over the past two years, especially with the cross-symptoms (overlap and interaction) associated with emotional trauma, and I think it's showing physically. I wouldn't have developed all this discipline (quitting smoking/daily fitness training/nutrition) otherwise.

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Some people make beautiful sounds. Let's focus on that. 🌞🎧🎵

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✨️🥰🌞 This freedom to greet the day in solitary peace and summer warmth will be a rare blessing for some time to come. It's all the more precious that I've taken advantage of these moments for myself.

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💫🛴✨️ I got myself a scooter! Explosive leg workout! Yeah! That's my energy! Completely my own! Uphill, downhill - woe! 🤩

🌱🌿🌻 I naturally allow things to grow, which others drown in frustration. I enjoy life, filled with curiosity and drive. I get frustrated sometimes, but my moods are just weather phenomena, not the climate.

🌈🌦⚡️ My life is as colorful as a rainbow, as warm as a summer rain, and as exciting as a thunderstorm.

🛴🤠✨️ They see me rolling, they secretly admire me!

⏰️🥰🌅 You see me rolling at 5:55 a.m. shortly after sunrise.

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🌸⭐️ This is my 1000th post! ⭐️🌸
Let’s celebrate with something beautiful!

🩷 I photographed this pink (Dianthus species) in June. I sometimes think of this flower because I find it particularly beautiful. It is delicate in growth, yet vibrant in color. Incidentally, the color of the same name was named after this flower. This makes this flower the greatest influencer in the world.

🤯 What do 1,000 posts actually mean? That's (including this post) 1,662 photos and videos. Each one was edited, sometimes for hours. Each post conveys thoughts and feelings. I often spent hours researching, sometimes even days. Some posts have reached several thousand people.

🤩 I have every right to be proud of this. Overall, I've reached at least half a million people since February 2019. Among my followers are well-known artists, lesser-known artists, journalists, writers, musicians, museums, and zoos.

💫 My number of followers isn't exorbitantly huge, but I have a rough idea of who these people are and that my work is being followed with interest.

🤗 Many perfectly normal and incredibly lovely people, but they are very special to me – because we participate in this shared experience together!

📊🌿 Even though interactions have plummeted, I still see your faces regularly in the story views. In the last 30 days, there have been 41,700 views (stories and posts). This shows me that the mega ground sloth is far from extinct, at least here.

🥰😘 Thank you so much! 🌸🩷

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🧱🏘 Civilisation!

⛪️🔔🏖 Last but not least, I'll show you human civilization. There are three churches and the island bell, which you can hear ringing in the video. There are numerous restaurants and a few souvenir shops. There are two grocery stores and a 24-hour store with vending machines in the town hall building. Beach chairs are available on the beach, which you must reserve.

✨️😁🌊 You can also see my soft face on my first day on the island (for comparison, see my rough face after 10 days in the previous post).

🪶📃🕰 Life and history of Baltrum

📖🫅🗺 Baltrum is the smallest of the East Frisian Islands in the North Sea. It was first mentioned in 1398, when Widzel tom Brok gave the island – then called "Balteringe" – to Duke Albert of Bavaria and later received it back as a fief. The name "Baldatringe" appeared even earlier, in the 11th century. Ancient writers may have known of it even in the 1st century AD.

🎣🦭🛶 In the past, the sea often threatened the island’s small population. Around 1700, most people lived from fishing and hunting. Villages were sometimes abandoned because of shifting sand or storm damage, such as the great storm of 1825. From 1870, sea walls and dikes were built to protect the land.

🫧🌊🔔 Baltrum became a seaside resort in 1876. The Old Island Church from 1826 is one of its landmarks, with the famous "Island Bell" from a Dutch shipwreck. As visitor numbers grew, the Large Island Church was built in 1930, and the Catholic St. Nicholas Church followed in 1957.

🌳🌹🌿 A small highlight is the Rose Garden between the two main villages, cared for by volunteers and known as Germany’s smallest spa park. There are beautiful figures and the path is made of shells.

🐴🚴‍♀️🛴 Baltrum has no cars or motorcycles. People travel by horse-drawn carriage, bicycle, e-bike, or e-scooter, giving the island its calm and relaxed atmosphere.

💫🦥🐾 My plush son Vincent misses Baltrum at least as much as I do!

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🐯🔥 By day 10, it was obvious that I'd been on the move the whole time. The sun, the salty wind, and the exertion of hiking a total of 200 kilometers were clearly visible on my face. Tanned leather, but that sparkle in my eyes – a wild man!

🌳🌿 I immersed myself deeply in the nature of this island world, regardless of whether it rained or the night blinded me. I persevered exactly as long as necessary. After returning home, I hobbled for six weeks because of a stress fracture. But it was worth it!

❤️‍🩹🪺 But why did I actually return to this place, even though I was always here with my family, who had caused me so much pain in my life?

🧠🫧 One of the hardest challenges after psychological or emotional abuse is learning how to live with the memories I shared – especially the beautiful, powerful moments that once felt so meaningful. These memories are often tied to a relationship that now casts a shadow over them. What once felt precious can now seem strange, heavy, or distant – as if it no longer truly belongs to me.

🤲✨️ A key step in healing is to look at these memories in a new light – not by hiding them away, but by taking them back. When I put my own presence at the center, I free the experience from the old bond. I take it back into myself – as part of my wholeness.

🎒🥾🗺 Sometimes it helps to return to familiar places. This time not in the company of the past, but alone, and on purpose – for me. To feel again, to see again – and to meet myself again. Because the connection that matters most now is the one I have with me.

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🤔 What do you think I’m holding in my hand?

🔍 If you’re thinking of a seaweed, you’re already halfway there! But apart from its branching structure, there’s not much of the seaweed left to see. That’s because it has been colonized and completely covered by a colony of tiny animals! These are moss animals (bryozoans), more specifically Electra pilosa.

🏘🦠 Moss animals usually form colonies (zoaria) made up of many individual animals (zooids). Each zooid consists of a soft body and a protective shell.

🪸🤝🪸 Within colonies, there is a division of labor. Strongly reduced individuals form stalk segments, tendrils, or root-like filaments. Other zooids produce reproductive cells – still others become "nurse" zooids or develop into bird’s-head-shaped avicularia or vibracularia, which prevent other organisms from settling on the colony. In these specialized zooids, both the tentacle crown and usually the gut are reduced.

🏡🦠 In short: the seaweed is mainly just living space for Electra pilosa, not a partner. For the seaweed itself, it is usually more of a burden than a benefit.

⛴️🪸 Moss animals can cause damage or maintenance costs to ships, harbor structures, and water management facilities through heavy growth.

💉🧫 On the other hand, they produce chemical compounds that are the subject of medical research, including the potential anti-cancer agent bryostatin 1.

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🏖 No waves to disrupt the vibe.
🌅 Seagulls judge. The sun sets.
🌊 I don't mind.

✨️ Sand in my hair,
💔 empty shells crack everywhere.
🦶 Step on and get the feeling!
🐚 Love is blind.

🌓 The tide is low but I'm letting go.
❤️‍🩹 I'm gonna be my number one.
🌗 The tide is low but I′m letting go.
❤️ I′m gonna be my number one.

– Atomic Sloth Puppy

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