Sometimes, I get asked why I moved to Berlin, or what keeps me here, or even what I do here. So for starters, I am a freelance content creator, writer and editor, YouTuber, and social media manager. Not too long ago I also started to do culinary coaching. The goal and process differ from client to client, but in general, I create recipes that are adapted and adjusted to the client’s sensitivities and preferences, we have weekly meetings to discuss struggles and successes. We try to understand together what holds them back and improve their view about cooking, flavor exploring and kitchen processes understanding.
When you set your own working times, especially when working on private projects (like my youtube channel, this website, my social media platforms, looking for clients and non-work-related “projects” like looking for apartments, cooking, grocery shopping, errands), it’s harder to put the finger on a time frame. Since I have started to measure my projects, all of them, yes, including washing the floor and cleaning the bathroom, seeing it detailed by hours, really gives one a perspective on the scale of work that is actually being done. It helps me feel more productive and less inactive or lazy, as I sometimes feel.
I talk myself down, even when I try hard to avoid it as much as I can. This talk-down roots me in a loop I really struggle to break. When it happens, I need to leave everything that I do and go out for a walk. I tend to forget I’m surrounded by Berlin. And just by walking around town, watching the flowers, spotting a cool building, a new Mural I haven’t seen or noticed before, all of these little things fill me up with energy and motivation. They ignite my creativity that, occasionally, gets shut down by anxiety, fears, and worries. Sometimes, leaving a place is what needs to be done to move things inside one’s mind.
Being a business owner requires frequent tweaking. Requires me to stop for a moment, look back, and assess the situation. Being a business owner is finding new ways to create and produce and manage one’s time every single day. And when you’re all by yourself with nobody to consult, it can be a true burden. So these little changes, adjustments, and tweaks, contribute to business growth, eventually. Looking at the time I spent promoting my business or myself towards the goals I’m aspiring to, profitable or not, gives me the perspective I need to assess the scope of my work. But I am learning. Every day, all the time, and I never want to stop learning, improving, and blossoming.
So what do I do in Berlin, you ask? I grow, I invent myself, and I create. Sometimes I forget what this city gave me, in the past almost two years I have been here. But a short walk around the block or in a neighborhood I haven’t visited for a while reminds me exactly that in no time. If the streets of your city give you peace, you are, probably, in the right place. I come back from my strolls stronger, happier, and full of inspiration.
Here is a small portion of the things I love about Berlin, my city:
