Ingredients for my perfume

Wouldn't it be great if we could bottle chosen aspects of life and carry them with us? A perfume full of personal experiences. Though unlike in the book Perfume, I want a concoction for sustenance- full of the best smells, tastes, sights and sounds I find. Id collect it all up and dab some on wherever I am in the world.

It rained this afternoon and my street here in Bewrlin only became more vibrant, like the rain woke everything up after a long drought. I really feel like Im in a little oasis wonderland here in Prenzlauerberg. It's a small community in the middle of a big city full of young, vibrant people. There are more children per capita than anywhere else in Europe. The park and the markets come alive twice per week and bring people from outside the area, but mostly it's residents that sit in the cafes and come into the ice cream shop.

Sometimes I think Im hallucinating, the strangest things pass by at the most pedestrian times. The neighbourhood is like a big open air circus, complete with jugglers, musicians, candy sellers, animals and costumed characters. Or sometimes it's a timewarp and Im transported to another decade, another era where fashion and other iconic trends stopped still. You can ping pong for free in the park, share your bike lane with a horse and carriage, play fancy dress in the vintage clothes stores, and be handed a sketch of yourself by a pink-rimmed oversized sun-glassed wearing African-American in a jumpsuit as a tip for selling him a scoop of tiramissu gelato- all in the same day!

I describe so much colour and life, and it's here if its nowhere else in the world. But sometimes a warmth is missing. In itself this is counter intuitive and hard to explain. With so much creativity and energy, shouldnt there also be a contagious good mood floating around? It is perhaps the individualism I love that keeps everyone looking inward. We are, I must not forget also still in Northern Europe. You really have to look for the approachable, friendly ones. The generosity of strangers is not a given here. But when you find the right people, they are the heart notes of any good perfume. Slowly and surely things are falling into place. It's like a game of tetrus that requires quick moves, mistakes and a knowledge that like many things in life, life's perfect balance will ultimately come down to a bit of good old-fashioned luck.