Sunday Morning Thoughts – March 9, 2025

Art Museum, Rhine Falls, Mt. Rigi, International Women’s Day – where do I start?

It’s been a busy busy week. On Wednesday I went to an exhibit at the Art Museum in Aarau. It’s called “Blumen für die Kunst”. That translates to “Flowers to Arts”. It’s artists using flowers to – not really recreate but perhaps accentuate a work of art. I found it fascinating and took too many pictures. Here are just a few.

I was amazed that I had the patience to wait for the room to clear before taking the pictures. Sometimes it's worth it.

I love the idea of looking at a piece of art and then creating something to go with it.

It also made me think about what some of the original artists would make of these creations. I mean interpreting art is very subjective. People look at my pictures and see all sorts of things. I’m not saying those things are not there. Far from it. I’m just saying that I take a canvas and colors and let things flow. I hardly ever give it ANY thought. It just happens.

I do love that people see whatever speaks to them in that moment. So, I’m good with that. And I’m so looking forward to showing one of my paintings at an art exhibit next month.

I showed pictures of my art to members of staff at the art museum. I got some great reactions – something to pursue.

Live video?

Well, I did a trial run – thanks again to the three friends who joined. You really do need WiFi to get a clear picture. So, that’s not gonna work, but I shot a lot of video when on an adventure on Friday. Paying subscribers have that coming their way. I’m just a bit stuck with cutting and pasting that video. Stay tuned.

I did post a paid subscriber only video of me painting. Become a paid subscriber and check it out 😉

Adventure time!

I was up super early on Friday. On the first bus and one of the first trains. So, I got to Zurich at 6.06 AM. Then I made my way to one of the three underground stations. If you look at the screens you can see that there are arrows pointing to which track your train will leave from. The way it’s organized is that all trains travel in the same direction on this platform. There’s another one for the other direction.

The screens also tell you where the train will stop and where first- and second-class cars are. If you’re using the SBB app you can also see which cars are more or less crowded. It was a very quiet morning on that train. Just the way I like it.

I arrived at the Rhine Falls at 7.06. That’s when I started shooting video with live commentary. Such fun and I might keep doing that. The task of creating one video out of it – well, that’s a different story. I’m also thinking that I might shoot video and then add audio later. Like voice overs or something.

I’ll keep you posted on that.

Now, the Rhine Falls – I’ve never seen them with so little water. Look at the rocks in the middle of it. You can see where the water is usually at.

Still, it was a gorgeous morning.

I decided to try and catch the train to Basel to go to the Cartoon and the Art Museum. Not from Neuhausen, but from Zurich. There is one train that doesn’t stop and it’s super quick (less than 1 hour). Only problem – it was not an official connection and getting from track 4 to track 14 on a busy travel day in 4 minutes can be difficult if the train is even just 1 minute late.

Let me insert something really quick since it happened on said train.

Why do we need International Women’s Day?

I encourage you to listen to Becky Hemsley’s Poem “Breathe”. She has readings of it on her YT channel. I have a reel posted to my IG with my own pictures to her poem You can find it here.

So many reasons in there on why we need International Women’s Day.

I’d like to give you two examples of things that happened to me on Friday. Yes, both on the same day. I got on a train in Zurich. I had managed to hop on 15 seconds before it departed and was trying to get to the front of the train. Now, if you know anything about long-distance trains they tend to have a restaurant car in the middle. I was standing in the aisle waiting for a couple of people to place their order. I was in no rush, nor did I try to push past the waitress. I was happy to wait.

A group of people asked me if I wanted to sit at their table. To which I said “no I’m gonna go sit in first class, thank you”. That could have been the end of it. And it should have been. But it wasn’t. One of them said that I should come sit on his lap.

In what world is that an appropriate thing to say?

My options? Making a scene? Calling him a disgusting pig? Ignore it? Laugh it off because “boys will be boys”? I decided to give him my *you’re such a pathetic loser* look and walk on. I kind of wish I’d called him the Swiss equivalent of “disgusting pig” or “gross old man” but … what’s the point?

And now, we don’t need to make shit like this up. It happens – it happens often.

Exhibit two – you know when we’re told to set boundaries and tell men what we want and expect and stuff like that. I won’t post the dude’s full name, but this is a screen shot of my Substack DMs.

Clear expectation. Clear boundary.

Isolated incident you say? Have you been paying attention? This happens every single time I give somebody the benefit of a doubt and say hello back. EVERY SINGLE TIME ON ANY PLATFORM.

I didn’t go looking for examples. These just happened on the day before International Women’s Day.

But then I started thinking about it more after seeing videos of men being asked the same questions women get in job interviews. They got very uncomfortable.

Apart from being patted on the hand and told I didn’t need to be nervous at the beginning of an interview, here are some questions I got. And no, I was not nervous because of the interview. It was the interviewer that gave me the creeps.

• Why don’t you wear make-up?

• How are you going to juggle work and family?

• How do you react when somebody yells at you?

• Where do you see yourself in five years? [insert my answer] … You don’t want children?

• How do hormones affect your work?

• How do you get along with a boss that has anger management issues?

• You know that “boys will be boys” – how do you react to such behavior?

• When was the last time you cried?

I could come up with more, if I really thought about it. Some of these questions are illegal in Switzerland. If you walk out of an interview like that – you’re over-reacting. Of course you are, because accountability for their own actions is not an option.

Then there is “for a girl/woman”. She’s good at math – for a girl. She’s good at sports – for a girl. She’s good at her job – for a woman. Can we stop doing that?

But yes, we really don’t need an International Women’s Day …

Now let me get back to me living my best life without worrying about frail egos and emotionally immature people because they are not my responsibility. I got stuff to achieve and places to go. Anybody trying to suppress me or hold me back. Good luck with that.

I left you on the train to Basel.

Why Basel? Well, I had loved the exhibit “Das einfache Leben” – the simple life - with works by Gerhard Glück. So, I really wanted to go back there.

It made me pause. It made me laugh. It made me happy.

Such creativity. Such humor. So much not taking things too seriously. I mean what’s not to like about a sunflower field with Vincent in the middle stealing some?

Gerhard Glück is a brilliant artist. He really is. I’m super happy that I made it to that exhibit a second time.

You probably don’t know where Neuhausen am Rheinfall is or how far it is from Basel, but let’s just say it’s not a thing a lot of people would do. I was on a mission though and it all worked out nicely.

It’s not just creating art myself. It’s also enjoying what other people are creating or have created. There’s so much energy in both.

Being hypersensitive, I feel that energy. Pictures talk to me. Pictures have an immense energy in them. I never realized just how much.

It makes sense though. I mean even if a picture is planned and mapped out. It’s always the artist that gives it that something extra.

And breathe …

Have you ever wondered why so much of the early art is religion themed? Well, it was pretty much the only way for artists to make money. Churches had money. Churches were willing to spend money on altar paintings or painted ceilings.

We’re all familiar with these works of art – Sistine Chapel or The Last Supper come to mind.

The power of the church … more thoughts on that some other time. A little preview: if churches want to interfere in our lives, they should really be paying taxes.

I got the explorer gene and the keep the fcuk out of my life one too. Rebel and all.

So, I went up Mt. Rigi again. It was such a beautiful morning. First train up because I don’t like it too crowded. I took a break on a bench to eat breakfast and this was my view.

Those are some of our highest mountains. Many of them are 4000+ meters high. Just beyond gorgeous. It was cold - around freezing - but so worth it.

On the way down I managed a great shot of the lake below. It’s moments like these where I feel incredibly grateful to be living here. Yes, it takes me a good two hours to get there and almost three to get back, but why wouldn’t I. Just look how stunning. Every single time.

With the world going completely mad this is my refuge. This is where I go to get the energy to keep going. The energy to follow my dreams no matter what. The energy to speak up. The energy for living life.

And on Lake Lucerne, I slow down. I sit. I watch the world pass by slowly. I wave at a passing boat. I consider things. I start writing 10 different newsletters. I wonder … what if?

Happy Sunday everyone.