Stressed!

I am usually heard saying that I live a very stress-free life, and it is true that very little fazes me.

It helps that I have complete control over my schedule, and if I pack too much on my plate it is my own doing. I also limit my exposure to the news and do not watch on TV scenes of catastrophes that I can do nothing about.

But this week I got stressed – in a major way. The reason? My dog Mr. Darcy. All of a sudden not doing well and giving conflicting messages. Eating and drinking okay but being lethargic, and once being barely able to walk, and the next moment walking just fine.

It was interesting for me to observe my own stress response to a powerful trigger. It was a situation from which I could not remove myself but had no means of changing. I could literally feel the stress hormones circulating in my body. The punch in the stomach! Sleep – forget it! Food – don’t even think about it! Off to the emergency vet we went, at least one action I could do. My favorite vet was on call, and my stress was down by half immediately.

Having an absolutely phenomenal veterinary specialty hospital nearby, he has been checked out inside and out, and I am optimistic that the reason will be found and that Mr. Darcy will soon be his usual self.

This experience made me think about stress in general. The perception of helplessness is for most people the greatest cause of the ‘stress response’, not the cause itself.  I still maintain that all stress is an ‘inside job’, even if it is in situations that most people would characterize as stressful.

One of my standard pieces of advice is to say that – in a stressful situation – you may only be able to control the way you think about it if otherwise you do not have control. I still believe that it is sound advice even though I was not exactly a paragon of self-control when Mr. Darcy was not feeling well.

But I trust that he will soon be his own tail-wagging self again, and that I can return to my serene unstressed advice-giving persona.

Germany beyond Rothenburg and Heidelberg

I was in Germany a little while ago and spent four days in an area that used to be East Germany. I am so fortunate as to have a friend there who loves the region and shows it off to visitors. So I was a tourist with an excellent guide and want to share some of the beauties and wonders I got to see.

The city of Magdeburg (the capitol of the state of Saxony-Anhalt) is interesting so see. Located at the river Elbe, it has many pretty parks and landmarks. My favorite is the ‘”Hundertwasserhaus”, Check out this website http://www.gruene-zitadelle.de/englisch/ and marvel how funky straight-laced Germans can be.

Further on the tracks of architects, I also visited the Bauhaus (which is more than just a font style) in Dessau, designed by Gropius just after the First World War. His architecture influenced much of modern design, and while I am not a personal fan of the austere functionalism, it is amazing to see it emerge at an era so long ago. Here is another link for more information http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/english/home.html.

Also in Dessau is the location of an unrivaled landscape of parks, waterways and little chalets. It is even possible to rent historical structures as weekend vacation homes. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and I also have a link for you to check this out http://www.woerlitz-information.de/woerlitz-en/ho/ho_lp.php?&PHPSESSID=760e0f8d3e1195700e01566235bf15c3.

Just the next day, I saw another UNESCO Word Heritage site, the city of Quedlinburg, a medieval village near a low mountain range called ‘Harz’ with the largest collection of half-timbered houses. It has everything a tourist needs: a castle on one side, an abbey on the other, plenty of shops and restaurants in between on cobblestone streets. Here is a short youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRs2Po4kAL4 and more information  http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/unesco-world-heritage/quedlinburg-old-town.html.

Other places in close range are the towns of Wittenberg and Eisleben, known for their relationship to Martin Luther who was born and died in the latter and posted his famous proclamations at the church in Wittenberg. There are interesting museums where he was born, lived and died. Some rooms are still there, and I liked the way the museums provided context for his life and work. Here are links to Wittenberg http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/wittenberg-luther-house and to Eisleben http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/eisleben-luthers-geburtshaus-birth-house and http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/eisleben-luthers-sterbehaus-death-house.

And if you are into domes and cathedrals, there is none like the dome of Halberstadt which houses one of the most significant treasures in the world. It has priceless tapestries which date from 1150 AD and are beautifully preserved. You may have seen the beautiful tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn in Paris. Those were woven around 1500. It appears, however, that the people of Halberstadt want to keep this treasure a secret. I could not find an English web link! So here is one in German only http://www.die-domschaetze.de/de/dom-und-domschatz-halberstadt/domschatz.html.

And while I was there, I heard about the Sky Disk of Nebra (which really lent itself to be made into jewelry and thus returned with me to the US). This disk is about 1 foot in diameter and shows different moon phases and stars. It was found about 15 years ago in that area. It is made of bronze and it quite beautiful. What makes this find absolutely astounding is the fact that it has been dated to about 1600 BCE !!!!!! That was a time well before the glory days of Greek and Roman civilizations, while the pharaohs in Egypt started on the Valley of the Kings with King Thutmose I, and we have the first traces of the Mayas. Stonehenge, however, had already been built. Here is a link with images to this extraordinary disk which is now at a museum in the city of Halle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk.

After having seen all that and more, I want to share this with as many people as possible. Tourism to Germany is often reduced to a trip up and down the river Rhine with a side swipe to Berlin, Munich, Neuschwanstein, Heidelberg and Rothenburg where the tourist is catered to with a production of “Germany for the American” with Lederhosen and all.

I hope I was able to demonstrate that there is more to Germany than that.