Purity and goodness 🤍💧

As children, we were asked which color we liked more: black or white. I chose black simply because I liked the color. Another child chose white, explaining that it represents purity and goodness. Interestingly, this person often acted in a scheming and spiteful manner, contrary to the symbolism of white.

This personal anecdote taught me that choosing a symbol doesn’t always reflect a person’s true values or behavior. Psychologically, it is known that there can be a significant gap between self-perception and actual behavior. Honesty and authenticity in self-expression are more important than striving for an idealized image.

I’m skeptical when someone claims they never lie or act toxic. Studies show that a strong emphasis on moral purity can sometimes indicate a distorted self-perception or even inner conflict. People who idealize themselves or fail to recognize their mistakes often struggle with personal growth, as they are less likely to engage in self-reflection and self-improvement.

Such people can strain relationships and undermine trust in their sincerity. Authenticity and the ability to admit mistakes and learn from them are crucial for personal and interpersonal development. Authenticity fosters deeper connections and greater trust within relationships.

Everyone has some narcissistic traits, and a healthy level of self-love is important. However, on social media, people often share oversimplified, polarizing opinions, promoting toxic positivity that ignores negative feelings and weaknesses. Toxic positivity, as defined by scholars, involves dismissing negative emotions and responding to distress with false reassurances rather than empathy.

Those who claim to have no narcissistic traits often seem inauthentic and are more likely to display toxic-narcissistic behavior. Authenticity means admitting one’s own flaws and weaknesses. Those who are open about their imperfections show a healthier attitude towards themselves and others, which is essential for genuine self-esteem and growth.

Cloud spectacle in the evening sky 🥰

🌄 In a few days, on June 20th, it will be the summer solstice. That will be the longest day of the year. The sun will rise at 5:15 a.m. and set at 9:39 p.m.

🌞 Here in Oberursel we have four summer months, June to September, with average temperatures of over 20° Celsius. May is already very warm with an average of 18° Celsius. In October the temperatures fall to 13° Celsius.

🌇 The five big cities with the longest summers in Germany are Offenbach, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Pforzheim and Frankfurt am Main.

😊 Three of these cities are nearby. So I can count myself lucky to have so much of my favorite season, which has only just begun.

💫 What's your favourite season?

This image has a very high resolution. It consists of an enormous number of emotions per inch (epi).

It is the peace and warmth, the fragrant green and the abundance of blue that people strive for and the contrast between metropolis and countryside. It is identity and therefore an expression of myself.

The artistic element of a work is not measurable by algorithms. Algorithms can analyze technical aspects of an image, such as resolution, brightness, contrast, and even the content including certain emotional expressions. But the subjective and creative dimension that is the essence of art eludes quantitative analysis.

Artistic works are often characterized by personal interpretation, cultural context, emotional depth and individual experiences that are difficult to code and measure. The meaning and value of a work of art vary greatly between different viewers and contexts. What is deeply moving to one person may be uninteresting to another.

This subjectivity and individuality make art unique and special. Algorithms can assist and analyze, but they cannot fully capture or replace human creativity and subjective experience. Art therefore remains a field in which human perception and interpretation are indispensable.

🌤🌱😎 I think that what I am doing on Instagram and other social media is very important. People's connection to nature has diminished greatly over the course of industrialization and urbanization. This is also reflected in the media landscape, where nature has become increasingly less important over the last 200 years. While people are losing this connection, we are losing more and more species, and with the loss of this diversity we are putting our livelihoods at great risk. I impart knowledge and perspectives, and give nature an emotional closeness.🍀🐞

You can find more information on my website (link in profile). There you will also find more data on the species presented and my artwork. Since I do everything myself, there is a lot of work involved. I appreciate your moral support. 💚💛🧡

🌤🌸🦗🪻 A fragrant summer sun spot for a tiny bush-cricket (Phaneroptera species) 😊

Loki: "Nothing to eat? You are of no interest. 😒"

Dakota is the only one of my animal roommates who would most likely never snap or bite. But because he's a snake, people are afraid. A 2008 study showed that the sight of a snake silhouette triggers stress in babies as young as 8 to 14 months old. So it's not something learned, but innate. Other studies have confirmed similar reactions in non-human primates. But the stress reaction does not automatically lead to a fear of snakes. As early as the 1980s, it was recognized that rhesus monkeys only react fearfully to snakes after they have observed it in other monkeys. It was an advantage for our ancestors to be able to recognize a snake quickly and react immediately. For one thing, venomous snakes pose a danger, and for another, our ancestors were also natural prey for giant snakes. But Dakota is just a harmless corn snake that strangles its prey.😇

Bruce checks the situation 👀 There are a lot of crickets running around... Maybe one will jump into his mouth. 🛎🦗

These are the oldest handwritten notes from one of my ancestors. It was my great-great-great-grandfather who recorded the birth of my great-great-grandmother Margarete's eldest sister Magdalena in July 1815. The notes continued until 1882. In 1877, for example, the birth of my great-grandmother Katharina was recorded. It was written in a family Bible, and the writing is Kurrent script - an old form of German-language handwriting based on late medieval cursive writing. Thanks to artificial intelligence, I have now managed to decipher all of the notes and can add to my family tree.

Because it was a patriarchal system, the male heads of the family usually kept important records. I don't know his name, but it says "22. Julius was born our Magdalena. The newborn child is a female." (orig.: "22. Julius ist unsere Magdalena zur Welt geboren. Das neugeborene Kind ist eine Weibsperson.") so I know that the author was also a parent of my great-great-grandmother Margarete in 1830.

The Europaturm ("Tower of Europe") seen from the Niddapark in Frankfurt-Hausen. Above me is the A66 motorway with some murals on the bridge pillars. The Europaturm is the second highest (337.5 m) telecommunications tower in Germany. I was up there a few times in my childhood, but the visitor area has been closed since 1999. Here the tower is not usually called Europaturm, but Ginnheimer Spargel ("Ginnheim asparagus"). The Niddapark is a place I like to visit in the summer. Not far from the bridge there is a public fitness park where you can torture your sloth 😁