Travelled back to Berlin to give my talk at Forward Festival at HKW. I had a blast! Enjoyed connecting with students, old friends and dear colleagues (Shout-outs to Max Kuwertz, Mélanie Courtinat, Daniel Schnitterbaum of Bus Group)

My talk was titled Journey to PRESENT: Finding Ikigai and I shared the most important steps on my journey from childhood to today and the challenges and lessons along the way: everything that guided me towards finding my own path and my life’s work.

After my talk I got feedback by a woman that made it all worth it and made me so happy: she told me that a few years ago I inspired her to not give up, and so she continued studying and now makes a living from her work as a designer.

A last sunset picknick with Marina, Taylor and Aimée on Tempelhofer Feld and back to France!

This Week’s Wisdom from Rick Rubin

“Create an environment where you’re free to express what you’re afraid to express.”

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✺ I leave you with an old favorite from British acid jazz band Incognito: Summer’s Ended (1981)

Next stop: Biarritz for a night and from there to Archachon, hiking on the majestic Dune du Pilat, then enjoying Cap Ferret where I finally threw myself into the Atlantic Ocean … bliss!

This is the Lauburu (from Basque lau, "four" + buru, "head") an ancient hooked cross with four comma-shaped heads and the most widely known traditional symbol of the Basque Country and the Basque people.

We finally arrived in Le Gurp. Sunny runs and workouts in my most beloved pine forest in the world. We went to Soulac and Montalivet, my favorite market since I was a kid. Anne serving the world’s best taboulé and lassi is still there, vital and amazing as ever :)

A last run at the beach, a last dinner at beloved Relax Café in Grayan, then off to Toulouse and Domaine de Gayfié for the wedding of our friends Carlo and Hannah <3

It was wonderful. So many dear friends. I was enjoying it deeply and gave it my all at karaoke, led several aquafit sessions (lol) and was honoured to play the wedding DJ set with my brother Manolo…heaven!

This Week’s Wisdom from Cory Allen

“That was such an important lesson for me. I learned it from years of putting way too much pressure on myself. When I realized that resting is how we gain clarity, everything changed.”

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✺ Widow Clicquot tells the fascinating story behind the Veuve Clicquot (veuve = widow) champagne family and business that began in the late 18th century. Great movie!

We rented a little van and hit the road! First stop: St. Remy de Provence, where we had dinner at Songes: great food, lovely people!

Continued on to Arles and checked out a bunch of exhibitions from the annual photography festival. Our highlights included: Mary Ellen Mark, Wagon-Bar, Ishiuchi Miyako, Sport in Focus, Sophie Calle, Pétanque and Jeu Provençal, I’m So Happy You Are Here… 

Next we headed to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue region. Lots of moules-frites and the first time riding on a real horse! This is the cross symbol of Camargue, created in 1926 by the painter Hermann-Paul at the request of Folco de Baroncelli-Javon to represent the “Camargue nation” of herdsmen and fishermen.

We moved on and went deep into the Pyrenees, up to Parc de Puntas from where we hiked up the massive mountain until we arrived at beautiful Lac de Gaube!

This Week’s Wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh

“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.”

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✺ Even after 20 years still obsessed with Ian Pooley’s Since Then album from 2000: an absolute classic, especially on summer holidays :)

We took a flight to Marseille and from by train to Valence to visit Sarah’s parents and stay a few days in the countryside. 

I was saddened to learn that Paul Auster has recently died at age 77. He published numerous novels, besides the famous The New York Trilogy (1987) and the autobiographical books Winter Journal (2012) and Report From the Interior (2013).

This Week’s Wisdom from Paul Auster

“The essence of being an artist is to confront the thing you’re trying to do. To tackle it head on. And if, in wrestling with these things, you manage to make something that’s good, it will have its own beauty.”

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✺ I’m watching three brilliant series at the moment, all highly recommended: Bodyguard, Yellowstone, Shōgun

Finally wrapped up my Berlin apartment and handed over the keys. New adventures in Paris are calling. Following my gut has always worked out well so far. It feels right! 

Continued to work on my presentation and talk at Forward Festival later this month and took time to meet with old friends and family in Berlin <3

Made some more essays and interviews from our active archive available on the new Present website:
✺ Tiempo de Zafra by Sophia Valera Heinecke
✺ Call to Action: Seize the Day by Ryan Holiday
✺ No Such Thing As A Fresh Start by Oliver Burkeman
✺ Tareet’s Visions a conversation with Etienne Diop

This Week’s Wisdom from James Clear

“Strangely, life gets harder when you try to make it easy. Exercising might be hard, but never moving makes life harder. Uncomfortable conversations are hard, but avoiding every conflict is harder. Mastering your craft is hard, but having no skills is harder.” 

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✺ History of the Arrow → The arrow symbol was invented in the late 18th century, its earliest known use is in 1737

The whole week I was busy packing and storing things as I’m moving out of my place next week. This was exhausting. But also freeing! I got rid of lots of stuff and I feel much lighter overall.

We travelled to my hometown of Cologne for the weekend, where I was DJing at our yearly Alaaf and Kickin’ boat party. Shout-out’s to our wonderful guest DJs for this year Maendi and no:elia.

I’m working on new Present graphics and posters and still into editing two upcoming podcasts. Good things incoming! Reminder: Believe in your fucking self. Work on your fucking thing. Develop some good fucking habits. Wake up fucking earlier. Make a small fucking progress every day. Take a fucking break. Trust the fucking process. Get out of your fucking comfort zone. Support others as much as you fucking can. Keep fucking learning. Get enough fucking sleep. Take deeper fucking breaths. Stay fucking generous. Have fucking ambitious goals. Be fucking present.

This Week’s Wisdom from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“There are two things children should get from their parents: roots and wings.”

This is one one of my all-time favorite sayings. I feel my parents did a great job with this, as I always felt massive trust and complete support in all endeavours.

It reminded me that this is what I want Present to be like: a platform that is both a support system, a safety net, a backup — and an inspiration to grow, to fly higher, an encouragement to fear less, to get started and go further.

Back in Berlin: Preparing my upcoming talk for Forward Festival on August 30 and wrote a long response on Failure and Dealing with Setbacks in our Present Community. I love that we have those kind of honest exchanges there.

My sister is currently renting a small datscha at a lake outside of the city and we relaxed there for a bit. Spumante for apéro with some friends and dinner with my uncle Andreas who’s visiting from Cologne.

I soft-launched a new version of the Present Website! I built it on a completely new framework and everything should be much faster and nicer to use. I still love making websites so much. Some areas are still in progress and there will be many more features added still. Big plans for it!

This Week’s Wisdom from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

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✺ Wonderful conversation with one of my favorite designers Stéphanie D’Heygere in TheBoldWay with Adrien Garcia
✺ I watched the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith with the great Donald Glover and Maya Erskine: recommended!

Went with S to new fav Le Cornichon to commemorate our last night in Paris until we’ll be back for good in September!

On our way home I met a beautiful gang of friends from my good ol’ ECAL times and beyond and we went to beloved DiscoBar to spend the night together: Thomas, Margueritte, Etienne, Charlotte, Vincent, Héloïse: it felt amazing to reconnect <3

The next day I took the train to Brussels to speak at Synergy Is All We Need: a decentralised AI conference organised by my team at Newfoundation❋ during Eth_AI.

This Week’s Wisdom from Shonda Rhimes:

“Three words to live by: Just do stuff. Really, just do stuff. Do the things you want to do now. Take your chances. Live an interesting life! Live a full, vital life! Don’t live a life that’s ‘careful.’ A careful life is a life not lived.”

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✺ On Self-Respect by Joan Didion (Vogue, 1961)
✺ Biking & Wellness: What self-care looks like for rapper Central Cee