Lebensfreude (Joy of life)

I kept my favorite moment for the end, of course: A young girl dancing at the shoreline, here ease and presence crystallizing all the joy and wonder I tried to capture in images and words in the last days.

I liked the improvised choreography of her and the photographer. They were silently dancing together as he took photos of the surfers while she sent them her curiosity as she was swirling in the water and sand.

Seeing how free and joyful she was, I felt the impulse to join her, and felt sad about being too self-conscious to do so. (I also had my camera at hand that doesn’t like water very much… still!)

(“Lebensfreude” is a more typical compound, blunt from “Leben,” life, and “Freude,” joy. I think the French joie de vivre is an even nicer phrase here, but maybe mostly as I trust the French more with enjoying life to its fullest than the Teutons.)