Stories

Missing Fountains

 

Finally I could cross the border and visit one of my favorite places in the world.
The „Happy Fountains“ in Bern, Switzerland.
10 years I have been taking pictures there. Over 200.000!
From kids playing in the fountains.
It is my fountain of joy.

This time was different. No water.
The fountains are resting this year because of the crisis.

In the picture behind me, there should be the action.
But no, nothing this year.

The memories are there. I was remembering my time sitting there.
All the adventures I experienced. It brought a smile to my face.

Also that experience today, made me remember an important quote:

„We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone.“

I have appreciated it in the past. But now even more.
Once the fountains resume, I will appreciate them even much more. Promise!

See you soon, Happy Fountains.

Can I bring you some sunshine?

Today on my daily run, it started raining. Wonderful!
I came home and took some pictures and looked for a fitting quote.

There were two quotes which spoke to my heart:

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”

“Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy now doesn’t mean that you aren’t headed for sunshine.”

Pretty good, but I kept on looking for a better one, until it hit me:

"I ran my fastest marathon in the rain."

This quote fits to my life story. I ran 10 Marathons in my life.
The fastest in Los Angeles, where it was raining all the time.
Still until today, I haven’t broke my own record.

I am very proud about this race in the rain. From 23.000 runners I was on place 1950.
1949 runners faster than me. And 20.050 runners slower than me.
Especially proud, because I had a bad episode in my life, where there was no hope.
All I was thinking about was to get high, to forget my pain and reality.
My parents tried to motivate me. I couldn’t even run 100 meters.

I almost forgot. Today the rain and the quote, remembered me!
And I am happy to share this story with you.

No matter what your situation is, it can be better. Much better.

I wish that my story, if you experience some rain right now, will bring you a bit of sunshine.

Lost Signal

Today I went walking with my dad in nature.

We knew that there is an old castle somewhere hidden in the forest.

Our plan is to hike there soon. So today I flew the drone, looking for it. I went far. But I found it!

While flying down to take some pictures, the signal got lost.

There was an error message: “Aircraft disconnected”. What a shock!

No communication. I thought it might be lost. It never happened before! The drone has an emergency system. If it loses the signal, it will fly back to where it started. It only works, if you go mentally over a “check list” before the flight, which every pilot should do.

This check list includes: making sure, the drone has registered the starting position, it has GPS connection and a good calibrated compass.

In the moment of disconnection, even though I was totally frozen, I remembered that I did my preparation.

And after a while the signal came back while the drone flew back to me.

I was so happy! And I appreciated my drone even more.

The signal was not lost. It was only disconnected.

Lessons learned. Never fly so far, that you can’t see your drone. But I knew that before….

“Knowing is not enough; We must apply. Willing is not enough; We must do.”

Learning

I love learning. I do it every day, looking for information online.
Trying to find answers, trying to understand.

Learning brings me so much joy!

Since over a week I have a drone and have been practising daily.
Learning information is great. But even better is to get new abilities,
like flying a drone.

It is like walking. In the beginning you are nervous about the unknown.
But then step by step, you get better and more confident.

My dad has been observing every step I made with the drone.
He saw how happy it made me.

It’s contagious! He bought a drone, too. A small one.
Today it was his first flight.

There is joy in learning AND in teaching.
One week ago I had no idea about flying a drone.
And today I was teaching my dad!

It was a very special moment. My dad has been teaching me a lot.
Also he has witnessed my first steps walking.

Today I could give back and see how he made is first steps flying a drone.

In life we always learn. Maybe we are not aware of it, but we do.

Sometimes we learn by mistakes. But that is nothing bad.
There is no failure. There is no losing.

“Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.”

 

 

Bad World?

The people who read the news might think that we live in a bad and dangerous world.

The bad is only a small percentage!

Today I went out to take part pictures.
Out of nowhere a dog came and attacked me.
I was shocked when his teeth went into my leg.
I screamed "hey" and was ready to pour my hot coffee on the dog. But he got scared and left.

A family who lives close saw the whole thing and offered me help.

They took me to their house.
I could wash my wound.
The father of the family put something to desinfect it and also wrapped my leg with band aid.

What an experience!

They also gave me some liquid for later, to heal the skin.

The world is good!

There are many people with a big heart.

I was lucky to have met Adrián and Cecy.

Thank you for helping me in that bad situation.

You help people believe that the world is good.

Thank you!

 

Thank you!

This is the last photo of my camera.

Somebody took everything I owe.
All my photography equipment.
It took me years to have the equipment.
It took only a few minutes to lose it.

Even though it all happened, I never felt sad or angry.
Of course, it was the biggest shock in my life to enter the house and not seeing my computer, my camera, my lenses and the external hard drive of all my photos.

But I did not keep this emotion. Immediately I started to ask for help and investigate to find the thief.
The help I received was immense! In those difficult times you know who your real friends are.

I learned from a famous philosophy called “stoicism”, that we can’t have control on external events.
But we have full control on our inside, on how we react, feel and think.

I still have faith recovering my things: Thanks to my close friends and their connections, many people are involved in finding my equipment.

And even if I don’t get my things back, I know I can start over again.

Photography gave me so much in my life. It changed me, it connected me to amazing people, it made me happy and let me appreciate life more.

Photography had an impact on me and gave me a purpose in life. And nobody can steal that.

I don’t feel anger or sadness.

I feel gratitude that photography found me. And gratitude for the friends who helped me.

People can steal my things, but they can’t steal my happiness.

Even though I have nothing now, I feel I will reach my goals faster.

I am even more motivated now.

Soon I am going to write here, how this disaster helped me to reach my goals faster.

Thank you!

Only in Mexico

It has been raining for days. So, I built a boat, just in case.

 

As I went outside to take pictures of my boat, something surreal happened!

 

Cows appeared! In a residential area!

 

Crazy.

 

The cows were curious about my boat.

They smelled it, licked it and even pushed it.

 

Everybody was surprised.

The cows about my boat. And I about the cows.

 

Mexico, a country full of surprises.

Doubt Kills

If you have a mission, sometimes you have feelings of doubt. You do and do and you don’t move forward.
You plant the seed, you water it every day with a lot of love. But nothing happens.

Even if you are confident in your abilities, it can happen that you have doubts.
Negativity creeps in and grows.

That happened to me in the last days. Today morning I made my coffee and went to check my emails.
Half awake, I read an email:

“You are one of finalists of the FFIEL 2019 photo competition in Leon!”

Wow, all doubts gone! The sky is clear again!

Doubt is dangerous. Doubt doesn’t help. Doubt steals your happiness.

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”

When doubts will come back in future, I am going to be busy working on my goals. So doubt will have no room in my head.

“Doubt can only be removed by action.”

Crazy Story!

Are you a strong believer that everything is a coincidence?

If you, are: be warned - this story could change your mind.

Rita and I went to a road trip and stopped in one of my most favorite places in the world: Death Valley in California.

Before the trip, Rita just finished a theater play: “Venus in Fur” (also a movie).
This information is important for the crazy story!

In the beginning of the play, Wanda (played by Rita) is going to an audition.
It is raining like crazy outside and she knocks at the door.
When the director opened the door, she says her name: Wanda.

Ok, back now to our story.
We were at the motel and I decided to get some candy and diet coke from the gas station.
It was a hot and dry day at the hottest place in the world.
I went to the gas station and took 2 diet coke bottles, one for Rita and one for me.
In the past there were some random names on the bottles. I did not look at the names.

I have been at least 10 times at this desert. Never have I experience rain.
But when I left the gas station, it started raining like crazy.
It was a short walk from the gas station to the motel, but I was soaked, like I jumped into a river.

I knocked at the door, Rita opened and I gave her one of the bottles and read the name on it: Wanda.
Rita got big eyes and seemed like she saw a ghost!

I went inside and she explained me the story and her character she just played back home.
We kept on talking about this experience for many hours.

And even if it happened years ago, we are still in awe what happened in the desert.

I believe that there are coincidences, but what happened is just unexplainable.
A wonderful story about that there are things in life, which we can’t explain.

We can just be touched by them & be grateful that they happen to us.

Don’t judge!

Except if you are in a jury…..

I was invited to be part of a jury of a talent show in Jalostotitlan, Mexiko.

What an experience!

Before I only knew being on the other side of the table, as an actor.
It was a challenge.

What impressed me more than talent was:

- confidence! sometimes younger people where more confident!
- being in the moment, something so rare, but beautiful to watch.
- and the passion, the joy someone had doing their presentation
- plus how they made you feel! It could be that someone played something,
with mistakes, but they made you feel!

Those attributes counted more in my judgment, than talent.

It’s not only about talent!

A new experience for me. I believe there are other areas in life where we put too much attention and neglect the other things.

You can be entertaining and enjoyable to watch with little talent.
And you can be boring even though you have talent.

Be confident, be in the moment, make others feel. Enjoy yourself!

CONNECTION

You know those moments, when you think about someone and then BOOM you get a message!
Do you think it's coincidence?
Psychology has an explantion:
We remember all the times when we got a message/call after we thought about someone.
But we do not remember the many other times when we thought about that person and did not receive a message.
So we think, there is a connection.
That's what psychology says.
I believe most of the time this is true.
But sometimes I think there is more - something which we can't explain, but we can feel it.
On Saturday, out of the blue, I was thinking about a person with a strong positive feeling.
There was no trigger, that could have caused thinking about that person.
Suddendly the thought was there.
And a few minutes after - I received a message. I do not believe in that moment, that it was a coincidence. No way!
On top of that: the sender of the message was in a car and sent me a picture of the rain.
Guess what!
When I received the message, I was in a car, too - with rain. 10.000 kilometers away on another continent.
Coincidence?
The only question is, who thought about the other person first. We will never know.

Life is incredible with all its mysteries!

Ecstasy

It is fascinating how the human brain works. Today morning I read an email.
Reading those few words gave me a big load of happy feelings and I started screaming. Just by reading an email!

This photo got selected by a jury in Switzerland. It is in the top 20.

Tomorrow morning I am going to read that same email again!

 

Thank you, my love!

Today is a special day for me: International Day of Photography!

In a not so good time of my life, I got a little compact camera.
It was the best thing what happened to me. Incredible journey.

Thank you, for opening my eyes. I love you!

 

 

First official reaction to the book!

Helena bought the book in my online shop.
When she received the book, she wrote me a beautiful personal message and published a post on Facebook.
So much joy, heart and positivity!
Helena, thank you for your words. You are a fountain of joy!
May many others find joy through you!

Here the translation:

Yuhuuuuu! "Refreshment book" for the heart and soul arrived! I'm very curious. David Mihalka, did you hear my loud scream of joy, while unpacking?
Thank you for the wonderful surprise in the package. Amazing! It will be put on a special place.


Mission Possible

In Bern, Switzerland is one of the biggest and most important book stores in Switzerland: “Stauffacher”.

Just a few steps away from the “Happy Fountains”.
Since over 10 years I have been coming to that store looking at photo books.
I was new to photography when I discovered the fountains and that book store.
They are part of my journey, spending many hours at both places. In the book store I used to fantasize to have one day my book in that store as well. It was more like a day dream. I did not believe it would be possible.

But it is!

Now officially my new book “Happy Fountains” is in the book store “Stauffacher” ready to be taken home.

No matter how big your dream is. Don’t underestimate yourself!

Mission Possible.

Photography is dangerous!

The exhibition of the „Happy Fountains” is over. At least this one. The next exhibition is on its way.

One month I have been there to all opening hours (except one day) in order to talk to the visitors.
The experience was priceless! Guests asked a lot of questions and I got the chance to talk about the stories behind the photos and about my life.
What fascinated me, that some photos made people remember special moments of their life. Everybody saw something different.

There was also a lot of laughter of joy from the visitors. One woman, after finishing looking at all the 71 photos, was so moved, that she had tears in her eyes.

Photography is dangerous. It changed my life, like nothing else. In a good way of course.
Photography can move the viewer. It can bring back memories and cause any kind of emotion.

At the exhibition there was a guest book, where people could write down their thoughts.
If you have a moment, you can discover what an effect photography can have on people.

Thank you for all who took the time to visit the exhibition and shared their personal thoughts, memories and emotions.
You enrich my life and give me energy to continue!

 

 

EXHIBITION

Today I expressed very loudly my emotions when I got an email!

In Bern, Switzerland there is once a year a very important exhibition with the best photographers of Switzerland.
I recently applied to be one of them.
Today I got the confirmation!
My project “Happy Fountains” will be exhibited there this year.

Can’t wait to see the works of the other photographers there!

By the way, I got goose bumps reading that confirmation mail.

Wohoooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Details will follow soon!

 

SECRET INGREDIENT

You heard the phrase „If you work hard you can make your dreams come true.”
This not completely true. Working hard alone doesn’t do it.
Something important is missing!
 
PERSISTENCE
 
If you have a goal, you need: persistence.
If times are rough and you are not moving forward: persistence.
If there are negative people smiling at you: persistence.
If you start doubting yourself and your plans: persistence.
 
You have to persist, persist, persist, persist and be patient.
 
Hard work + persistence + patience = SUCCESS
 
I went through all those walls, mentioned before, but I persisted.
Also let’s not forget, that whatever you want in life, you can’t do it alone!
Thank you all who supported me. You know who you are. It’s our success!
 
The “Happy Fountains” are under construction from February 20 to April 3, covered with a huge tent with my pictures, which I took over 10 years of kids (and sometimes adults) playing at the fountains on the “Bundesplatz” in Bern, Switzerland.
The fountains will resume on April 4. Can’t wait to come back with my camera!
 
Thank you, Manuel & Papo, for taking pictures for me. Once I am back on your continent, we will celebrate!
 

Memories

In more than 10 years of being in love with photography I have been taking at least 1 Million photos. At least! From all those photos I have around 5000 in my archive.

Never did I take pictures for memory.
But all of the photos let me remember those moments.

That picture you see I took in Santa Monica, California.
At that time I was studying acting.
I remember the moments before and after I took that picture, telling them to jump many times.
Once I got exactly that picture, I expressed loudly my joy.
But I don’t remember anything else what happened that day.

It’s like with many pictures!

If I don’t take new pictures, like in the recent time, I go through my archive to find something to post for my blog (and Facebook).

There is a lot of inspiration for articles and quotes.
This photo inspired me to write about memories.

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

Don‘t be a FOOL !

Just came home from my daily walk in the night.

Something happened.

In front of me was a young girl walking and dancing with headphones on.

As I passed her by she got scared and said: “YOU scared me!”

I just laughed! I was about to say “I’m sorry” – but I didn’t.

Just kept on laughing. It is not my fault that she got scared.

It is very dangerous walking around at night with headphones on.

Especially if you are a young and pretty girl.

Some asshole could come from behind and make her unconscious in less than 20 seconds.

Very easy, if you know how.

 

I hope she learned her lesson and won’t walk around with headphones at night anymore.