I think Berlin is always inspiring. I love being in Berlin. It

The artist and dreamer Kate Nash once said with joy and reverence: “I think Berlin is always inspiring. I love being in Berlin. It feels like such a cool city, with so much culture and art and independence everywhere.” At first glance, these words may seem light and spontaneous — the praise of a traveler for a place that stirs her heart. Yet within them lies a profound recognition of something eternal: that inspiration is born where freedom and creativity walk hand in hand, and that certain cities — like certain souls — embody the spirit of resilience and rebirth.

To understand her words, one must first know the story of Berlin — a city that has lived a hundred lives. Torn by war, divided by walls, scarred by tyranny, and yet reborn again and again, Berlin stands as a monument to the indomitable human will. Once the symbol of separation, it has become a sanctuary of independence, a place where artists, thinkers, and wanderers from every land come to create without fear. Nash’s admiration flows not from its beauty alone, but from its spirit — a spirit forged in struggle and made radiant by perseverance.

In the days of the Berlin Wall, the city was cleaved in two — East and West, shadow and light. Families were torn apart, voices were silenced, and freedom itself seemed imprisoned. Yet even in those dark years, art bloomed in hidden corners: music that defied the silence, murals painted on cold stone, poems whispered in secret. When the wall finally fell in 1989, it was not only a physical barrier that crumbled, but a spiritual one. The people of Berlin reclaimed not just their unity, but their creative independence — the right to imagine, to express, to live unbound. It is this spirit that Nash feels and celebrates, the invisible heartbeat that still pulses through every street and gallery of the city.

Berlin, as she describes it, is not merely a place — it is a symbol. It represents the triumph of expression over oppression, of art over apathy, of life over stagnation. In every mural that adorns its walls, in every song that echoes from its nightclubs, there is a defiance, a declaration: that even in the face of ruin, the human soul can create beauty. Nash’s awe is the awe of anyone who has felt the electricity of a city that refuses to be tamed — a place that teaches us that independence is not isolation, but the courage to be oneself amid the chorus of the world.

Her words also carry a deeper lesson for every creator and seeker of truth: that inspiration thrives where freedom lives. A city, like a person, becomes fertile when it welcomes diversity of thought, when it allows each voice to sing its own melody. Berlin’s openness, its acceptance of the strange and the unconventional, has made it a haven for those who dare to live differently. So too in our own lives — if we would be creative, we must cultivate inner independence, freeing ourselves from the fear of judgment, from the chains of conformity.

Consider also the story of David Bowie, who, long before Kate Nash, found refuge and renewal in Berlin during the 1970s. Disillusioned and weary, he came seeking clarity and transformation. In that city, amid its crumbling buildings and emerging art scene, he created some of his most daring music — Heroes, Low, Lodger — works that captured both the melancholy and the majesty of human resilience. Bowie, like Berlin itself, was reborn through struggle. His story and Nash’s words converge upon the same truth: that from the ashes of the past, creation rises anew when the soul is free.

And so, what wisdom shall we take from her reflection? That inspiration is not found in comfort, but in vitality — in places and moments where life is fiercely, unapologetically alive. Whether in a city or within one’s own heart, we must nurture the conditions for creativity: openness, courage, independence, and the willingness to embrace imperfection. Surround yourself with art, with people who dream, with places that challenge and uplift you. Seek the spirit of Berlin wherever you go — that unbreakable will to create, to rebuild, to live authentically.

For in the end, Kate Nash’s praise of Berlin is a praise of the human spirit itself — its power to find beauty after ruin, its hunger for expression, its unyielding independence. To walk in Berlin, she tells us, is to feel that the world still belongs to those who dare to imagine. And if we carry that same fire within us — that blend of culture, art, and freedom — then no matter where we stand, we too may create our own Berlin: a place where inspiration never dies, and the soul forever remains unbound.