Beyondstorytelling

I feel a little bit like in the calm before the storm. I feel that the first the first huge winds of the storm are coming because the climate, the social climate is getting more tense. So I watch the demonstrations that are going on with sorrow and the polarizations that are happening. And the insistent questioning of scientific expertise. And I think the fight for clear and good news is going to be difficult.

On the other hand, I hope that this polarization is not going to gain much momentum right now. And I feel that the bigger part of society and in my immediate surroundings, people are more keen to leaning into gentleness, into solidarity, into sticking together. Most people I know are are OK with the rules and believe in science. Nobody can say that they are the best decisions possible but that they are made with the best intentions.

I think we need more stories of what we need less of. In our economy and our society is always more, more, more and sometimes less can be can be beautiful. I know that I'm in a very privileged position because we don't have to worry about food and we're safe here in Germany.

But I had this one moment, I think three weeks into the shutdown where I stood in front of my closet and asked myself, what do I need all these clothes for? I've literally worn only two pairs of sneakers since all this started, and I'm very happy with that. And, I think we should create stories of how we can be happy with with less.

But how can we be in this age of like way more than 2000 years in our civilization or in our existence and there's still this imbalance of what it is to be human. Or this very different experience of what it is to be human. The experience of what it means to being human might be the same, but what you get back is different. Yes. So you are giving in similar way, but what the world gives you back is remarkably different. I guess that's what I'm sort of seeing in the cracks and paying attention to on the edges.

That long term vision of how we operate our systems, how we educate our people, what services we provide, how much it's going to cost, how we provide housing, what are the basic necessities, how do we stop things being stripped away? How do we manage the environment and make sure that people can still move and have these amazing experiences, but we don't fuck the planet up with dirty, disgusting planes.

And I think the answer is you have to take it out of the short term thinking and you need to put in your politics and your structure some long term plan. That can't be voted in and out on the whim of a party. A commitment, an intergenerational commitment. Essentially, that would be my ultimate dream.

And then there's the whole environment stuff. We learned that we can actually do something to stop the climate crisis. Because we have been forced into this situation that actually have made our behaviour more in line with sustainable behaviour. Obviously, we also feel it comes with a lot of sacrifice, as I said, but it is nothing that we really can't sacrifice. We can actually solve the climate crisis, if we approach it the same way as we have the Corona crisis.

The whole society has learned a lot in this situation, and I think I'm also have been the mirroring those learnings in terms of our own vulnerability. How even though we have build our lives and society, especially in the Western developed world, around being able to control every aspect of our life down to the nitty gritty: how many hours of sleep to get traced by wearables and so on…

And then, something like this happens. And suddenly the whole your whole life is different. I can't recall an event where I have experienced that to that degree. And I think it teaches you something about your own humbleness. It teaches you a humbleness towards life, towards what it means to be in control of your life, what actually matters in your life? How losing control can also bring great insights.

What's really touching me right now is the new narrative developing in the last maybe two weeks or three weeks. The narrative which says: "As long as we don't have a vaccine for Corona we will not enter normality again”. So it looks like that's the new stuff of controlling: telling the people that we can only reach normality through the vaccine. And it's a very different situation. So I think, right now, we are negotiating what normality could be. In these negotiations, I think we have to be very, very sensitive and looking very closely at what is offered in the discourse about Corona.

And I would like people to more see that in their own neighbourhoods, in their own society, in their own territory where they live – there is already everything. And that today we search far away. We bring products from far away. Take it from far away. It's all this economic thinking. And I hope also politically and economically, we come up with a whole new structure, a whole new thinking.

I think that what I want more is people being in touch with each other. People talking to each other and taking care of each other, being there, if it is needed. Even if this person is not perfectly aligned with your political opinion or something else. And also to be more aware of situations. For example of violence. People around us, they're suffering a lot sometimes.. Of loneliness, of violence, of things we don't know. So I want more of taking care of each other.

And personally, I would love to have more time for me, more time to get in touch with myself and to really have this time to calm down.

This is a good question. More focus on the things that are really important and stop the nonsense and bullshit stuff. To be more present and enjoy the things that you have, that we have. I mean, in Germany, we can be very happy. The situation is much better than in other countries. But also in our family, we enjoy being together. We do things we haven't done before, like gardening, for example.

Yes, more gardening. Less media, more people. And enjoying the moment or being with someone became more special to me right now. I value more being with someone.

Well, I'm living here in this very remote place. I'm learning how little the state capacities are and the social capacities are to address pretty much any challenge. So you have to rely on yourself or die – just because the infrastructure is really weak, the level of professionalism is very low. Access to services is nonexistent or very poor.

So I've been really focused on how to pile up the energy inside to deal and address things on my own without relying on other people or state or the government or whoever. But what I guess I want more is just feeling the outside support. And the feeling that you are not alone and if the challenge comes, someone will be there to support or help. Like in these extreme times.

At the moment, I can feel that we all somehow experience the value of the place we are living. And also, I think connected to that idea is the idea of establishing community where we are able to live in these environments together and are able to form the places we are living at together in a form that makes us all comfortable. I think that the communities in places could become stronger and could be forced bye projects that are set up by local governments to connect each other in the places we are living in and make strengthen existing projects and more visible to communities.

I'm dreaming of a way of living with each other, of a way like that economy and politics that is not harmful to our earth and to nature. So that in this future, we have a very strong connection to nature and we realise that we ourselves are really part of nature. We are nature somehow. Not only somehow, but we are nature. So we have developed a very good way to interact with animals, plants and everything that is around us. And I have a sustainable way so that we don't consume more than we can and that earth's gifts provide.

It's very easy at the moment, it's just having a healthy child. Which is due soon. So my daughter will be born in the midst of the Corona crisis. The projected date is on the 28th of April. So it can happen any day. And my wildest dream and wildest hope is just simply having a healthy child in my hands in three of four weeks.

And my wildest dream is that she will get equal pay, that she will have all the possibilities, that she can pursue everything she wants to pursue. And that she will have a world that is that is ecologically in a good state and also economically in a good state. And that's what I wish for everybody, not only for my daughter.

First thing, what comes to my mind is about to myself, not about the society. I started writing recently and I have a lot of joy with it, and I would be happy if that would be something that I could keep up in the future. A new practice through which I'm able to express myself in written words.

It's like being in a movie. Seriously. I really don't believe that. I did not process everything completely. It's like I'm in automatic mode. You know, waking up, working, cleaning and cooking and things like this. And then time to time wondering what thinks to do. Will I read this book? Will I watch this series? Will I start drawing? Doing some exercise here and there. Now then I am concerned with my mom. I will block some time and that's it. But it's completely weird. It´s not like reality.

I know that in any way, someday I will die. That I know. And because I am aware of that, it does not matter what will take me home! Maybe I fly, maybe I walk there or maybe I sleep and I find myself there. I don't know. So there is no way I can be afraid, fearful or panicking. I am aware that I will go there.

So the thing is how do I prepare myself to go there? How do we prepare ourselves to go there? Do you want to go there with panic? Do you want to go while crying? Do you want to go there with a lot of fear or do you want to go there peacefully? It is how you make it! So take that with full awareness and let others be aware. We have to be aware that it is here. That we do not have to panic. That we do not make our future hostile, because of this fear that we are going to die.

One is a basic income for everybody, a basic salary. Without being tied to any conditions. Because it really helps unfolding the true character of human beings. And they want to be useful. They want to use their time with stuff they really love to do. And you can contribute the best way to a society when you do what you love. And that would really revolutionise society.

And of course, another big dream is that artists get more respect by politicians and by the state. I think they are important for keeping the democracy and and the climate in society fresh and fruitful. That would be in my wildest dream that everyone gets basic salary and artists are respected even more and supported even more by the state for their projects.

I learn a lot and as I already mentioned I experience a sense of meaning. And this is not in an abstract way, but how I rearrange my priorities. And I ask myself if anyone in this world would do the same job as I do would that be a good world? And I learn through this question a lot of about myself. I ask myself, who am I in this world?

And I also find myself being more encouraged and to speak my point of view in a bolder way and I have the courage to be more focused on things that really matter, I think. Or to quote Britney Spears, I'm stronger than yesterday.

I'm very much enjoying what it makes with the neighborhood. I opened a neighborhood bonfire and it's like a market place. And I enjoyed that, because normally people do not interact and communicate in this way and not share what they have to offer or so on. So I love to see this kind of solidarity. We are sharing.

And that money is losing significance. But let's say I mean, I'm, of course, an existential crisis working on my own as a freelancer. There is no income in a way. Really reduced income and I have to find ways to get through this time. But in a way, I have the feeling that, putting this aside, money is losing importance. I don't know. It's rather where to get goods, or about relationships, or about infrastructure and care. That's also something I enjoy quite a lot.

I think we raised on the attitude that it's never good enough. And my wildest dream is that there is a moment to realise that in many ways we just do have enough. And that in the cases, we don't have what we need it is a problem of distribution and not a problem of individual achievements. That somebody didn't learn enough, that somebody didn't work hard enough, that somebody is not smart enough, or that somebody doesn't have the motivation or the stamina to survive in an economic world that has long been described in a kind of romantic image of a jungle where everybody fights for survival. Of course, there's death in this world. And of course there is! But it is about stepping out of this story and appreciate that a lot of things are good enough and that we have more than we need and that it's about sharing this for the better of everybody.

In the beginning, it seemed like something that we always go through, but this time seems like so much bigger. SARS and MERS it was big, but I didn't experience it around me, so. You know, I feel like in an emergency. Usually it's not around me. It's a big news in the world. It's somewhere in distance and I forget in three days. But I actually see it now. My friend's friend got corona virus and my work is all canceled. Shops are closed. Toilet paper is scarce. Yes, it's around me finally and it's not in the newspaper or just news on TV. You know, I feel like it's first time that I'm in the news. I'm actually there. I'm part of it.

I want to see more compassion and this realisation that we're all human and that we're all in this together, whatever this is. And also want to see more of the taking care of nature as well. The good consequences of us travelling less, working less, spending less. And yes, I want to keep this less, the unnecessary luxuries of life that we've gotten so used to, but maybe are harming the nature or the society.

I think there's a risk that this system that we used to have, that we do have right now and that is also dealing with this crisis – that is transporting this crisis narrative in the current situation – will be be reproducing itself again. And I would wish that there would be, I know that there needs to be some kind of collective reflection on what is a new mode of living that we can all agree upon. What is a new working mode for global solidarity? For example, how can we help each other? Not only nationwide, but also across the globe?

So the chance is that the media get to reflect their rules and practices: What kind of information are we putting to the audience? It's true that we have the rule of giving information. But to what extent is the information necessary? You know, some information is not necessary. It's just breaking news. Breaking news for your own sake, because you get all the attention, all the clicks, but it doesn't help anything to society.