It's March 23 and we are somewhere in the Corona pandemic. How do you experience the situation at the moment?
It's a very complex question. There are many facets to it. I think my personal life, individual life is partly affected by restrictions of my personal freedom. Freedom to move, to deliberately choose my actions and to participate in public life or to contribute to communal life – in the community that I live in or the neighbourhood or workshops that I engage in.
And another thing that I experience is that it collectively, or at least in the people that I engage with on a daily basis, it creates collective rooms of reflection on what's happening in the world, on how individual people are dealing with the situation and how they can unite in a way.
They say sometimes a crisis might be something like a chance for something new. Are there any new qualities that you see emerging in the way you interact? Or when you look at society?
It feels to me as a re-awakening of taking into perspective other people's, especially disadvantaged people's perspectives. And at the same time I feel that many people or at least some people try to create something positive out of this crisis on a societal level fail to connect all the dots.
And if I'm thinking for example of all the people, all the refugees, being locked up in Lesbos right now I can still appreciate how entrepreneurs in Germany – if we are just looking at our national way of dealing with it, are uniting and trying to help each other out. But I still experience a huge gap between frames of references. And I think this stays the same. And maybe it's an invitation to look at these blind spots as well. But this is what I feel is lacking in many discussions about this handling of the crisis
So, just think of a time after the Corona pandemic. We collectively, personally, individually dealt well with it. When you think of this time, what do you want more of and less of in your life?
Two things come to mind quickly. I think.
So one: I wish people – and this is something that I already referred to in the answer before to your previous question – is that people reflect critically reflect on their own privileges. Full stop.
And the second is that the consequences people are taking from this are more sustainable. That changes are more long term. For example, when it comes to the appreciation for certain jobs that are very relevant to keep the social system running, not only talking about health care workers, but also people who are working on a daily basis and without getting much appreciation socially at all for what they are doing and how they are contributing. Let's say staff working in supermarkets. And I wish for a long term change of the way people value each other's contributions.
Last question. So thinking of the time after corona. What is your wildest dream that you would like to have realised? What don't you even dare to dream about when you think of this time?
I'm not sure if it's if it's really a wild dream, but it's a dream of mine.
I am dreaming of the fact that people are conscious about the value and the common good that can arise from a communal living, and with it comes the appreciation for small shops and for regional businesses. That people become more aware of the consequences that arise from when you systematically and continuously invest energy, resources, but also money into structures that are hindering this communal life from happening and are destroying this communal life.
My wildest dream is that people are spending less time in purchasing false dreams or a very much wealth or status driven career. So this is investing of time. And investing their money in buying from businesses that are contributing to local and regional wellbeing. It is about spreading their energy, their time, the money more consciously. And this would, in my wildest dream, create more of a flourishing of communal life. And this is what I would wish for.
Yay!
