You know I love life.” A beautiful song by Vicky Leandros. “Your suitcase is already waiting in the door, you leave me alone.” But Vicky is brave, is strong, she catches herself and sings: “Don’t worry about me, you know I love life, and sometimes I still cry you, it will pass, sure, what can happen to me, believe me, I love life.”
My song, which always gave me strength in moments like this, was Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. This idea that there’s a guy who treats her badly, whom she kicks out, and thinks she should have changed the lock on the door a long time ago. I see myself sitting on the floor in front of the system with my best friend, we drink tea, I cry, she plays this song to me, I laugh, we sing together, “go now, go, walk out the door, you are not welcome anymore”, and there was this feeling of strength that boiled up, spread and carried us into the Hamburg evening. We took the mokick to the “Cha Cha” bar and when this boy showed up again and with him the lovesickness, it was different than before, I could meet him differently, I was unassailable, I had a protective shield. And behind it – yes I think after that I was free. At least a bit.
Table of Contents
The right to freedom
Freedom is a big word. Freedom, equality, fraternity were the ideals of the French Revolution, today freedom is a basic right in democratic societies: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, etc. They form a corset in which we can feel safe. And when we look at other countries where these freedoms are not guaranteed, it makes us sad, angry, and allows us to take action to change this situation.We want all people to be free, and what that means goes back into the personal sphere. It’s about freedom of will, about determining one’s own actions. I can decide whether to go left or right, whether to take the stairs or the elevator, whether to stand still or jump up. Every minute I have these little opportunities, which are of course mundane, but good training when it comes to the big questions in life. It’s about following your love to a city that doesn’t make any sense to you. The question of whether you’re doing a job that makes money but isn’t fun. The question of whether you want a child or not. Of course there are certain constraints that influence my decision – my partner plays along, my employer, my own body. But within thiscoordinates I have the freedom to decide what I want.
If you are brave, you can also be free
In philosophy we speak of freedom of action and freedom of will. If the former is the case, because there are no external constraints and ties – I can also free myself from prevailing norms or my family’s expectations – then I can exercise my will freely, put my visions into practice.
A couple of friends just drove around the world for a year. They were tired of their jobs, scraped together all the money, sold their things, gave up both apartments, only kept a few boxes and stored them somewhere. Before that they got married. There should be at least one constant on this journey. Otherwise they were free. They could go to any country in the world, they chose the USA, Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Australia. In this order. In a blog, we were able to follow those at home where the two were currently staying. They’ve posted photos of beaches, drinks, their converted bus, funny street signs and people they’ve met, koalas and themselves as a couple. It was nice, to take part in it via their blog on the Internet. Almost every day a little message like this came into my mailbox from her world. Of course, I asked myself whether that would also appeal to me to just go away, and I thought about which countries might be on my list. For them it was about whether there is a place where they could imagine living. For me it would be more about exploring corners of the world that I don’t know yet, that are unusual, that inspire me – like Kyrgyzstan, where we slept in yurts, watched strange horse games and there were meadows full of edelweiss. which countries might be on my list. For them it was about whether there is a place where they could imagine living. For me it would be more about exploring corners of the world that I don’t know yet, that are unusual, that inspire me – like Kyrgyzstan, where we slept in yurts, watched strange horse games and there were meadows full of edelweiss. which countries might be on my list. For them it was about whether there is a place where they could imagine living. For me it would be more about exploring corners of the world that I don’t know yet, that are unusual, that inspire me – like Kyrgyzstan, where we slept in yurts, watched strange horse games and there were meadows full of edelweiss.
What does happiness mean?
My friends are now back and have gotten a dog. And my freedom lies in not wanting to emigrate.Faced with the choice of doing something or not, I mostly decided to do it. After all, how else are you supposed to know what it is like what you reject? Hesitating, being afraid, flinching, that’s not for me – only when I get hurt. I approach something or someone and I like to surrender to this feeling. I am free to do this. The big task is to deal with it responsibly. To ask myself: Am I making the right decision here, that is, in “my” sense? What does happiness mean? What love? Confucius says: “Let free what you love. If it comes back, it’s yours – forever.” Wasn’t that also the case with birds that were released and returned after a short flight?
I’m free, you’re free – that’s the best base we can fly up in the sky, 1000 balloons, not just 99, all around us.
