International

There are people who pay attention to the big things, to countries and regions, to government leaders and opinion leaders. Many discard their own opinions, their own actions and instead agree with the main consensus and the opinion leaders or they reject opinion leaders. Elections in democracies work according to this principle. The individual has hardly any say, can give their vote to one of the big-wigs every four years and is then being led. There are some who are grateful for this ‘leadership’, there are others who would like to have more rights to make their own decisions.

There are also people who think and observe more deeply. They see that all the big things grow from little things. These precious people rarely become famous, yet they achieve the most, they are the foundations of state and politics, they cherish the little things, the young child, the small seedling, the small seed, the little idea, the spark of love. These people know the secret of growth, the magic of development and the potential of a miracle. Presumably, there are more people on our Earth who see the big things and fewer who recognise small scale living and their potential.

If we want miracles to happen in this world, it is helpful not to concentrate on the big things, but to see the many good words, the small flowers growing in the shadow of big trees, the many small good deeds being done in big countries. It is these many small good deeds and good words which are the basis of good politics, not the big leaders who claim to know what people need and who, like every human being, can be very wrong.

If you want to be politically engaged, try the small scale politics of the everyday, try appreciation, good deeds, conciliatory language, every day, everywhere.

Imagine how wonderful the world of tomorrow will be when more and more people motivate each other to practice good deeds and good words.

Have a nice week!

Gertrud Müller

Ta-da! Ta-da! The curtains open: there it is, the world theatre production.

First act: The main players introduce themselves: The big, visible presidents, the police, the scientists and scholars, the intellectuals, the military, the show, the media, the pomp, the perfect masquerade, the virtual art and culture, marketing, management, musical and visual production, everything perfect.

Second act: The misery. The production shows the misery of poor, sick, hungry and persecuted people over and over again. People who resisted, who didn’t follow the rules, met their fate of hunger, sickness, persecution, penal camps, re-education and death (the persecutors, exploiters, stress makers, big criminals do not appear on stage, they potter about in the underworld below the stage, remain well hidden behind the shadows of the figures of light)

Third act: The saviours. Out of nowhere, there are suddenly figures of light, luminaries, saviours who remove all suffering. If everyone bows to the new saviours, there will be a temporary happy end.

 

Fourth act: The end. The audience is in awe and gives round after round of applause. They discuss how marvellous the production was, the wonderful choreography, the amazing actors, and so truthful, so well played, almost like in real life.

Fifth: Media coverage: The world theatre production has been the most successful production worldwide so far, so successful that it is being restaged across the world in ever changing variations.

And what is your part?

Have a good week and enjoy the world theatre production, from wherever you are seeing it.

Gertrud Müller

 

Without a goal, we can only have a vague idea where we are going. The satnav won’t find the way if we aren’t putting in an exact destination. Sometimes, we can only take life as it comes, we can follow others without thinking about our own goal. We can lament our circumstances. One day, we wake up, are surprised and ask ourselves: where did I get to? At the latest at this point we have a new opportunity, we can choose a new goal, a new prospect. At the end of life, everyone wants to look back on a life that he or she had a part in shaping. That is why it is important to question over and over again, am I on the way that is right for me? What new prospects does life offer, where do I want to get to, what opportunities do I have. When we engage with this journey of life, life remains exciting and interesting right up to old age.

I wish yo a nice week and a lot of new prospects

Gertrud Müller

Photo Silvia Tauchmann

When I meet patients and clients, we often talk about the wish to overcome a certain state:  to overcome pain, to leave behind grieve, to no longer feel hardship or fear, to no longer bear a burden or guilt. Some want to get over separation, others want to overcome a period of waiting or physical distance. My students anxiously await their exams and exam results. In Asian parlance, they say the journey is the destination. I need to go on my way, need to feel that I’m not yet where I want to be. That is the energy of life, an energy that provides us with the opportunity to overcome the previous state. When people feel this life energy, they can achieve amazing things. Last year, I felt this life energy very acutely. Coronavirus and travel restrictions: I wanted to visit my family in England, my daughter, grandson and son-in-law. I could not book a train or plane ticket. I considered my options. I am physically fit and like to go on bicycle tours, so I had the idea to go there by bike. I did not know what would happen to the borders when I organised the trip and when I left. It wasn’t easy to overcome all the difficulties along the way, to organise route planning, timing, the unpredictability of the weather, work commitments and my own strength and resources.  I was very happy that everything worked out fine and I managed to complete the bike tour. After the tour, I wanted to make a film out of the videos I took while riding. That also presented me with a lot of challenges. I tried, practiced, learned, got help. This week, the film has finally been finished. I wish us all this energy of life that lets us feel that we can overcome the previous, the woebegone, the unfinished and the provisional. An energy of life that gives us hope and that makes us realise over and over again: the journey is the destination!

I wish you the very best für the next week and ahve a look at your life energy

Gertrud Müller

What does integration mean? Integration is a kind of admittance. However, the term does not specify the quality of such admittance. In its polite form, integration develops from invitation, in its hostile form, integration is forced through deprivation, slavery, war, rape… In America, slaves were forced to work and were integrated in that way, worldwide, refugees from other countries are being integrated as a result of losing their livelihoods. Forced labourers were integrated, in prisons, prisoners are being integrated. Our body integrates germs, food, trace elements, toxins and pollutants. States and religions integrate citizens of other states and believers of different faiths. Integration requires previous exclusion. People have been drawing boundaries for thousands of years, but these boundaries are subject to change time and time again, both fixed borders and moral boundaries. What constitutes a natural boundary for one person is restriction of freedom for another. In this way, every day is a new integration, an integration into live, into a new day. We can see this integration as an invitation and gratefully rejoice that a new day has been given to us.  We can also see life as a restraint, I have to get up yet again, I really am so sick of everything,… Every new encounter with other people and experiences is a form of integration. And something very important becomes apparent here: integration goes both ways. I am integrating myself into a group and the experience of the group is being integrated into my perception. A person integrates themselves into life and life integrates itself into that person. Once we understand the reciprocity of the processes of integration, our boundaries are no longer fixed, but preliminary, division between people and division between man and nature are no longer an issue because we are all connected in some way. Maybe we can manage to invite each other to integrate in a friendly way and to slowly negotiatie boundaries and contracts in such a way that we feel mutually appreciated.

Have a nice week

Gertrud Müller

 

Today I would like to talk about hospitality. It feels good to find spaces and people where we can feel at home. The experience of hospitality shapes our individual and collective sense of community. Almost all fairy tales and stories touch on the topic of hospitality and its opposite, hostile rejection and exclusion.

The first community is the family that can provide us with and let us experience a sense of hospitality. There are many people who occasionally, or in some cases frequently, experience hostile rejection in their families. There are loved, longed for children and unloved children who are being rejected, excluded or abandoned. This initial experience shapes the whole life. We are also met with situations of hospitality and hostile disputes later in life, at work, in business or in politics. I think we all agree as human beings that hospitality feels better than hostile rejection, however the question arises why we cannot cultivate hospitality more permanently. Of course, part of hospitality is also to be good guests. Why do so many people still lean towards hostile encounters despite education and modernity. Families and schools are the primary places where initial knowledge and experiences of encounters are gained. Hospitality as a subject of education for families and schools is certainly worth exploring. Children who learn about hospitality will greet co-workers in a friendly manner later in life, will pass on hospitality in their families. Schools and workplaces will pass on hospitality to the next generation. At some point, the whole world becomes a place of hospitality towards other cultures, whether poor or rich, sick or healthy. Isn’t it worth considering hospitality?

I wish you a good new week

Gertrud Müller

Artist: Gisela Schulze Bachmann