Mittwoch, 29. Januar 2014

Never take your sanity for granted



When I met a friend of mine a few days ago she told me a story about the fine line between being sane and becoming insane. I still think about this story, and the longer I think about it the more I wonder what makes people cross this line on a regular basis, if not for good. Here is her story:

My friend’s relative is a mother of 2 children, supposedly happily married, well-educated and a former business woman. Two years ago she started taking yoga lessons to ease her tension. Now, from my own experience, I know that yoga can be very helpful to reduce stress. However, she somehow took her new hobby much too serious and soon found herself a guru.

Shortly after having met him, they started an affair, well hidden from her husband and her family. One day, she invited her guru under the pretense of friendship for some family party. He stayed at her (and her family’s) house for a few days, under the same roof as her so far unsuspecting hubby. Her husband was still unaware of what was going when the two of them went for a long walk while he was at work. It was freezing outside, so when they came back they first took a bath, TOGETHER of course. Since they were really cold the bath took longer than expected and at one point the aforementioned hubby came back from work. Wondering what was going on in the bathroom he opened the door and found his wife and her guru-friend in the tub. Naturally, he wanted to know what the heck was happening in front of his eyes. His wife’s answer was to simply leave them alone and not to spoil their moment of happiness.

On it went, my friend’s relative left her whole family including her children to live with her guru. Not long after her moving out, she got pregnant. Unfortunately, a few weeks after having gotten pregnant, she met another guru, fell in love with him and moved out and on, pregnant as she was. During all this time her mother had several nervous break-downs, her children missed her and her husband was furious. Nobody could believe what was happening with this woman, nor could they understand why she left or what attracted her to those gurus. What was it that let her crack? She not only acted like a completely insane person, she became one. Neither her degree in geography nor her (former) social network could prevent her from turning into this very strange person who was completely lost in herself.

But let’s go back to her second guru-love: this one hold the opinion that only living completely natural (yes, stark naked, too) made you truly happy. His dream was to build a mud hut in the forest (by the way in Switzerland, not far away from Zurich) and to only collect berries and fruits, maybe from time to time barbecuing some insects, but not too often. His new love fully supported this idea, UNTIL in November it turned really cold outside. Only then did she notice that a mud hut (or a cheap camper) don’t provide a warm and cozy nest during winter. Her parents, still desperate and hoping for sanity to come back to their daughter, they invited her and her guru to stay in their home for the winter.

Soon after, this living situation got unbearable for them. For the guru it was a given that all persons living under the same roof as him (even if this roof was by far not his own) had to follow his rules. To put it plainly, father and mother had to keep absolutely silent and were not allowed to approach him, let alone speak to him. As you can imagine, it was a matter of time before one of the parents cracked. One day, the father couldn’t stand it any longer and unceremoniously chased the guru out of the house.

I’m very sorry to say that I don’t know the rest of the story, I only know that my friend’s relative still hasn’t found her sanity so far and that she wants to get a child from her second guru. I’m really very curious about the continuation of this story and I will keep you updated.

Donnerstag, 23. Januar 2014

Was verbindet die Genfer Friedenskonferenz und das WEF?



Gestern Abend sass ich vor dem Fernseher und schaute, wie fast alle guten Schweizerinnen und Schweizer, zwecks Allgemeinbildung brav Nachrichten. Schon lange schaltet mein Gehirn allabendlich zwischen 19.30 und 19.55 Uhr auf Zynismus, sonst könnte ich mit den Bildern und Informationen gar nicht umgehen. Gestern Abend jedoch war die Abfolge der Berichte wirklich amüsant, vermutlich auch ohne den Zyniker-Filter.

Beitrag eins informiert uns über die Genfer Friedenskonferenz II für den Mittleren Osten, die interessanterweise nicht in Genf, sondern in Montreux stattfindet (Grund für die Umplatzierung ist die internationale Uhrenmesse in Genf, die sämtliche Luxus-Hotels für sich beansprucht. Deshalb finden die Landesoberhäupter nun in Montreux Unterschlupf, zumal sie ungern in Jugendherbergen absteigen). Der Beitrag zeigt vor allem erwachsene Staatsoberhäupter und deren Vertreter, die sich nicht an Zeitvorgaben für ihre Reden halten, die nicht einmal miteinander sprechen können und meiner Ansicht nach das Verhalten eines trotzigen Kinds an den Tag legen. Immerhin sitzen sie am selben Tisch, was  als unglaublicher Schritt in die richtige Richtung gewertet wird. Direkte Gespräche der zerstrittenen Parteien sind nicht geplant, dafür wurden zwei separate Räume für einen ganzen Monat gemietet. Ein Bote bringt dann die jeweiligen Vorschläge in den Nachbarraum. Hoffen wir einfach, dass ihn nicht dasselbe Schicksal ereilt wie vor vielen Jahren Thersippos, der nach seinem Botenlauf und der Übermittlung der Information, dass die Perser nun besiegt seien, tot zusammenbrach in Athen. 

Immerhin, und für mich DAS Zeichen der Hoffnung, mussten die beiden Flugzeuge, in denen die Präsidenten von Syrien (nach Montreux) und vom Iran (nach Davos) anreisten, quasi als Friedenstauben am Flughafen Zürich unmittelbar nebeneinander parken.

Gleich darauf folgt der Bericht über die ersten Todesopfer der Zusammenstösse in Kiev und die dortigen, bisher erfolglosen, Verhandlungen. Da liegt die Schlussfolgerung nahe, ganz einfach alle zerstrittenen Völker und Parteien nach Montreux zu schicken, nicht?

Im Anschluss hören wir eine Zusammenfassung des ersten Tages am World Economic Forum in Davos. Hier sind Vertreter sämtlicher Streithähne aus der ganzen Welt anwesend, im Gegensatz zur Friedenskonferenz. Ob sie hier direkt miteinander kommunizieren, wenn sie sich am Buffet gegenüber stehen, weiss wohl niemand so genau, aber sie befinden sich immerhin freiwillig im selben Kurort.

Nach diesen drei Beiträgen komme ich unweigerlich zu folgendem Schluss: Veranstalten wir doch einfach ein Sackhüpfen am WEF, the winner takes it all! (Natürlich nur bis zum nächsten WEF, dann werden die Karten neu gemischt)