Heri ya mwaka mpya!

Almost three years of pandemic, now a war in Europe and many other worsening crises - at some point there have to be positive signs again? What is the use of your own personal muddling through with basically good results when the world is crumbling all around you? That's why the headline here is not 2022 in Review, but "heri ya mwaka mpya".

A few years ago I wrote here that I... "Me, me, me" society annoying. In my opinion, this has actually increased. The new bad word is "freedom". This word is now used to explain why a small personal restriction is impossible - no matter how good it would be for the collective. And certain politicians are living this out in a populist way.

Freedom!

Everything now becomes an explanation for freedom. People are stuck in traffic jams every day, but when a few young people point out the reason for that problem, it is a restriction of freedom. It is your own personal freedom to race down the highway at 200kmh, no matter what toxins are released into the environment. Eating meat is just as much a piece of freedom as polluting the air and hurting people on New Year's Eve. We find ourselves in a spiral of reinforcement from which there seems to be no disarmament. Even using gender-appropriate language to address everyone at the same time is suddenly hyped up into a fight for freedom by the eternally yesterday.

I'll be honest: I've largely reached my limit for several weeks now. I'm happy to be there for my customers. That's where I perform - that's what I'm paid for, after all. Having fun is a very pleasant side of my existence. Thanks to everyone who continues to provide me with work.

I also enjoy an exchange of ideas in my opinion bubble that gains insight. But I'm fed up with people who shout about freedom and mean egoism. If I notice after a few sentences that the person I'm talking to is not prepared to question their own actions, I turn away. I don't have the energy for that anymore. People who are "critical" of facts usually can't add up 1 + 1. Even though reality is of course much more complex than this simple calculation.

"me-time"

I have to stay out of these pointless discussions. It's for my own self-preservation. It may seem a bit absurd that on the one hand I get upset about people who only think about themselves and then think about myself. The difference is that when I think about myself, I don't restrict other people's freedom. This "me-time" is important - at least for me. How do you deal with it?

The German poet and journalist Matthias Claudius once said:

Freedom lies in the fact that you can do anything that doesn't harm someone else.

Maybe this wisdom, which is many dozens of years old, will find a few more followers after all. After all, the world doesn't just belong to the loud ones. The quiet ones are often wiser.

And what does all of this have to do with the headline? Happy New Year is wished in Swahili - the most widespread lingua franca in East Africa, which I took with me on my trip Viva con Agua in Uganda Contact – with the phrase “Heri ya mwaka mpya”. Translated, that means something like “blessed with new wings”. I like that a lot.

I hope that with new wings you will be able to overcome the challenges of 2023 with ease.