Sans Souci - Without Sorrow Today
Foto: Saskia-Marjanna Schulz
Oh, how we love it, this
life filled with precipitance, disrespect and problems. No, I told a lie. We don’t love it. We are prisonners of it. We
somehow blundered into it. Some are born into it. Others couldn’t escape from
it. Anyways. Somehow we find ourselves in there. No, not everybody. But apparently more and
more. More and more people suffer from personal overload. Stress. Burnout.
At school, we learned how to read and how to write.
And few more things of importance to our life: Biology, history, physics, chemistry,
sports.
Selflove is something we’re searching on our class
schedules in vain. Why is this? Is it taken for granted that we naturally
respect, love and appreciate ourselves? Starting with our day of birth? Or right
after nursery school? Or automatically when graduating from school?
Or is it about the fear, if we were loving
ourselves (even more) – this old illness might show up again: delusion of
grandeur?
To be honest: People who do love themselves
are not megalomaniac. They are not maniac at all. They are centered. They’re at
one with the world. In peace. On cloud nine from time to time.
I’ve got an idea: Shall we try to be without concerns?
In the beginning just for a little while: One
day? One hour? 12 minutes? Ok, 12 minutes. Everyone can manage this. 12 minutes
where we’re good to ourselves. And sans souci (free of worries).
What can we do in this time period, when we’re
doing nothing?
What can you do in this time period, when
you’re doing nothing?
Have a little bath? Have a little walk? Read a
poem? Great to start with.
And for sure, you soon will have 1000 ideas
what to do next.
Do you like music? Paintings? Meditation
music?
• Listen to Bolero – and watch. The orchestral piece of
the French composer Maurice Ravel can be found here.
• You let Sandro Botticellis „Birth of Venus“ inspire
you.
• You stroll around in the Zen Garden and let the music plash.
Arnauld Desjardins once said: „Even during
days when the sky is grey, the sun never has entirely gone.“
Let’s get ourselves the sun back.
We will relax. You will relax and see the
world through different eyes. Each time a bit more. And as you direct your
attention more and more towards „sans souci“, your concerns will feel less and
less likely to stay with you.
„It“ has an effect. You have an effect. More
and more. More and more beautiful and lucent – just by yourself. Self-conscious.
Lilli Cremer-Altgeld
Translated by Saskia-Marjanna Schulz