Discovering life: Eyes ringing
Have I been alive today / in the last few days?
Yes!
What new things have I learnt about life?
Life can change in the blink of an eye! On Saturday, I sat on the Loreley rock, gazed out over the vastness of the Rhine Valley and played the lady who drives the fishermen wild. On Monday, I only just managed to avoid losing my sight. I was sticking insulation to the ceiling of my boat to get it properly wrapped up and winter-proofed as soon as possible. I leaned forward to press a piece of insulation into place. I didn’t see that the hook to the left – to which the ship’s bell is currently provisionally attached – was sticking out. I bumped my eye against it. The hook tore my contact lens to shreds. My eye remained unharmed. I am infinitely grateful to have been spared. A friend of mine lost his left eye in a similar accident. In future, I’ll make sure I have even better lighting when I’m working. And – until someone proves me wrong – I’ll claim that I’m probably the only woman who’s ever rung a ship’s bell with her eyes.
And yes: I’m still grateful to the lovely (Berlin) people who help me out for a few hours and take some of the strain off me. I’m sure that (slight) lapse in concentration was also down to tiredness after a long and intense weekend of work.
What new things have I learnt about myself?
I need enough space to develop a topic. At the weekend, I spoke at the Ladies’ Night in Miehlen. It was a fantastic event. Extremely creative. Delicious food (pictured here is the dessert buffet), moving music, elegant décor, an exciting creative programme featuring daring balancing acts. Even the toilets were lovingly decorated and equipped with everything a woman might need. Truly top-notch. One of the best non-professionally organised events I’ve ever been to. I know from the feedback from staff and guests – some of whom had even travelled from further afield just to see me – that they were really taken with it. The press were also delighted. A journalist, who had limited space for her report on the event, told me: „It’s a shame about every word you can’t write.“
Even so, I felt a little sad afterwards. When I thought about it, I realised why. In such a short space of time – I only had a good 30 minutes – I can only cover a topic relatively superficially. It is a deep desire of mine to be able to inspire people. Yet I feel that I am happier when I can go deeper, make a greater impact and involve people in the process themselves.
I have decided that, in future, I will only accept four one-off talks per year and would prefer to offer more workshops and seminars instead. If people would like to invite me to give one-off talks, I can – once the first four slots are full – say that I’d be willing to do so, provided that a 3- or 6-hour workshop with interested participants is organised either before or after the talk. That’s also a better use of time. A 2 x 6-hour train journey for 2 x 30+ minute talks is the other factor to consider….
