I thought my life would feel sorted when I turned 40. It doesnât â and thatâs OK | Carolin WĂźrfel
Born in the former East Germany, I was caught between two systems. But itâs a mistake to think of the âin-betweenâ as lifeâs waiting room
Born in the former East Germany, I was caught between two systems. But itâs a mistake to think of the âin-betweenâ as lifeâs waiting room In the 1970s, the German novelist Christa Wolf wrote a letter to her friend and fellow author Lew Kopelew, which included these lines: âOne stands quite comfortably between all fronts, and must come to understand that this is, in fact, the only possible place to be.â The fronts Wolf was referring to were the Soviet Union and the west, the GDR and West Germany, the politics of the cold war â but I believe the idea resonated with her personally, as she was then too, in the middle of her life.
There is a certain irony and wit in those lines. Standing between all fronts can mean you donât have to choose â a relief, for some. Or it can mean you never arrive anywhere, neither here nor there. At worst, it marks a person with no standpoint, no stable position.
Lost in foggy ground. Continue reading...
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