ABOUT BORDERS

India
May 2025

often i recognise some form of conflict that comes up inside of me
sometimes weaker, some frustration, sometimes way more destructive,
and quickly it goes everywhere in every corner of my being and colors all my thoughts
it brings a black cloud inside myself and makes me ugly and unpleasant
and when i give it loud voice and touches others, it creates turbulence in them as well
it’s like a mini war inside my mind - thoughts fighting each other
and a mini war outside - shooting anger missiles to loving neighbours

wars are going on on many levels:
inside each being a small war
between decisions, desires, disappointments
inside communities, between communities
between countries, wars on borders

it’s always this question of borders or making borders
what is mine border what is yours
what comes from me border what comes from you
what i am responsible for, what’s your responsibility
it’s always this stubborn wish to draw precise edges
to build fences in between me and you
to create division, separate, take distance
it’s always this dual thing going on
good and bad and the war in between them
and it seems it has to be like this with everything
up and down, left and right, extremes
and from each side, the other one is the bad one
so it’s an endless war
but borders are also healthy
they teach us how to interact with each other
they make us aware of our qualities and flaws
and they teach us interdependence
how we need and influence each other

a few nights ago i dreamed about people during wars,
how they talk to each other but they cannot hear each other anymore
they say words, but no one knows the meaning of those words anymore
they write messages, but those who read don’t understand them
then slowly no one remembers anymore how to speak, write and read
no one remembers how to communicate anymore
the war simply erases the basic relationships between people
and instead builds these walls of isolation
everyone ends up in a bubble by themselves
alone, miserable, misunderstood,
longing for love and togetherness
longing for some basic goodness
that’s usually hidden inside ourselves
but gets more hidden or even crushed during these wars

i think borders are great conventionally
they help with keeping us original
genuine, with unique features,
borders help us to appreciate our and others’ qualities more,
to value and support each other,
borders bring us this awareness of diversity, this multitude of wonders in this world
they help us learning about ourselves and others
conventionally borders teach us how to take responsibility for ourselves
and show up in the world, really being who we are
they teach us how to take care of and love ourselves and the rest of the world,
when we really see the borders, then they teach us how to communicate with each other,
they teach us how to use language, words and feelings in order to communicate
they teach us how to love each other with all our differences
borders are meant to bring us together
borders are arms embracing others

and borders are so so great ultimately
because they show us that there are no actual borders
we don’t have any contour around us, no straight outline separating us from anything else
they help us figuring out how our own individual conventional borders actually merge with the rest of the world
our small poor images of ourselves dissolve and then there is a big vast space for everything to exist peacefully,
there is space for everything to exist in whatever way they exist
all thoughts, all bodies, all humans, all countries and nations
ultimately borders teach us that borders are not obstacles but openings to the rest of the world
borders teach us to take distance from the borders and look at the big picture

but who knows how to look at
and learn from
borders