Reflections from our First Event and Next Steps

Living in parallel realities 

We started a meeting with a deep story from a Ukrainian lady now living in Switzerland due to the war, and how she walks in two parallel realities: having a peaceful life going on outside, and the war happening inside. Especially, as her mother and brothers live 60 kilometres from the eastern border of Ukraine. That makes her disconnected from outer reality and people often in order to find a way to live in parallel realities at the same time. Other Ukrainian ladies joined and shared this feeling. It was an amazing teaching and an eye-opener on viewing people and especially refugees that way, who are walking in parallel realities with the war inside, and having one’s heart full of holes. 

Inner wars and human connection 

Then a group talked about inner wars, and how one has leverage to stop the inner wars, if anything else. We also talked about having an open heart to connect to the other. One Swiss lady said that she was trying to feel what Ukrainians felt, but that she couldn’t. In response, the Ukrainian participant said that she would not wish this lady to feel everything a Ukrainian feels (mentioning also that feeling pain is not just bad, it also what makes her alive), but that trying to feel is a lot already, and this is what connects two human beings in the moment. It was a touching moment of connection/relation among people from two different realities and parallel worlds.  

Open heart and connection to extreme voices

As we continued, having an open heart in theory sounded great, but what if one is afraid to do so in practice? On top of it, it may even be dangerous to approach extreme far-right voices and opinions. Or it may cause blood pressure to go up, even burn someone, and eventually impact one’s health and life? At the same time we talked how it is important to see a human being behind a social role of a far-right activist and vice versa. Some Swiss people shared stories of interaction with the people holding far-right views. What came out of this interaction was a realization that both sides may have fears of the other side, and both see the power in the other, yet both may not be aware of their own power and may not be connected to it. In addition, there was a thought that maybe one side does not know something about the other, and that admitting that one does not know and becoming a learner may be one of the ways to open one’s heart and connect to the other, who especially holds the opposite view. At least, it can be a beginning inner step for some of us.   

Learner’s spirit is a new security

Even though we did not speak about it directly, the roles of a teacher and a learner were present in our meeting. Some people shared their lived experience, and it was a great teaching for other participants. At the same time, it came out of our conversation that for people who had a tendency to know or who were supposed to know (teachers), not knowing and actually becoming learners in certain moments is not only a nice concept, but can be a matter of one’s security. Connecting to a different other as a learner who does not know, could make one or both sides feel more secure. In other words, to become a learner in today’s world can be quite pragmatic, as it brings a sense of security. In addition, we talked about how it might be really dangerous to approach the other, because that would mean that one needs to change, and one’s old identity would probably die. However, if the learning spirit is there, it may turn new encounters into potentially new learning adventures, and lead to better connections and deeper relationships with the other. 

Perfection vs. humanity 

During our event, there was one extreme voice, coming from a Swiss participant, who was challenging his own country, his own economic system, saying that it was not perfect, and it needed to do better. Some not nice stories from the past history of Switzerland came to the surface, too, and Swiss people talked about it openly and freely. In response, the Ukrainian side said two things: first, that on a human level, she would not need a perfect individual, but would prefer a human being on the other side with all imperfections, as it allows to interact, connect, and learn. And on the other side, from her view, having Swiss people challenging the self and the own country proves that it is perfect and it has a great value, as it allows learning and development. In other words, what came out was: imperfection in the view of some may be a perfect way to connect, to learn, interact and grow together.

Power awareness 

We talked about brutal physical power vs. power awareness. We talked about how the extreme far right and the left saw power in each other. We sensed how teacher and learner had their own power, and the conversation was a way for some of us to connect to our own power or at least become more aware of it.

Next steps 

As a result of our first open gathering, we plan to organize the next one in Bern in June-early July 2025, and the topic of our next gathering is “Inner War—Outer War.” Stay tuned, leave us a comment below, write us a message, and/or subscribe to our news to get an invitation. Can’t wait for our next open gathering!

Earlier, If you are in Geneva, please join us for the facilitated public discussion on May 15, 17:00-19:00 at the Geneva Graduate Institute on the topic of “Integrating International and Local Students in School.” You are welcome, registration is open on this page.