When Patterns Are Broken, New Worlds Emerge*

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. –Edward R. Murrow

IN A WORLD enchanted by spring it is such an amazing feeling to wake up with a good morning smile of the sunshine in my heart and behind my windows, a short ‘thank you’ prayer that awakens all the senses and thoughts that take me all over the world, to the other lands, through the oceans and continents. All those little things that make the spring the most wonderful reminder about the gift we possess – the Life!

Traveling from continent to continent, from country to country, from place to place for many years. Believing firmly that home is not always the four walls; rather it’s two eyes and a heartbeat. My thoughts are always ahead of me. My thoughts define my reality and my future destinations. This is especially visible the last three years that changed this pattern and I cannot travel much. Rationally, my dream journeys could be far behind. Suddenly I realized, they are not. I turned my temporary adversity into imaginary travels by sending my thoughts in different directions. An irrational idea for some. The only way to grow professionally and to stay focused on strategic objectives for me.

This short story might be the next ‘stop station’ in-between my current and future perception of reality. Short and different. Different from what I might have imagined even a few hours ago. The sudden transformation of veracity?

A book on my bookshelf that I bought a week ago: A “Startup Guide. Berlin” (volume 2). What about it? I opened it on a page 146 this morning. A choice by a chance. Smiling. It reminds me of a game that we used to play as children. When girls, opening Alexander Pushkin’s poems little books, were ‘predicting’, futurecasting a chance! A destiny! Where a line we read was supposed to be the ‘fate’ for this coming day or at least an hour or a minute only. These are very beautiful poems in Russian. One of Pushkin’s poems is “Ruslan and Ludmila.” Needless to say-my beloved! Smiling. Childhood dreams! Pure and fearless!

“Because I’m hers, because I serve her

I know true love and am alive.”

Ruslan and Ludmila. Mosfilm, 1972! With subtitles in English:

Back to the page 146 of the “Startup Guide. Berlin”. A sentence on this page, a quote: There is so much potential in the Internet revolution that remains unused. by Raul Krauthausen, the Founder of the “Sozialhelden” (“Social Heroes”). True, I thought, and started to read about the startup. On a page 145 I saw a photo of Raul Krauthausen. Surprised. I stopped reading. A sudden wave of eagerness to tell you all about it. Word by word I will try to create a visible and moving story.

“Sozialhelden” (“Social Heroes”) “Make things happen.”

‘Raul Krauthausen is an entrepreneur, startup adviser and disability rights’ advocate. Born in Peru, Raul studied Social and Economic Communication in Berlin University of the Arts, and Design Thinking at the HPI School of Design Thinking. For activities as the Founder of the Sozialhelden, Raul has been awarded the Order of the Merit of Germany. Since 2006, Sozialhelden has launched a variety of social projects, ranging from a scheme to donate “Leergut” (bottle deposits) to a website with journalistic advice on how to cover disability. His team’s Wheelmap.org, a smartphone app presents wheelchair-accessible places across the world. The Wheelmap users can browse cities for places like restaurants, shops, or even nightclubs and submit information about those places’ accessibility. Raul Krauthausen uses a wheelchair…’**

When reading, thinking, researching the startup environments worldwide, probably many, if not the most of us see the founders as superheroes. Personally, I have such a great admiration for pioneers of new ventures; those of you who put in 100+ hours of work a week and those unstoppable entrepreneurs, who start and do not quit even when falling down from being tired. This and much more is a background of a picture in have created my mind. Such are the trends we see in social media, newspapers’ articles, books, radio, and TV news. More than this, when trying to envision creating a new venture, even the thought itself freezes my senses. And no logic, no intuition, no results of my study and research into which I invested years of my work and attention. Nothing did help me to start on my own. Not yet!

As the most recent example of my study of the startup ecosystem of New York City, yesterday, I have chosen a quote of Arvin Lal: Have goals so big, you feel uncomfortable telling small minded people.

And here comes Arvin Lal and his team. Would you doubt his ability to startup? To succeed? To change the world around and touch one million people lives-his mission?.. Nobody can doubt his ability to make his vision and his dreams a reality!

Starting December 30th, 2015, I made, what might be later considered, the first steps on my way of /to liberating my thoughts from fears. I started walking five kilometers a day around the lake when it was the most dangerous time to do this. In winter. On ice-covered road. Making tiny steps around frozen lake. Cold and almost dark. The sky is dark-grey most of the time most of the days here in winter. It is getting night-dark at around 4pm. The Europe gifts us with about six hours of day light only in winter. The first snow fell down in January. The magic of nature, of beauty prevailed the fear of falling down and hurting myself on a slippery road. With my 400 km to date, I might be the very first among those who noticed how the spring came on the wings of warm winds and among the rain drops and streams. I hear birds singing their happy spring songs and I see swans coming to visit the Schlahtensee lake. They show me how beautiful the rebirth of the nature and the ‘Rebirth of Reason’ is. I do share my sacred place in Berlin with white swans!

With every tiny step on a slippery winter road, I thought of those who take risks on roads of unknown every day, moving themselves consciously and strategically from the comfort zones into the unknown. Walking, running, swimming, flying, moving even in wheelchairs towards the light; towards their dreams, believes and visions. Breaking patterns, breaking expectations, ruining the ‘good old’ immovable and often crucially damaging ‘laws’ and ‘rules’ of societies, groups, families… Under precisely watchful and often sharply critical friends, family members, neighbors, former colleagues who, meanwhile enjoy wishful heights in their night and day dreams only. Respect and adoration for startup pioneers!

Shall I email Raul Krauthausen asking him for a meeting? Based in Berlin, I could try to meet with him in May – June. I believe it would be possible. How this meeting could change my perceptions? Would it eliminate my doubts in my own ability to make a difference? What is this / would be that you, my dear readers, might want me to discuss with him? What would you advise me to try to understand? And why? I thank you for reading this story.

Visit Berlin! It is an amazingly beautiful spring here these days. Nature at its best. There are more than 2,500 public parks and gardens in Berlin, and almost a fifth of the city is covered with trees. Berlin is green.

On a cover photo; sakura blossom. I took this photo in the Cecilien garden Cecilieng?rten –two minutes walk from my home. Please, visit my Instagram: @singenberlin for more photos. I hope you will enjoy the beauty of nature that I strive to catch with my camera. Vivre! Croire! Aimer! (Live! Believe! Love!)

*“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.”

―Tuli Kupferberg

**“Startup Guide. Berlin” (volume 2)

This article was first published by the BIZCATALYST360.com on May 01st, 2016