Some weeks ago I ran into an old friend of mine. We have known each other for a long time. We got to know each other in a locked ward of a psychiatric hospital in the previous millennium. When I ran into her the other day, I told her about my book. She was very happy to hear that the book is nearly finished. She said: “I wish I finished something for a change. For the last 10 years I have never finished anything I started.” Well, it’s not easy to live with a mental illness. However if you do something to improve your moods and your self-image, you will pretty soon find out you are capable of a...

I was standing in front of the fireplace in the ambassador’s house. A woman who was also invited, seemed genuinely interested in my story. I told her I was writing a book about my life. “So young and already writing a book about your life?” she wondered. I said: “Yes, you now, after a month in Germany I got seriously ill. I ended in a hospital.” At that point the protective glass in front of the fireplace broke into a million of pieces. It was the kind of glass that cars have in front. I was only shocked for a split of a second, right afterwards I felt relieved. The glass broke at precisely...

Some people find “a daily routine” boring. What I experienced today shows the contrary. I have this daily routine habit that I try to keep regardless of weather. I go for a walk. Some days I prefer the forest by the river close to where I live. I call it a magical forest, since it is so quiet. All you can hear is the river, dry branches falling to the ground and the beautiful songs of birds. The path is only reachable by foot, so there is no traffic. If I have more energy I ascend a hill nearby and enjoy the great view of the town beneath and of the Alps in the distance. I walk past isolated...

Yesterday my husband and I went for a 4-hour-long walk along an Alpine valley. The path was covered with snow. There were icicles hanging from a very special rock-formation called “spodmol”. From a distance a “spodmol” looks like a large opened mouth. The path led us through this mouth from one corner of the lips to the other. So when we were in this rock-formation, it felt like a nice shelter over our heads with a great view into a mountain creek below. The icicles looked like curtains over the upper third of our “window” that was offering us the great view. There was an information-plate...