
| I am suffering from
severe Fernweh. I am projecting myself into
other places, different to those from where I launch my longing. From the
distance I look onto these places and myself within them. In the distance,
there is the promise of redemption from the maddening restlessness. These places, moving ahead of me like a mirage are my personal, everchanging utopia. Although driven by Fernweh, I simultaneously feel Heimweh: It is only in this utopia where I can imagine myself settled and imagine being settled in myself. Utopia is commonly imagined as a place of purity and peace. It is the ideal place where the search ends. This idea of 'coming to rest' is also applicable to the concept of identity. The notion of 'coming to rest' implies a wholeness, an absolute satisfaction with the self. This condition is characterized by an absence of desire, equivalent to a state in which the self lacks nothing. Similar to utopia, the essential identity eludes description and definition because it is non-existent, yet exists as a concept. The quest for utopia is staged in its passage - the search becomes the goal. |
