Zegg

“What will you gain if you gave up consumerism?” Achim posed this question to us at the end of Zegg Summer Festival. Freedom, connectedness, more time with loved ones, slower pace of life, more love, deeper connections with oneself and others, simpler life…etc are some of the answers that came up. Then it dawned on me: consumerism replaces people with things. While convenient, it robs us of a major part of being human. Think about it!
For 10 days in the German countryside, 400 of us dove deep into what makes us feel separate and what makes us feel connected. We practiced being authentic, sharing our heart’s desires despite all the fear, seeing and hearing each other with empathy, compassion and no judgement, shedding our masks and connecting from the heart, one human to another, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or any other social bias. Lots of tears, laughter, hugs, anger, sadness, joy, celebrations, pain but ultimately, self discovery, peace and love. Zegg is one of the oldest Eco communities in Germany where the Zegg Forum* was invented and is a way of life. Having studied it in California, I was keen on drinking from the source.
I struggled with the German-ness of the field: like discovering that being “on time” in Germany is 20-30 minutes before being on time in California and 2 hours before being “on time” in Egypt. I realized how much California had tenderized my heart with its political correctness every time the German direct “No” landed like a decree from an angry God. My ever shrinking attention span had a hard time with the German affinity for long lectures and the dancer in me had a hard time with being too much in their heads. Surprisingly, I found the supposedly progressive Zegg, the world leader in the free love movement, too conservative for my California taste. When I took my shirt off in the hot lecture hall, not only was I advised not to do it except in designated areas, but also several people asked me what political statement I was making. It wasn’t a political statement at all, it was more of a weather report actually. Luckily, they relaxed the rules and more people shed their clothes after a few days. Most of all, I found the racial homogeneity of Zegg very disturbing, especially that Berlin, with all its diversity, is less than 1 hour away. They are, however, moving in the right direction: there was a queer group and an international group. Hopefully, over time, there will be non-whites as well.
Our group of 40 non German speakers (internationals) transformed from complete strangers to a loving family in 10 days. Strangers from more than 10 countries got awakened to what unites and bonds us, there’s no going back to the pain of separation and isolation. The new era of love and trust is here and we’re growing, one heart at a time. Would you join us?* Zegg Forum is a community building tool which offers a safe container for members to share, express and be seen by others. Not only is it effective at resolving conflict, it’s also instrumental in disolving the seeds of separation before they sprout into conflict.#zegg #germany #travel #zeggforum #newculture #westandinlove