arabella_tornow

I am ignorant! I April 2024

I am ignorant! This statement brings a lot of inner liberation, and the more we become aware that we are all ignorant in our own way, the sooner we can change it –

Last week, while walking my dog Pizza to our favorite waterfall, I suddenly started hearing loud pig noises. I stopped and didn’t know if I wanted to keep walking because I realized they were being slaughtered. After a few minutes, the noises stopped, and I knew: Oh, oh. I’m ignorant somewhere in my life – because the pig stands for ignorance in spiritual teachings.

Discussing bureaucratic matters in German was one thing; doing it in English was another, and that’s why I put it off for so long and didn’t take it seriously enough until almost a week ago.

I knew it was time to take care of my visa because I had it in my head that I had to leave the country at the end of April and re-enter. Typical island hopping. But I also knew something wasn’t right, so I finally took care of it at the beginning of April and contacted my agency. “Phew, that doesn’t look good for you,” was my agent’s reply, and an inner feeling of certainty and a “yes, I know” started to spread through me. “Let me talk to our top boss, and I’ll get back to you,” she said, ending our conversation.

Last year, I got a new visa valid for six months. However, I would have had to renew this visa every two months, which I didn’t do. My agency would have helped me remember this, but I had yet to tell my agency I entered Bali, which I didn’t do either. Previously, I had a two-year visa where I didn’t have to worry about anything, and just the thought of sitting in immigration for hours was annoying. Ignorance.

In the meantime, I checked with a few friends and other agencies, and they confirmed that there were really only two options: either get deported from Bali forever or pay a lot of money. Finally, I met with the agency’s top boss and learned he had Indonesia’s best contacts. It’s no secret that the bureaucracy in Indonesia is organized differently than in the Western world, so he offered me the best price while assuring me that I wouldn’t suddenly be arrested at the airport. You never know here.

To shorten the story, I’ll fast forward a little: I spent my last 48 hours at immigration in Lombok and Malaysia. I had to fly to Malaysia for one night to be allowed back into Indonesia. The officers were all very nice to me, and they smiled when they greeted me at the airport in Lombok and put a stamp with a valid visa next to the “deportation” stamp. They already knew through my agent and the other officers, and my honesty made it easier. “How could this happen?” a police officer asked me. “I was ignorant,” was my answer, and he laughed: “We all are sometimes.”

PERSPECTIVE CHANGE PART 4/4 – SYMPHONY

All of us have a purpose on earth, and we can only fulfill it if we find our true selves, tap into our individual potential, and stop fighting for the potential of others. When I think about myself, I know I have been trapped in this so-called “hamster wheel” for the last few years. I was doing my job well, but not with full conviction.