Tumbling the Walls
20 years ago today, on the 9th of November 1989, The Berlin Wall fell. For almost 28 years, it had completely circled the city of West Berlin – separating the people of East and West Germany, stopping people from escaping the Eastern Bloc by blocking the border between East and West Berlin. People died trying to illegally cross the wall as it stood – cold and immovable, patrolled by guards, separating people from their families, their work, and their freedom.
But today, Germany celebrates the anniversary of the fall – the day when (thanks to some administrative stuff-ups and a lot of determined people) the gates were opened, and the wall was no longer an insurmountable barrier. In the next few days and weeks, people came to watch and cheer as bulldozers reopened roads that had been abruptly ended by the presence of the wall, and joyous souvenir-seekers brought their sledgehammers to the party to chip off a little part of something that had made such a huge impact on their lives for over two decades.
So, what does this have to do with self-portrait week? Tonight I mentioned the anniversary to Andrew, and he said one of the nicest things I’ve seen on an instant messenger service: He said “I hope you remember to tear down some walls in your life!” And in that moment, a resolution was born: The ninth of November is a new anniversary for me. It’s going to be the day when I resolve to let go of my inhibitions and issues – the things that put a barrier between me and success, between me and freedom, between me and other people. It doesn’t mean things will change overnight. It doesn’t mean things will suddenly be better, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I will become the person I desperately want to be inside – somehow, my reality will never match up to my mind. But that just doesn’t matter, because my mind is how I see the world, and reality can go jump. Bringing down the walls is just one small step that will let the things I see in my mind escape into the real world.
Who will join me? To an anniversary of freedom and the triumph of the peaceful protest – to the people who had the determination to get what they want – and to making one life better by conquering our own walls.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:50 am
aww, this would make an awesome editorial piece in a magazine.
Thanks for the shoutout! lol, and I’ll join ya in this idea! hee!
November 30th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Terrific writing Anna. Yes we all have walls,some high , some low, and we usually need help in conquering them or in tearing ‘em down! I’m with u on this, I’m goin’ work ‘on my walls’
November 10th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
[...] years ago today, I wrote this blog post about conquering the walls we build inside. I made a resolution to remember the 9th of November and [...]