Handle with care – a little bit of dreaming is allowed
by Swantje Kawecki
This world needs more care, more tenderness and more mutual support – there’s hardly any denying that. And not the appropriated, Europeanised form of self-care – even though it is, of course, important to make sure we look after ourselves. Yet far too often, what is understood today as ‘self-care’ revolves around the self. However, the idea should rather be: when we ourselves are well, we can be there for others. For our fellow human beings, for our friends, for our (chosen) family.
‘Handle with Care’ by Diana Gadish revolves around these thoughts: If I see someone carrying something heavy that is beyond their strength, I naturally offer to help. Not by simply walking up to them and taking the heavy object out of their hands, though. No, I ask first: ‘Would you like some help?’ I give the person the chance to decide whether they want to accept the help, I don’t force it upon them.
And this action can have a ripple effect: Perhaps someone will see it and, in a different situation, remember it themselves, pluck up the courage and offer help. Connecting with people we don’t know can turn into something special. And perhaps the next person is already standing by, ready to lift the next box, and before you know it, we’ve built a tower of boxes with a happy person standing on top. Boxes bearing the inscription “Handle with care”. What should be handled with care: the boxes? The people around us? The contents? Perhaps all of the above?
At the very least, the artist Diana Gadish conjures up one garland after another from one of the boxes on which she stands at the top of our tower. A scene unfolds one might expect to see at a fair: she plays music on a small barrel organ. The audience is invited to dance. Shyly, laughing, with sparkling eyes, as soon as they can pluck up the courage.
Children dance with one another, older people with younger ones, parents with one another, friends. Dancing brings people together. Helping brings people together. Music brings people together. If we are all a little more willing to say ‘yes’ to such invitations and to overcome our own insecurities, to be vulnerable and to connect with one another – perhaps we might even catch ourselves realising just how much fun it is to be there for one another.