I'm riding my Honda Forza 750 down the A38 highway on my way to the Myzelium ecosystem meetup. Their motto hits the spot: "Change happens locally".
The connection came through Helena Frieda Wolf. We met several times at the Steiler Berg coworking space in Halle, where she told me about Myzelium. I researched the organization and booked an intro call with Timo. When I saw where he was located, I had to laugh: Neuhausen.
I grew up in Neuhausen in the Saxon Ore Mountains. Timo’s Neuhausen sits in Baden-Württemberg—about 600 kilometers away as the crow flies. My opening line in our video call was: "Timo, we have a lot in common. We both come from Neuhausen!" He was speechless for a moment until I cleared up the geographical mix-up. In the past, I even snapped photos of the town sign in Baden-Württemberg whenever I drove past.
As the highway flies by beneath me, my thoughts drift back to my youth. At 18, I was drafted into the East German border troops to guard the Berlin Wall. Back then, I never would have dreamed that one day I’d ride a high-end super-scooter completely freely across the former border. Or that I’d connect effortlessly with people from entirely different generations and ideological backgrounds.
We bring vastly different life stories to the table, but that friction creates the exact dynamic we need. If everyone agreed on everything from day one, nothing would move.
At my destination, I’m looking forward to talking with Timo and the community. And there’s one amusing detail on the side: Three weeks ago, I recorded a podcast about classism with Dr. Hannah Heller. When a final prep email arrived from "Hannah" earlier, I naturally assumed it was Hannah Heller. A second look at the surname revealed: Hannah Alles. So at Myzelium, two different Hannahs are actually shaping change together. I'm looking forward to the conversations!
