A conversation this morning over coffee about the topic of "freedom", both inner and outer and a look at the world and how it deals with this term in all areas, soon led to the topic of "sovereignty". But what is sovereignty anyway? What does it mean to me and is it even possible to live and express sovereignty in a world that is near suffocation from rules, regulations and faux pas, political and social red lines and prisons of thought - is it even possible to live and express sovereignty in such a world without completely detaching oneself from it?

For me personally, sovereignty means representing the core of my being without exception. It does not mean blurting out my perception, my beliefs or even just my opinions loudly or quietly, anytime or anywhere. But it does mean speaking up or taking a stand where either my own life is affected or a life on which I have a direct influence through responsibility, words or actions. In short: it's about my immediate surroundings: my space, my universe, my very personal life.

Over time, the Internet has given many people the feeling that their own life, their own space, spans the entire world. This invention opened up the world on the one hand, connected people who would never have met and brought issues to our immediate attention that we might have never encountered. One of the downsides of the internet for me is that the possibility of commenting on EVERYTHING and the use of this possibility has created a culture in which an opinion quickly typed as a first reaction to some headline has partially replaced the real mindset and the real discussion of topics. The flood of information, counter-information, guided opinions, framing and even genuinely false reports makes it almost impossible to actually form an "objective" opinion on any topic.

What the last few years have shown me, or rather made clear to me, is above all that the issues in this world can rarely be summarized in a single headline. That the issues are much more complex and rarely fit into the boxes of good and evil, black or white. Truth is hidden everywhere. So are lies.

So how can I react confidently when it is not at all clear what the situation that presents itself to me really is? There is no way of finding out what most things, conditions and situations are really like. The only way would be to actually be present and witness these situations. Therefore the only option left for me is NOT to form an opinion, but to take the position of an observer who does not commit to a final "judgment". I prefer to follow my intuition. I keep the energy to myself and don't contribute to the pool of opinions about a certain thing. Because the moment I do this, I strengthen this thing, situation or movement. I make it bigger, stronger and more powerful. So before I accept or reject something from the bottom of my heart, before I say "yes" or "no" to something, I must have clarity about what this "something" actually is.

Sovereignty for me means being unbending when it comes to my core values.

Not letting them be taken away from you, nor betraying them yourself. Of course, I also have my own picture of the world. "Views" of how things, relationships and systems actually are. However, these views have not become hardened opinions, but include my willingness to change them if the picture that presents itself to me changes. So for me, sovereignty has nothing to do with standing up for "opinions". However, fundamental and human rights, which are an expression of values that are deeply intrinsic to human beings, are untouchable. This means that they cannot be changed. They are fixed - set in stone.

Recent years have shown that the social agreement on these untouchable values has become "shaky" - the values themselves have become "changeable" under certain conditions. But they guarantee the sovereignty and dignity that every human being is born with. In this context, untouchable means that there is nothing and no one who has the right, on any grounds whatsoever, to infringe on this sovereignty. And yet this is increasingly happening everywhere. No, not in distant dictatorships. It is happening here. And what this means and shows above all for me is that true sovereignty cannot be given to you from the outside. Like everything else, it must exist within you. In a society in which conforming to opinions and behaviours has been given more weight for decades than acquiring and strengthening your own inner posture and thus your own sovereignty, taking it away is hardly of any consequence. Some people may not even notice it.

The positive flip side to the fact that true sovereignty cannot be given is that true sovereignty cannot actually be taken away. Nothing and no one can force you to betray yourself or bend the truth that resonates within you. No one can make you do something that goes against your own sovereignty or human dignity. Not even by force. Because one thing is true: you always have a choice. Sometimes it may not be a choice that you like, but all the same it exists.