Susanne Oberbeck

Matthew Stone and friends interview Susanne Oberbeck.

Matthew Stone: How can we change the world and what is there to be done?

People need to be made aware that trying to prove they are men or women destroys them and others.

Nicola Lane: What does success mean to you?

Success is to be free from constraints, not be oppressed or abused by those in power, and be able to stick to your dreams and beliefs.

Success is also if the thing you do leaves an impact on people, moves or inspires them, makes them fancy you, or changes the world, but that’s obvious.

Steph Raynor: Are we anywhere near where we need to be?

I don’t like the use of the word ‘we’. Who is ‘we’? ‘We’ seems to have been used to justify all kinds of atrocities and banalities. Trying to answer your question anyway, I don’t think anybody needs to be anywhere. An ideal or fixed state would be boring.

MS: What should not be left unimagined?

Matthew this question is too complicated! I have written two pages and feel like I’m sounding like an absolute twat.

All I can suggest is Bin Laden and people like that should be banned from having an imagination, and people who don’t normally say anything should be able to tell us about their dreams.

I think the less you are a part of existing institutions and structures, the easier it probably is to imagine something that people are trying to tell you is impossible. Why take anything for granted? And what is really “real”?

It kind of comes back to your first question, which I think is mostly about power and conformity. Conforming in order to be powerful, or so they think. If people forgot about the need to prove that they are someone, or someone powerful, it might be possible for example for world leaders or even ordinary people to have an online discussion like this instead of fighting a war. And this is where we arrive at John Lennon’s “Imagine”.

Discuss!

Ebe Oke: What unique gifts do you have to offer to this world?

A unique perspective. BIG Balls.
I like to think I have a unique musical and lyrical instinct. But maybe this is something only Ebe can really answer.

MS: What question should be added to this list?

What is your vision for a future society, I mean in terms of political system, families, human relations, architecture, reproduction and so on?

Ebe Oke

Matthew Stone and friends interview Ebe Oke.

Matthew Stone: What do you have faith in?

Ebe Oke: Love, friendship, the overriding benevolence of the universe and the inherent goodness of every human being no matter how wounded or flawed - also, we can heal ourselves of illnesses great and small, I've done it!

Boo Saville: What do you think happens when we die?

EO: I'm not afraid of dying having come close before - I am in love with and lust for life but death is a comforting thought - I believe my spirit will remain, my intelligence will become a feeble footnote and I will harmonise with friends and loved ones: those of the same frequency or spiritual family - I don't believe in heaven or hell unless it's self imposed - the inability to forgive is a surefire anchor to the flames.

Nicola Lane: What does success mean to you?

EO: Ultimately for me it means to accept myself and to love without reservation or fear - it also means to have the freedom to work with whomever I choose whenever I choose and to have access to great resources for my work in different mediums, be it musical, visual or literary - finally it means to have the financial freedom to travel and explore, homes in a city and isolated countryside of my choosing and being able to share it all with the one I love.

Jack Brennan: What film fits your vision of the future best and why? (The film needn't be set in the future)

EO: Orlando: the opening scene! I would like to spend my future writing poetry on a rolling hill under a great oak! Tilda Swinton is the ageless, time traveling, gender bending, noble hero(ine) and I can think of no better ticket to the future than that - exploring your anima and animus with lovers of both sexes as both a man and a woman, possessing an otherworldly beauty and charm and being portrayed through the eyes of a brilliantly poetic female director; you can't go wrong.

Iphgenia Baal: What is the one thing about you that undermines all the opinions you have made above?

EO: I have a pronounced dark side that through years of honest investigation I have become more conscious of - I faced a lot of adversity earlier in life which caused me to accumulate fears and insecurities which once seemed insurmountable - simply recognising this dark side and the minions in its thrall is a start but something has to occur which grants you enough perspective to see that you actually have a choice not to act from your shadow but from your shine (so to speak) - having mapped out the terrain of my dark side through poems, songs, visions and the mirror of intimate relationships (etc.. ) and realising I have a choice has freed me immensely to embrace a lighter spirit and personality - It's been a real blessing to visit such extremes.

MS: What question should be added to this list?

EO: What unique gifts do you have to offer to this world ?