By: Amanda Sandström Beijer
Hate can’t penetrate something that is already served on a silver platter. Canel Ataman is proving that you can in fact get thicker skin from tough experiences. With a focus on harmony, she found out how to still her mind and disconnect – something that took time, but was well worth the struggle.
“At one point all my friends moved to Berlin. We were the ‘reject group’ and all felt that Berlin was the one place that accepted us and that’s why we came here. Although today most of them aren’t here anymore. They got ‘eaten by Berlin’. Meaning they lost themselves in the party scene, or in the drugs, or in connections in the city that weren’t healthy for them, and I couldn’t do anything to help them, so we just drifted apart.”
Today Canel has lived in Berlin for two years, but she didn’t move here to work, nor for the party scene.
“Berlin is a city that has so many assets, and there’s something for everybody. You don’t have to be into techno and nightlife or kink or whatever. Although I do believe that you need to know who you are, to survive in this city. Otherwise, you’ll be like a flag in the wind; you’ll lose your edges and disappear. In Berlin there’s no room for people with FOMO. They just won’t be able to stay for very long.”