PIECING TOGETHER

The feeling of fragmentation seems widespread. Okay, no. It doesn’t just seem like that; it is widespread, if not everywhere. It’s the default state of our modern lives, which we rarely seem to question. We are being pulled in so many directions, not just at work, but also in our personal time. Aren’t we insane that we force ourselves to process an endless, hyper-fragmented amount of information? Can you still finish reading an article or blog? Our minds are split across multiple online chats, trying to grab the news on several platforms, checking our emails every few minutes, and working on a dozen major projects simultaneously. We process 10,000 visuals per day on top of that.

This year, I have heard one phrase people saying a lot: I am tired. I look around and see a lot of us trying not to admit our increasing mental exhaustion. I am convinced that this is connected to how we consume and communicate these days, at work, and in our spare time.

Then, something else can break away. It could be the love that you felt for a boyfriend, hoping you can keep growing this strong unity. Or the bond with a best friend that got cut and left behind mistrust. Not to forget our health, the most important thing we can have. When health breaks away, we feel shattered. One of our loved ones dies or falls ill, and our perception of the world changes within seconds.

We can be broken by major events, fully out of our control. Still, we are also impacted by the small things that regularly break our hearts, that question our belief in humanity, in collective unity, in the positives, in growth and improvement, etc. All those shatter even the strongest characters. For years, I have had the impression that one of the most important skills I needed to continuously invest in is the ability to come back to a “unified me”. And in 2026, I can confirm that this is the most important skill a human can ever learn or have in life. Our brains crave narrative continuity. Not disruption and fragmentation. But our lifestyle is very fragmented and fractured. How are we supposed to feel clarity about what we do and believe in such an environment that is built for hyper-fragmentation? We are not on a good path. We still don’t understand ourselves well enough and have even made a performance or an empty business out of most therapies. I met an Iranian researcher today who is building a lab for neuroarts. She said that we try to find solutions with words, with talking and thinking, but forget about our other senses, feelings, and ways of expression. She said we try to put something into words about what happened to us as young children, when our brains weren't even developed enough for language to express it. There are limits to how we approach these pasts with thinking and words. We need to go further and into all our ways of being.

One of the things she also wants to change is our dating apps. If I look at the heartbreaks from the dating world, I hear (and have experienced myself) recurring patterns. A very simple but strong one is the inability to pay proper attention to the other. We are too busy with ourselves, sharing a piece of information we snapped from the digital world with someone and are already thinking about something else. That creates so much friction when you try to get to know someone and when you like to create a stable, deeper friendship or partnership, but only get online pieces, never a whole human with all their flaws.

The fragmented way of life has become one of my biggest frustrations; I cannot lie about this. Especially when I personally found a way to not let certain things impact my daily life, and then I get surrounded by people who still live in it. I sometimes don’t understand why we keep doing all those things that obviously kill our mental health, the ability to focus, and our strength to go deeper. I increasingly get the impression that we are not getting closer to our human magic but further away. Women still have a hard time with the fact that this world is mostly run from an old white man’s perspective.

And increasingly, I meet fragmented but whole souls who hurt, who are stuck in a loop or freeze, and who don’t know how to piece themselves together again. They really don’t know how, and it makes me feel so sad and frustrated at the same time.

Following your intuition - if you can still hear it - is a start. And you don’t need to rationalise anything; just do it, go with it. No explanation needed. I didn’t know why I needed to paint, create silly songs, and do other projects; go out there and used my hands, my entire body, etc. But one thing I know for sure: whenever I don't feel great, or even sick, I turn to art, creating, and imagination, fantasy… I actually get sick from an inhumane, performance-driven, and money-focused world, and so I recharge and heal myself by applying the old wisdom that lives within me.
These three pieces you can see here are pieces from that huge painting that ten people painted together. I cut it into smaller parts and glued them together again. I learned this “tearing” technique in 3rd grade, not sure if it has a proper name. But if you feel too fragmented and want to bring your pieces together again, why not start with this? Paint something and let it flow. Wait until it dries. Tear it into pieces and PIECE IT TOGETHER again.