"... a life where I do not feel trapped by the lack of future, or a hamster wheel of the present. A life where I can see the horizon, but where the view is still open enough so I can hope and dream. I still need to be able to predict how my actions will play out. I hope for a healthy amount of control."
"She succeeded and arrived to live in Berlin. After a couple of years, despite living in Berlin with her partner and working as an art teacher with the freedom to travel across continents, she said she still felt stranded. Even though Miljana seemed to be moving towards the supposed "meaningful life" she had imagined, she appeared to be mentally trapped in Serbia."
"Why would someone leave their home in search of a richer life, only to long for the same home they once rejected? This was Miljana's experience. She left Belgrade, Serbia for Berlin, hoping to find a more meaningful life, yet later found herself missing the life she had tried to move beyond. Her story was documented in a 2023 study by Alexandra Dantzer."
Miljana left Belgrade for Berlin seeking a more meaningful life and the chance to realise her potentials. She obtained an art-world job, property, a partner, and freedom to travel, yet experienced a persistent feeling of being stranded and mentally anchored to Serbia. She missed the unstructured free time she once had and defined meaning as having a visible horizon, predictability, and a healthy amount of control. The experience illustrates cognitive immobility: physical relocation does not necessarily produce psychological movement. Awareness of cognitive immobility and active engagement with the present can reduce the sense of stuckness.
Read at Psychology Today
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