Translator: Juliet Vdt Reviewer: Nadine Hennig
In my life, I've met a lot of psychologists.
Now, times have changed.
I changed too, you could say.
Now, psychologists come to see me.
(Laughter)
They ask for my advice.
They tell me all about their booboos.
"Josef, help us, my boyfriend / girlfriend left.
What can I do?"
Sometimes, those who used to want me under guardianship,
now come ask me to lend them money,
because their bank cancelled their credit card.
And I tell them how lucky they are that I am autistic,
because I could charge them for this. (Langhter)
I would charge a lot.
(Applause)
Lacan would have been a clown next to me,
and everything should be paid in cash,
because I also have administrative phobia.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Anyway, I think, there are more efficient ways
to heal small and big societal neuroses
than talking on a couch.
So I suggest traveling.
Ah! Traveling!
It didn't start right for me.
I wasn't born to travel.
For example, some years ago,
the big journey for me was doing three bus stations.
It would stress me and traumatize me for weeks.
And I'm not even telling you about the sedative periods.
You should not travel in France
when you have disabilities.
You should stay within your four walls.
But I did leave.
I applied parts of the Golda Meir doctrine.
Golda Meir pointed out that for her,
the chance of her lifetime was to be ugly.
And she was ugly.
(Laughter)
It's really helpful, by the way,
to know you're not the only one in that case.
(Laughter)
But still, let me tell you,
between just being ugly,
and being ugly and autistic,
as the French comic Coluche would say,
it's really difficult to up the ante. (Laughter)
Not only mandates from abroad.
Please imagine, autistic,
it's an insult,
we call our politicians that.
So, how does it work in concrete terms,
therapy by traveling?
Well, it's pretty simple.
Forget all you've been told.
Forget those stories about all the pleasure cities.
Forget about trendy cities,
the places to be,
to be just another sardine among other sardines.
No, no, no.
Traveling is worthy only if it's risky at heart.
Traveling is a long apprenticeship.
You need to feel uncomfortable before the trip.
That's how you make progress.
I'm going to give you a very convenient example.
Suppose you have time ahead of you,
and you can only choose between two places.
Let's say you must choose between Barcelona and Isfahan.
Apparently, Barcelona has everything.
Barcelona has bars, drinking places.
Barcelona has a beach, sunlight, you name it,
and it's not so far away.
Maybe we've been there before, maybe we know the place.
Isfahan... well no, it's not like that. (Laughter)
First, you have to find it on the map.
Then, oh god, you'll notice it's in Iran.
(Laughter)
Should we get a life insurance?
Or maybe ask for the last rites?
I don't know, to each his own.
But you know, all the tiring weeks,
the worry you feel before going.
Well, it's worth it.
Let's say your colleague went to Barcelona.
How will he feel when he comes back?
He won't get anything out of his trip to Barcelona.
And don't get me started on the hangover! (Laughter)
But, you, who have been to Isfahan, for example,
you'll never forget Isfahan's palaces,
its roses, its gardens, its limitless.
And when the gray and low sky of winter will come where you live,
well, in front of your eyes,
you'll constantly see the poets lines dancing.
(Speaking Iranian)
But for me, you know, restless soul,
I'm not very West but East.
I ran away again, further East.
I went several times in the tribal zones in Balochistan.
This place may be one of the most lost
among the lost corners of the world.
It's there, with nomads, in zones called "terrorists,"
that I've been the most accepted.
It's there, where I wasn't, if I may, an autistic guy anymore.
Those nomads,
I think, I stole a secret from them.
I believe the human being
is, in fact, not made for sedentary life.
Human being is not born to stay inside walls -
walls which can only become our tomb.
Human being is not born to settle for one language.
Monolingualism is a modern invention,
and it's not the best, far from it.
So, while traveling, leave your illusions behind,
but most of all, remove the barriers -
the barriers of, let's say, your confort zone,
restricting your movements to your known universe.
Illusions barriers for the immediate satisfaction of all your desires
and your passing needs.
Travels are not there to satisfy your passing needs.
Travels are there to change them, to change us.
Travels, as would say the tireless deserts traveller, Theodore Monod,
travels are a quiet teacher,
and this quiet teacher, what does he have to say?
Well, when these barriers will be removed,
only what we have in common will be left,
whether we're nomads, Balochis from the desert ends,
whether we're city-dwellers from the far west,
it is, I believe, I'm sure of it,
our shared humanity.
Thank you.
(Applause)