Minu salajane elu - Katrin Pauts

What happens when you can’t go on anymore?

But that’s exactly what you have to do, to press the gas with all your might and plunge into the unknown. I had reached a crisis in my life that had crept up so quietly and imperceptibly that I hadn’t seen any warning signs. And at the same time, an urge awoke in me. That same urge eventually led me to a beautiful, foreign city.

I merged with the city, and even on these pages it’s impossible to tell which one I’m talking about.

The capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, which I’ve visited many times in recent years, is the perfect place for a person’s inner struggle. With its long and often brutal history and overwhelming beauty, it belongs to the so-called eternal cities (like Rome, Paris or London), in which the past, the turning points and moments of history, the crises, and the people who lived in those moments and sometimes committed very desperate acts, mix into a golden dust that soothes and comforts. Everything has always happened before. Human nature hasn't changed much. You're not alone.

In this book, I thank my wonderful city for my life.