‘The Freedom of Having Nothing’

After Chirstine Eichel’s book on Samudra’s (aka Katell Gélébart) life and work as an ecodesigner, ‘Die Mülldesignerin’, we now have the chance to read a memoir written by Samudra herself. Of course her work and discoveries are the main focus, but not only. In a poetic account we hear from her childhood in the Bretagne, the wild north coast of France; we then follow her to Paris for her university studies up to nuclear-free Denmark. Later to America and Australia, to ex-Soviet countries where she marries a Russian environmental campaigner. In Amsterdam she opens a small eco-fashion boutique where she learns the trade.

With her we also travel to Japan and India, where she works for many years in Auroville and Pondicherry, and with Rajasthani craftsmen. Chapter 19 is called ‘The Osho Years’. We share her excitement of winning the prestigious Kairos Award in 2012 and then having a solo exhibition in Hamburg, Germany. The book ends with the chapter called, ‘The freedom of having nothing’.

This book is about seeing beauty in waste, experimenting with global nomadism, thriving for greater awareness via meditation, maintaining courage, passion and uncompromising determination. After reading it one might see the world differently; at least it will change the way we see trash, not as trash but as the ‘gold of tomorrow’. We might get inspired to change many of our small habits, become more conscious, bring awareness though playful meditation, go vegetarian, re-use our waste and give things a second life.

Maybe we will be inspired to become a modern nomad, not materially attached to things, but to live more simply and only with what is essential. Through the descriptions of life in many poorer countries we become aware of things we take for granted; where it seems as if there is ‘depravation’ but where there is ‘so much’. Maybe by changing ourselves, by being a living example, we can change the world.

‘The Freedom of Having Nothing’ is available as Kindle or paperback from amazon.com – amazon.co.uk – amazon.de – amazon.in (Kindle)

Related articles
Autumn in Kharkiv – An excerpt from Chapter 12 entitled ‘Ukrainian partnership’
Fashion made from trash? – Excerpts from Samudra’s book ‘The Freedom of Having Nothing’ – now available as paperback: Moments in Tokyo, Milan and Hamburg
Aesthetic and Creative Eco-Design – Samudra’s life as an eco-designer and environmental activist (an Osho News portrait)

Samudra (Katell Gélébart), originally from Bretagne, France, studied Scandinavian languages at Paris University. Self-taught and passionate about reusing since childhood, she opened Art D’Eco, a tiny eco-fashion boutique in Amsterdam. She has travelled to Denmark, India, Australia, Ukraine, working with local people and staying long enough to inspire them about new ways of living lightly on the earth.
In 2007 she took sannyas in Pune and, in 2012, she won the Kairos Prize and last winter she published her memoir ‘The Freedom of Having Nothing’. katellgelebart.com