Enlightened Amazement

All it takes is a comment from his neighbor, who recounts how, when she was a child, the Oder River in front of her house was still full of freshwater pearl mussels, and Björn Kern's curiosity is piqued. He is determined to find this rare freshwater creature, which has a wondrous life cycle: while its early form lives in the gills of brown trout for several months, the adult mussel can live for well over a hundred years and form pearls – but only if it has been injured beforehand. During his search, Björn Kern develops an inner connection with the species, which is over 250 million years old, leading him back into the water again and again, and a desire for authenticity in an overexploited world: How does one marvel in an enlightened way? How can the constant desire for expansion be cured? And how can we stimulate our zest for life in ways other than through excessive consumption, which can never satisfy our sensual needs?

Enlightened Amazement is about the eye-opening gift of an experience that feeds on not finding, a physical, sensual abundance that holds a more vibrant form of wealth for us all.