The first day of June marks the beginning of the rainbow season – or Pride as it is also called. This means a period of special focus on matters of identity, love and the calling to live one’s own truth.
As monarch of one of the world’s youngest and smallest nations – and a fairytale nation, no less! – it is my mission to work for every human being’s right and freedom to become their own unique individual. The quest to find one’s truest Self is one of the longest and most difficult journeys a person can undertake. A magical adventure, to say the least! But that first step takes both courage and patience. And the roads are full of dangers – not rarely in the form of others who, from misguided good will or from blatant malevolence, block the path forward, or pile on burdens that smother one’s light. Every now and then one finds companions to walk alongside for a while, before parting in friendship. In those moments the steps seem to fall lighter and the goal seems closer.
We are born and we die. We live for a short while. We can’t really know anything for certain beyond that, and this uncertainty of life should invite us to be more gentle and compassionate towards one another. We could train ourselves to welcome even those who don’t look or live just like us, maybe even rejoice in the variations and available options in our, and other’s, lives? For these are the times we live in, perhaps now more than ever before, when we can make informed choices rather than merely reproducing inherited and unexamined norms. And this leads me to think that the rainbow – this awe-inspiring optical phenomenon – is beautiful only because each individual colour stands out in contrast next to the others. A mere “Redbow” or a “Greenbow” in the sky, wouldn’t be as breathtaking as the effect when the full spectrum of colours sparkle against the retina as the sun hits the raindrops from the right angle. And I can’t help but think that the human community is just like that: the many colours, and ways of life, add contrast and depth to our collective story. But it takes courage and patience from those who wander the paths of self-becoming in these troubled times.
The rainbow is a symbol of hope: the hope to live free from the burdens and wickedness that we humans have always visited upon those who are different. The rainbow is also an invitation: you are called to undertake the adventure that is the search for your truest Self. And it is a marvellous adventure – the greatest of them all!
And with this do I wish to express a mighty wish that all human beings – from our own magical patch of land, all the way to the horizon – shall be able to live truly, freely and with an abundance of love. I promise to do my utmost to contribute to that world!
Your most devoted highness,
Prince Frei of Lorenzburg
