Light of life

While I was visiting Glasgow a while back, I walked through Kelvingrove Park on my way to Glasgow Vineyard Church. Because of a silly mistake I was rushing to get there in time. Sometimes, though, while I walk, I feel like there’s something I need to pay attention to. Something that’s more important than the meeting or thing that’s preoccupying my mind. 

That’s when I noticed a fir tree. It looked incredibly beautiful and green, with some sort of green berries at the tips of it’s leaves. So full and lush, at first sight. It drew me closer. But then, as I got closer, I noticed that it was only the outside that was green. The inside was leaflessy brown. No sunlight could penetrate the thick layer of leafs shielding its inside. 

Continue reading

Stagnant water

Do you like waterfalls? If so, how do you like them? Do you like to look at them? Or do you like to jump off them? When we think of waterfalls, we think of powerful displays of nature. Litres of water tumbling down meters of substrate. But we risk forgetting that the waterfall is part of a river. And only a short part in that. Some parts of the exact same river might be slow-streaming, maybe even stagnant.

Have you ever noticed that these stagnant parts are even part of the waterfall itself? Rock formations give shelter to the fast pacing water. Small or big pools turn around in the same circles, over and over again. However, the slightest change in position of the water could completely change its state. It would result in the water being violently pulled back into the river, flowing along with its course.

Continue reading

Relationships

What is the meaning of life? Such a big question, with millennia of thoughts, words and written texts dedicated to it. I’m not going to pretend that I have the answer, but this morning a thought grew in my mind. That one of the most important things in our lives, if not the most important, must be relationships. Relationships with our friends, family, significant other and/or God. We’re social animals, after all. 

If relationships are so important to us humans, why then do we sometimes live as if they’re not a priority for us? Why do we fill our time with work, with volunteering, with projects that make us feel important? Why do we sometimes (or often, depending on your personality) care more about what strangers think of us than how our close ones see us? Why do we tire ourselves out so much with other things, that we become grumpy and impatient with the people around us?

Continue reading

Persistence

Recently my boyfriend and I were in Scotland, where we camped next to Loch Achray. From our tent we had a beautiful view of Ben A’an, a 454 metres (1,491 ft) high mountain. Yes, I’m aware of the fact that in the UK a mountain is officially defined as a peak of 600 metres (1,969 ft) or higher. However, given that the highest point in the Netherlands is 322 metres (1,058 ft), I personally classify Ben A’an to be a mountain.

We woke up to a clear day and the tantalising view across the lake seemed to draw us towards Ben A’an. Described by my ‘Wild’ guidebook as ‘giving perhaps the best views-to-effort ratio of any Scottish mountain’, we knew we had to make the ascent. So up we went, my boyfriend sometimes slowing me down when my enthusiasm would make me speed up to an unsustainable pace. We saw a beautiful mansion disguised as a castle, heard a stream rumble, passed a bridge and walked along a big sad stretch of cleared trees. And then the steep part came. The part about which I questionably asked: ‘Ehm, do you think it’s that peak?’. Until we caught the glimpse of a bright red jacket and realised that, indeed, the last part of the climb would be that steep.

Continue reading

Life’s a dance

Every year in May there’s a night full of arts in Liverpool: LightNight. There are exhibitions and workshops, there is live music and live performances. After delicious street food at the Bombed Out Church we wandered over to the Baltic Triangle to experience a tribute to the late Donna Summer. On the way there an iconic building next to Liverpool’s Chinese Arch caught our eye: the former Great George Street Congregational Chapel. One of those buildings that always seems to have closed doors, building intrigue of the hidden treasures inside. But this night the doors were wide open. Some christmas lights drew our attention and our curiosity drew us in.

Continue reading

Breaking point

I have this very ‘Lifehack’-approved storage system for my earrings. Two rubber bands, one at the top of my mirror and one at the bottom. So convenient: when you’re dressed you can look at your reflection and immediately decide which pair of earrings match your current outfit.

The rubber band came into use roughly one year ago, and is starting to show signs of wear and tear. Last night I hung my earrings back before going to bed and I noticed the ruptures and weak spots. The storage system is reaching its breaking point.

Continue reading

Emotional encounters

Average maximum temperature: 24,1 °C
Average minimum temperature: 7,4 °C
Sunrise: 06:34
Sunset:  17:22

Olifantsrus, Ethosa
In the dark of the night I saw him slowly moving towards me. Instead of moving around the tight bushes, he passed right through the scarce undergrowth. The branches scraped his grey skin, which made a scraping sound. He continued along the waterside seemingly unbothered, with a clear goal in mind. At five meters from the observation hide the elephant came to a stop at the waterhole, under the window where I was sitting. In the red light I saw how he used his trunk to carefully search for water. A loud slurping sound grew from below me, after which he moved his trunk to his mouth to empty it: it sounded as if someone emptied a bucket of water. Every time he repeated this ritual, I amazed myself about the peculiarity of his trunk. I was so close I could see every muscle in his trunk contract. Big wrinkles showed, especially when his trunk was at his lips. Breathless I watched the impressive show. How did I deserve this, crossed my mind while the emotions got to me, that I get to experience all of this?

Continue reading

Comfort zone

Woah. I had expected it to be so similar to leave for Namibia. Boy was I wrong. When I left for Panama last year, I sincerely didn’t understand the question ‘Are you nervous?’. Now, on the day of my departure, I had butterflies in my stomach and I survived the whole day on a few sandwiches and peppermints. And that while my friend Geeske had given me a big bar of Tony Chocolonely’s chocolate! (Sea salt & caramel, jummy!) I couldn’t get an appetite for it, neither as the fries which I normally treat myself with on a long journey. It’s on. I’m finally really going to Africa. And not only that, I’m going to study baboons and cheetahs. Large mammals in Africa. I’m going to see the animals I’ve been watching documentaries about my entire life. I still can’t believe it. Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing swelled while we take off. We landed on Windhoek Hosea Kutako Airport, named after an important leader of the Herero ethnic group and one of the leading commanders against the colonial powers in Namibia. The hot air pressed against my face while I walked through the open air to the arrival hall. Continue reading

Good neighbour or far friend?

His skin is a testimony of his lifestyle. A beaded skirt is the only cover for his skin, the rest is literally exposed to the elements. Members of his tribe traditionally hunted for capybara’s, agouti’s and peccaries in the tropical rainforest and went fishing in the river. They grew their own vegetables and were largely self-sufficient. He is a part of the Embera-Wounaan tribe, one of seven indigenous tribes of Panama. Originally from the Darién province, he moved to the region east of the Darién with multiple families.

Photo by Peter Marting

Photo by Peter Marting

Continue reading