I recently wrote: “When you start looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary, you’ll begin to see miracles everywhere”. And then I stumbled upon this film, which the filmmakers describe as: “Images which become memories which become LIFE, every second counts to feel alive. (…)”. Watch this film and experience how ‘looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary results in seeing miracles’.
I discovered this video thanks to a friend who posted it on facebook (thanks Annemarie!). You will see Dean Potter walking a highline at Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park, USA. As the sun sets and the moon rises, shot from over 1 mile away, it’s what the filmmakers call: “The ultimate full moon shot”. It is part of a bigger project for National Geographic called The Man Who Can Fly.
This video shows footage from ‘Landfill Harmonic’, an upcoming feature-length documentary about a remarkable musical orchestra in Paraguay. Remarkable because the musicians play instruments made from trash! Cateura, Paraguay is a town essentially built on top of a landfill. Garbage collectors browse the trash for sellable goods, and children are often at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs. When orchestra director Szaran and music teacher Fabio set up a music program for the kids of Cateura, they soon have more students than they have instruments. That changed when Szaran and Fabio were brought something they had never seen before: a violin made out of garbage. Today, there’s an entire orchestra of assembled instruments, now called The Recycled Orchestra.
I’ve posted many road trips on my blog simply because I love them! Watching people travel, being on the road to a destination unknown, really takes me away from my daily (city) routines and on the road with them. The same happened when I was watching this video. Sponsored by a jeans brand, ‘Long Live The Kings’ is a very well crafted short film. It’s about four guys on motorcycles, wanting to cross the Canadian Mountains. What they discover is that you can’t cross the mountains, but (with luck) the mountains will let you pass… More road trips? See the tag cloud at the right and click road trip.
The door to 2013 is almost open, ready for us to enter. The beginning of a new chapter, with words yet to be written. Based on what promises, to yourself or others, do you intend to write your chapter? Besides loving this tune and video, the song made me think about that question.
If you have kids learning how to ride a bike, like I do, let them watch this video. It will show them that riding a bike is not just a means to go from A to B, but to have fun. Extreme fun. And it’s a practical example of why in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. A nice metaphor for life itself too, right? If you want to see even crazier stuff done with a bike, definitely watch this video.
This video was shot in the summer of 2009 and gives you a glimpse of the people and night life of Dublin, Ireland. I love these kinds of videos because they remind me that all around the world people are having fun, celebrating life. People like you and I, strolling the streets in search of a good time.
People are vulnerable as individuals and as a species. And fighting vulnerability is useless. No matter how hard you try. Simply because you can’t control everything and so your life can turn upside down at any moment of any day. You may be the King of the World, the Smartest Woman in the Universe or the Sexiest Man Alive; it won’t help. You can however hide from it. And most of us do. Behind a fancy job title, nice car or house. Interesting friends, a busy agenda, designer clothes or healthy hipster life style, but sooner or later vulnerability will find you. So what can you do? Well, it’s simple.
Simply face it and embrace it. Because when you embrace it, you no longer need to fight it. You no longer need to run or hide from it, by keeping up appearances and putting energy in this hopeless attempt to avoid the discomfort of feeling it. You can now be as you are, vulnerable, instead of pretending not to be. The way I see it: vulnerability is indestructible. So by letting it in and become a part of you, in a way that makes you indestructible. Daring to be vulnerable gives you power to be.
From time to time it’s good to ask yourself: “Am I alive?” Because it’s not uncommon to just be busy doing what you’re always doing. To be caught up in a routine. And that routine may very well result in hours, days, weeks, months or even years of living, without actually being alive. Because there’s more to living, than just breathing. Imagine someone in a coma and it becomes clear… I recently attended a re-birthing workshop and I experienced the difference between A) normal breathing: a mostly shallow, kind of mechanic and unconscious way of getting the bare minimum of oxygen ‘shots’ and B) breathing with full awareness, in a rich flow, organic and fully open to receive life’s energy in all it’s splendor. It let me experience the meaning of the phrase: “Just because you breathe, doesn’t mean you’re alive”. And so I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to wonder: am I really alive or mostly just busy breathing?
I guess you’re familiar with this sensation: one moment you feel great, and the next… well not so great. I sometimes feel like I’m nothing and sometimes I feel as though I’m everything. It’s a really fine line, much like it is with being crazy or brilliant. John Lennon had a nice way of putting it. He said: “Part of me suspects I’m a loser. The other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty”. I wrote a post about that one too. Anyway. A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon the “I, a universe of atoms…” quote by the American physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918 – 1988). And it’s stuck in my head ever since. Because to me his words are both mind blowing and heart warming. The thought of “I” being a tiny, stand alone atom – and an infinite, whole universe at the same time, blows my ego off it’s socks. Because “I” isn’t (only) the ‘earthly me’. “I” is a single atom and an entire universe, completing one another. Think about that when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror. So yes, it’s a quote I gratefully meditate on. It’s so simple and yet so deeply profound. It makes me feel humble and larger than life at the same time – it’s liberating. Look at us humans. Look at you, look at me. We are both nothing and everything. Again. That’s just… wow.
Imagine you’re looking for something, but you can’t find it. Annoying. Yes. Very. But then, maybe you’re not supposed to find it. Or maybe you’re just looking in the wrong place. Or maybe… you already found it, but you don’t realize it yet. Whatever the reason is, you might want to stop searching. Why? Well think about it: as long as you’re busy searching – you’re not… finding!
Dear friends, it’s been more than a year since my last post! Honestly, I needed the break but a lot of good things have happened to me in the meantime. Apart from a great time at Eyeworks Netherlands, where I worked as a Senior Creative with some great people at the Program Development Team, it were exciting times for me personally as well. Too much to tell you in one post. But I will share more in the coming months, because it’s been truly transformational.
I’m planning on a brand new start of focusNjoy at the end of April. And this time, I intend to actually make some money haha – because running an ad-free blog is great, but from a financial point of view it wasn’t a success and one of the reasons for me to get back to television. Later in 2014 I intend to finally start with my workshops in Amsterdam. I’m super excited about that but let’s see how things develop. Anway – I’m back and I’m feeling fresh. Hoping to hear from you – always feel free to send me an email and say hi!
Love, Stijn.
