How a dull day at the office can turn into a creative outburst. We should all try this, say once a year. Transform the office into a playground. And just for the record, I have no ties with this Sticky Note brand, but I enjoyed watching the video and appreciate it’s message. There, that’s said. Now enjoy!
The more we need in life, the more complicated it gets. The need for things limits our openness and increases our dependency. It creates a cycle of tension, where we must counter balance everything in order to meet our needs. If however we need nothing, life can take us anywhere and everything would simply be another experience. The thing is, in our world we tend to rank experiences in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. We only want the good ones, try to avoid the bad ones and there you have it: the need for things and it’s cycle of tension. So lets go back. Let’s look at the phrase: “I need nothing”. What you basically say is “Anything is welcome” and that does simplify life, doesn’t it? It creates space, peace of mind and sets you free to simply experience. And in experience, lies the beauty of life. As you will discover in this video even a ‘nearly useless odyssey’, creates an experience.
How do you choose to live your life? My dear friends, by now you know I love road trips. And the film you are about to see, is the road trip of all road trips. Besides truly stunning images, there is a voice-over that is not just talking to you. It is speaking to your heart. And it’s not just somebody speaking, it is the future! It’s real life, expressed in pure poetry. I say this often: give yourself the time. Do yourself a favor and watch this film from A to Z for it will make you feel good. The film was written, filmed and produced by Dan Riordan and his girlfriend Nina while traveling through Chile & Patagonia. They spent 5 weeks exploring this amazing country and this is how they chose to document it. What a life, what a life, what a life. And you too have an amazing life. When you document it, you will see.
Here’s a film that will touch your heart and make you feel all good. It’s about a man called Johnny Barnes. Come rain or shine, this 88-year-old Bermudian devotes six hours every day to an endearing traffic ritual that has made him one of the island’s most cherished citizens. You have to see it to understand why. Do yourself a favor and watch it entirely, for it’s truly inspiring. And ask yourself the question if maybe you can learn something from Johnny. I sure can.
When I saw ‘The beginning of Infinity’, a short film I posted a while ago, I got interested in Jason Silva. This young Venezuelan-American filmmaker, journalist and founding producer/host for Current TV, has views on human evolution that are as enthusiastic as they are interesting. He has a way of speaking and a sparkle in his eyes, that makes you want to explore life yourself. Well, it has that effect on me anyway. In this interview on Reason TV, he is asked about how new technologies such as the internet, affect human life. Silva says: “People have always sort of been scared of new technologies. “But in the end we assimilate them and they improve the quality of our lives.” I love this interview for it’s positive, energetic and to some extend hopeful message. Enjoy.
In The Netherlands we celebrate Christmas over a two day period – this is day two. So, since I’m still in the mood, here’s a short and adorable Christmas animation. And although Christmas is a Christian tradition, it’s spirit is universal. It’s a time to reflect, to be grateful, to be less selfish, more friendly and more kind. I think we can all agree these are fine values, no matter who you are, where you live or what beliefs you may have. So, I hope you’ll enjoy this and I wish you all happy (holi)days!
You probably know the expression: “Go with the flow”. But did you ever wonder what the flow looks like? I mean, it sounds all smooth and silky, but in many cases life doesn’t present itself exactly like that, right? So what is it? And how do we tap in on it? I recently came across this film that made me realize what what “flow” is. It comes in all kinds of forms and forces. And it’s not outside of us, it’s within us. It’s not the circumstance that creates the “flow”, it’s how we deal with that circumstance. When we deal with a force as if it were a “flow”, it will become a flow. No matter how strong it is. This footage clearly shows us that. So remember, instead of saying “go with the flow”, say “be the flow”.
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.
