This post was first published as a column on the website of the Dutch Magazine for Coaching. For Dutch readers, you can find it here. I was asked to write a 100-word piece about boundaries. And the second I heard the word boundaries, my thoughts moved towards space. Because to me boundaries are not limitations, but the contours of the playground called life. Every boundary is an outline of space. Like the horizon on an endless sea or a star in the universe. Boundaries show us where we are and where we can go. Within ourselves and beyond. And while change itself has no boundaries, it is only noticeable due to the existence of boundaries. Boundaries come in all kinds of shapes and forms. The steps of a staircase, the keys of a piano and every second that goes by: these are all boundaries. They are not the end of things, only stepping stones from one to another. Boundaries create space. Like the walls of your house accentuate the space you call home. This nice film shows you an impression of boundless nature, which becomes visible, bounded by its own rhythms.

Creativity brought to life: here’s a playful stop motion animation simply for your enjoyment. The filmmakers also give us some wise words: “Every second our planet is spinning you, but you can spin the world just the same. Every day you are able to move forward in order to be happy and make others happy. Maybe not a simple thing to do, but it is possible. Life is not a movie and you don’t always know how your story will evolve but while you live, you are the director of each moment. This film is a tribute to those who were able to change something, build something, create something and to do something that spins our planet in a positive way”. Enjoy watching and go spin your world!

This film might be a little long for a quick video snack, but then the whole point of posting this is to make you slow down for a moment. Give it six minutes and 22 seconds and you’ll be fueled with inspiration to go way beyond your desk at the office or couch at home. The story is about a Norwegian guy who decided it was time to see this “world” he had been hearing so much about: South America. So he bought a backpack, bought a guide book and booked a flight to Peru with a return flight from Brazil. And so began the best summer of his life. You are about to see a summary of his trip, showcasing some of the beautiful places and faces that he encountered. Enjoy!

In 1990 the Voyager 1 spacecraft made a photograph of planet Earth, called The Pale Blue Dot. Taken from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from Earth, the photograph shows Earth as a tiny dot against the vastness of space. The Voyager 1, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and to take this photograph, at the request of Carl Sagan (1934-1996). This American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and promoter of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, subsequently used the title of the photograph as the main title of his book, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. This film presents you an inspirational excerpt from this book, a monologue written and narrated by Sagan. He shares his almost poetic thoughts on the evolution of mankind and places it in the context of our existence in space. Well, I can tell you one thing: it makes our personal day to day sorrows appear… insignificant.

Wondering around in the New York City subway, you’d expect a noisy rat race. Right? Wrong! This film shows that with your eye and ears focussed on something peaceful, you can find moments of meditation even in the busiest situations. Let yourself be carried away for a couple of minutes and experience how the ‘bending sounds’ of the NYC subway and the music of various street musicians bring you in a calm state of mind. And really, it’s only because the filmmaker concentrated on them, that we you will notice and appreciate their soothing contribution to busy everyday life. In the end, it’s all about attention. Whatever you put your attention to, will grow. Or as I said earlier in this post: The way we see reality (and in this case also hear it), is how we create reality.

Dedicated to the people everywhere, who will help out a ‘stranger’. These words come from Benjamin Jenks at the end of  his film. He says: “Some people dream of sitting on a beach in Tahiti or sailing around the world. My travel dream was to hitchhike around the USA for a year. I wanted to meet people from all walks of life and learn about the world through a simple adventure. The video took 3 months to shoot and 2 years to create (although I’m a hitchhiker and I’m not slaving away for 12 hours a day or anything…)”. Dear friends, this is one of the most uplifting, positive and warm hearted video’s I’ve come across so far. This video is just the start of Benjamin’s adventures to live, as he says so himself: “an exciting and wise life”. Let it inspire you to open up to all the people, everywhere, not only the ones you already know. Because they too, were once ‘strangers’.

This post is for relaxation. You’ll see stunning timelapse footage, depicting the stars from low earth orbit, as viewed from the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is a modular structure whose first component was launched in 1998 and in 2011 it was completed. From 2000 the station is permanently inhabited. Like many artificial satellites, you can the ISS from Earth with the naked eye. But what do you see with the naked eye when you’re in the ISS and look outside? Click play to see!