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The early bird catches the sunrise
I know it’s not how the saying goes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. This weekend I woke up really early to catch the morning light. Me and my dad drove to a piece of dutch countryside which was truly breath-taking in itself.
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Let’s welcome fall
As the leaves are changing colors the cool wind sweeps them off their branches and into the air. As a child I always loved seeing a cloud of leaves playing in the wind. Even as of today I feel like a child again when I see that phenomenon again.
The colors of the leaves always bring me joy and good memories. That’s exactly why I wanted to give fall a warm welcome into our world. What better way than to dedicate an art piece to it.
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We are all human
As I was going through my days, I caught myself running again. It wasn’t until I went on a day out with my family, that I noticed it.
The world was going fast around me and I wanted to keep up, forgetting my own dreams. These are the moments we learn the most from.
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Sharing fun with our loved ones
As my mom explained she wanted her birthday party to feel airy and positive, we came up with the idea to make a workshop. We wanted to make the conversations about our current experience playing with art.
We planted all kinds of art supplies on the table to inspire those who would join us. A side of snacks and drinks gave everything a nice and relaxed atmosphere.
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Finding beauty in our harsh world
Traveling is like a to step through a portal into an other world. Exploring new places, finding joy and beauty with every step you take. Looking for the small things that make you smile. It can be a beautiful flower or just the way the sun shines through different structures.
When summer comes I usually try to do some traveling. This year I went to the landschaftspark in Duisburg Germany with my dad. It is an old factory which isn’t in use anymore. It is left untouched, so nature can take it over again.
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Taking a lesson out of nature
There has been a drought in Europe for a few weeks. You could see nature begging for some water while the sun kept shining bright. The fields that were once a luscious green are turned into a bed of brown. A balance was disturbed and the trees and plants were having a tough time. On my walk with a coworker I saw how devastated the fields were. When I looked further then the big patch of dead grass, we noticed some bright green trees. As we ventured further into the park, trees were looking more healthy.
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Little bits of happiness
As small as the smell of a particular flower, or the smile on a strangers face. The beautiful colors of the sun setting. The sun shining through the leaves. There are a lot of little things that can make you feel happy or glad to be in this moment.
Sometimes something happens that pulls clouds over your days and we need to search for that little ray of sunlight shining through. At that moment it can be hard to find the things you like or love. That’s where this exercise might come in handy.
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Shouganai
Shouganai (しょうがない) is actually a shortened or slurred way of saying shiyou ga nai. Directly translated, shiyou ga nai means, “there is no way of doing/going.” It is used interchangeably with shikata ga nai, which translates identically.
Although it is not a strict Japanese mindset it still holds the power and strength it makes me feel. You can also hold on to the western way of saying it. In English: It can’t be helped. In French: C’est la vie. In Dutch: Het zij zo etc. There are lots and lots of ways to say it, so just take the one that speaks to you most.
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We are beauty
We all struggle with insecurities about ourselves. Do I look beautiful? Am I behaving the way others expect me to? Do I stand out? These are all questions we ask ourselves on a daily basis. Maybe not consciously, but we all want to be accepted into the world around us.
Isn’t it already a beautiful thing that we all exist? That we all have our own personalities. That we all are human beings on the same planet?
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Set your childlike wonder free
You know when we were children we could spend hours looking at ants moving stuff around. We could be amazed by the wind playing with leaves. The very sight of a rainbow let us drop what we were doing and stand still, just staring in trance at the miracle the rain brought us. What happend? What changed? To make us numb to those tiny little wonders.
In this day and age we measure ourselves by what we can do and by what we’ve accomplished. We measure the greatness of our lives by the amount and price of products we can buy. Everybody knows that happiness can’t be bought and money doesn’t make you happy. The key is to find out what does. I don’t know the big answer either, but I’m on this age old quest for true happiness like everybody else.
To kickstart my childlike wonder I like to take baby steps. Just sit on my balcony. Look at the world around me. See what jumps to my attention and stand still for a moment. Like a child staring in wonder at the rainbow. I soak in the image I see and try to find my little wonder.