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Posts uit maart, 2010 tonen

The meaning of places

One gets to be familiar with places. When I get back from traveling I notice how well I know Holland: I can only but imagine how weird our trams, roads and traffic lights must look to foreigners; as weird as those look to me when I'm abroad. One should keep track of how long it takes before one gets familiar with the place they're moving to. Places are like picture books from our youth. One attaches experiences and emotions to those (they are their carriers). I've lived at places in which I'd blown so much time and that had become such a mess that I'd better move to get myself back into action again. Because it's hard to change places, I feel. When I'd then packed the boxes the place had changed. Maybe one can move in one place, or travel.

The lesson knäckebröd taught me

(I don't have a container for my knäckebröd .) I used to take the knäckebröd that was on top in the package. That one then always had gone a bit soft. But I always knew that there'd be a crisp one waiting for me right after. Nowadays I lift the top one and take the crisp one underneath. The lesson taught is that one shouldn't needlessly have to suffer for a little treat that may result from it. One is is allowed to enjoy a bit right now. (Nowadays the last knäckebröd in the package always is disgusting though.)

To let God or yourself love you

After my studies I couldn't go on believing in God . Maybe to believe in something else I picked up yoga. I was startled to find out yogi believe in the divine as well. They believe in a more general version of God though: the divinity that's inside of you and that you're supposed to find. This God more sober people can believe in as well. You can start by not (just) letting God love you unconditionally, like the Christian God does, but by letting yourself love you, no matter what mistakes you may make.

Niceness

Afbeelding
You have to accept people the way they are. You're allowed to judge people on what they do. I believe niceness is a set trait. One person is naturally more or less inclined to do good than another. Niceness in people is spread out according to the normal curve. I have to admit that I too much, too often, have wanted to judge people as nice or not nice; have wanted to put them in boxes instead of placing them somewhere on that curve. I probably did that in times of uncertainty about myself, to compensate for that uncertainty I tried to create certainty in my surroundings. But you have to accept people the way they are. That's what makes life easier for you. You don't have to accept everything people do however. Despite the fact that people are naturally more or less nice, (almost) everyone knows what doing good is. You may therefor expect them to indeed do good, for they expect others to do the same for them as well. The person that does good despite him being...