mountain love

Just a couple more weeks and we’ll be back again to fresh air, the sound of birds and the river (and our neighbour calling her cats), water straight out of the mountain, long walks, my friends. Can’t wait.

Quiet

It has been a little quiet here lately. Moving back and forth between Amsterdam and the mountains means moving through huge energy shifts. The silence and power of the mountain and the quick pace and turmoil of the city, I love them both, it makes life rich, but also hectic again I feel. On top…

travels

For two years I have been “stuck” in one place. Arriving on our mountain I felt such a sense of relief I just stopped moving. Even going down the valley to get food would be something I would postpone as much as I could. I loved living away from the world. I loved my time outside…

happinez

I wrote an article about my first year in France for Happinez magazine. In store now in The Netherlands.

on writing

I changed my ambition at 17. From writing at an early age and wanting to become a writer I went to wanting to become a painter. I changed my ambition at 20. From being a selling painter I went to wanting to become a journalist. I changed my ambition at 22. From being a journalist I went to wanting…

terra sacra

Our neighbours in France are shamans. I did not have any experience with shamanism other than knowing it has something to do with ancient tribes and medicine men. When I met Peter & Alice I got curious and they invited all four of us to a fire ceremony. It was a magical experience sitting on their…

ingrid bergman

I saw Casablanca again during Robert McKee’s wonderful seminar last weekend. And of course I fell head over heels for Ingrid Bergman. She just kills me every time. A sense of truth is sparkling from her whole being, telling us she knows life. “I was the shyest human ever invented, but I had a lion inside me that…

Hoʻoponopono

This is an ancient Hawaiian prayer: I love you. I am sorry. I forgive you. Thank you. Hoʻoponopono is a practice of forgiveness. When something happens between you and another person you can feel hurt, guilty or ashamed. When you repeat these words you accept total responsibility for what happened in your life AND for the other person. As the…

anger

There are so many emotions we never talk about, and one of them is anger. When I was a child I was feisty. I could get aggressive to the point I could murder. This aggression was mainly aimed at my little brother, like most kids I loved and hated him at the same time. We…

life

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ― Mary Oliver  

carcassonne

I went away to Carcassonne for a couple of days to write (and take looong baths, get a new haircut and drink some wine). I stayed with our dear friends who used to live in our little village, and then opened an amazing B&B in Carcassonne last autumn. It was a treat to be stay with you…