In my head there's this beautiful collection of magic places, warm encounters and funny thoughts... care to share?
Tired of hearing 'you can't change the world' - if we can change it for the worse, why not for the better?
You need not, to climb mountaintops
You need not, to cross the sea
You need not, to find a cure
for everything that makes you weak.
You need not to reach for the stars,
when life becomes so dark
and when the wind
does blow against the grain
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
when all your friends
have come and gone
the sun no longer shines
the happiness for which you long
is washed away, like an oceans tide
when all the hard times, outweigh the good
and all your words are misunderstood
when the day seems lost from the stars
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
If you feel, you paid the price
and your wounds should cease to heal
and everything you love in life,
spins like a winding wheel
if you should wake, to find you're abandoned.
and the road you travel, leads to a dead end
when death creeps in, to play it's part.
you must you follow your heart
you must follow your heart
And then there was … silence. After months of working intensively and afterwards a month traveling… She’s back.
At least – that’s what her environment tells her. Back at home, back at work, back with her family and friends. But for her it’s just like someone else is back. Who she was before, seems lost in space and time. Where is she? How did she live her life before? It’s like she’s not able to get it back.
Give her time. Give her a month. Two months.?
There was the feeling of being loved without restrictions. Passionately she tries to hold on to that beautiful feeling that is evolving more and more into a memory. Grasping. Don’t. Go. Away.
Chaos. Asking herself how did she ever let it become such a chaos? In her room, on her desk, in her head, in her heart. And moreover – how will she handle it? Where can she leave her thoughts, her doubts, her activism, her love, her passion, her hunger for more. There’s just so much you can do in 16 hours. Because her body needs sleep. 8 hours less of the 24 given to her. Add a fulltime job to it with a good 1,5h/day commuting…
Questioning. Like a 4 year old. Why is it that we live in a society based on injustice? Why is it that a whole lot of people put themselves first above everything? How have we evolved to a society that doesn’t care anymore if we kill a fellow human being or destroy planet earth? Why do we all think we can’t do anything about it?
Isn’t it so that if we are part of the problem – and we are – that we are part of the solution?
Choose. Choose who to spend your free time with. Choose what and where to eat. Choose when to clean up the mess. Choose who to love. Choose who to visit. Choose what party to go to. Choose your life direction. Choose who to spend your life with. Choose your career. Choose. It seems that we are spoiled by having so many choices.
Is it stupid to consider these choices? To actually reflect on our actions?
And once you’ve chosen – what consequences do your choices have?
WANTED: Hammock on island to get back to her roots. Wherever they are.
A few weeks ago I was having a nice evening with a friend at my house. After enjoying a lovely home made dinner with local and fresh ingredients - obviously ;-) - we decided to watch a documentary.
My friend was overenthusiast with a documentary made by 'The Yes Men'. I personally had never heard from them before, but when I heard they started the documentary by showing a video where they fool the WTO by holding a press conference in their name, I was totally convinced and ready to watch.
I'm not going to tell you all about it, I think you should see it for yourselves. But it's amazing what two people with a lot of bad-ass courage, intelligence, and will to make the world a little less unjust can do!
I was really fascinated and at the same time motivated by their extremely reckless and to the point actions.
They actually managed to expose the atrocities big companies such as DOW or banks actually commit and think of as 'normal' and 'collateral damage' if you want to make 'big' money...
One of the things that really stood out (apart from their actions) for me is how easily people can be deceived if you just wear the right suit, put enough wax in your hair and act important. It all instantly diminishes the importance of being 'important' or 'someone' in the corporate world.
Another nice thing about their documentaries it that you can watch them entirely free and problemless on the internet. I got to watch ' The Yes Men Fix the world' (see first link), but they have also produced another documentary called 'The Yes Men'. I'm pretty sure you can also find the whole movie online.
Apart from that, they also have two really interesting websites. http://theyesmen.org/ is the website on what they do, how they did it, a link to the shop, if you want to support them, etc.
But what's even more interesting and inspiring is this one: http://www.yeslab.org/
Quoting: " The Yes Lab is a series of brainstorms and trainings to help activist groups carry out media-getting creative actions, focused on their own campaign goals. It's a way for social justice organizations to take advantage of all that we Yes Men have learned-not only about our own ways of doing things, but those we've come in contact with over the decade and a half we've been doing this sort of thing."
So you can actually think about a plan yourself and ask for personal coaching. I'm not there yet, but I hope to be there one day...
Watch it and let's change the world, one action at the time!
*** Have a nice and shopless day everyone! Talk to a stranger! :-)***
For the past weeks/months I've been reading Annie Leonard's 'The Story of Stuff". I am slowly reading my way through the 264 pages about extraction, production, distribution, consumpition and disposal of 'stuff'.
It's well written and easy to understand, but sometimes I need some time to process what I've read.
It's pretty much unintelligible that we have evolved to human beings that produce more than we can use, throw away so many things and produce 'stuff' we use on daily basis composed of highly toxic ingredients! Unbelievable no?
One of the things that keeps flashing through my mind when I'm reading is: what would happen if more people were informed? Would they protest? Would they stand up and ask for changes? I hope so...
This is one of my favourite pieces so far, on these pages Annie is unraveling the process of producing 'cans'. Yes you know, the things you buy in the supermarket or the vending machine to immediately quench your thirst with a sugary drink (I prefer not to advertise for these products :-)).
Read it and think about it. I can say I banned them from my household (which wasn't that difficult but anyway)
Aluminum cans
"I saw a great depiction of the irrationality of aluminum beverage cans when I was working on waste issues in Budapest in 2007. HuMuSz, an organization there that raises awareness about waste, had made a series of short, entertaining films that play before feature films in Hungarian movie theaters. My favorite film took place in a WALL-E-like, totally trashed planet Earth of the future, where aliens arrive to conduct research. They find one remaining human being and grill him for answers about the incredibly valuable and widely dispersed pieces of aluminum strewn about the planet, convinced these were used for communications, military, or medical purposes. When the human replies that they were for single-use servings of sugary, carbonated drinks, the aliens berate him for lying: "No one would be so stupid, so irrational to use such a highly valuable energy-intensive metal to hold a simple beverage!". I'm with the aliens on this one."
And then there's this simple feeling of walking into your kitchen, looking outside the window and watching the sun play in your garden. Sigh. For a few seconds life was simple and happiness too. :-)
On one of my walks home on a friday-evening, ready to start the weekend, this beautiful sky surprised me!
A real life painting, isn't it? I had to shoot it!
Here we are again - alive and kicking - just a little chaotic and not finding energy to write in front of a screen again...
My last post was ment to be a teaser... because I have been looking forward to share the existence of the next product with everyone: The Keep Cup
I discovered this product on a very need website of a shop over here where all kinds of recycled, environmental friendly products are promoted and sold.
As I commute to work on a daily basis, I have a lot of time (if I get up on time) to observe people who are waiting for their train to arrive. I noticed how over the years take-away-coffee (amongst other take-away-stuff) has become increasingly more popular.
Personally, although I am aware off the high cost for the environment, I am a big coffee-fan. I can enjoy my daily cup of coffee with pleasure, ofcourse I only buy fair trade coffee.www.maxhavelaar.be
And I like the idea of a coffee on the go, but I can't stop thinking about all the cups that arrive in the bin after your 10-minute coffee-break. If you would heap up all the cups thrown away on every train platform on daily basis, I'm sure you would be truely appalled at the amount! Just for a 10-minute coffee break, hundreds of people contribute to 1. the very contaminating production of all these cups (okay - indirectly) and 2. help increase the trash on this planet.
Great was my surprise when I discovered the Keep Cup. A fashionable, colourful and handy cup made out of very strong plastic, ment to keep your coffee warm for about a good 30 minutes, in three sizes (S-M-L).
Even bigger was my smile when I found out that you could make your own combination on the website: lid and cup-colour! Amazing!
The Keep Cup is really designed as an alternative to the plastic take-away-cups. This further implies that it doesn't work as a thermos: it's not hermetically sealed and doesn't keep your coffee hot for more than half an hour. You are supposed to go to the coffee-shop, get it filled, and take it with you. Wash it -drink - wash - drink - wash - drink... A perfect example of the first R... reduce!
So after a lot of waiting (because they were sold out in my shop) I finally got myself a red and black, M-size Keep Cup. After a month of using it quite often, I can give you these personal findings:
* Fits perfectly in your cup-holder in your car
* Drinks comfortably
* Not advisable to cram a full one into your backpack with your laptop and agenda...
* People in take-away-stands will fill it if you ask it
* You'll probably pay the same price as your neighbour without the Keep Cup... for now, it's not widespread, popular or commercial enough for businesses to have adapted their prices to this product.
Keep in mind that a big part of what you pay for your take-away-coffee is the packaging!
* By using the Keep Cup, you actively reduce the trash and contribute to a cleaner planet!
So people: this is my last advice: if you are a take-away-cofee-person... buy yourself a Keep Cup, spread the word and share your findings where-ever you can! (for example here - always welcome!)
Okay - I'm not a really big fan of getting up early (like before 8 A.M.) at the weekend... I had to get up early the past two weekends because I had to work. I wasn't too happy about it but at 6.55. A.M. on a Sunday, but these views which I tried to capture in some pics, made my beginning of the day o so quiet and nice.
It's a pretty weird but calming experience actually to be outside on a Sunday-morning, you can almost hear the street breathing...
First of all, I would like to start this post with a feeling of gratitude, a thank you ... I've noticed that lately my words have been reaching new people from different places, places I have never been and maybe will never visit... The last comment I received on this blog from someone 'anonymous' really made my day.
So to who-ever reads this and feels connected - thank you. Keep on reading and sharing. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Live life to the fullest.
Tonight I've attended a (quite informal) lecture on sustainable energy in my country. It was hosted by the - let's say - most environmental party of my country. They were giving us the facts and numbers about the energy suppliers, how much it costs our families and how 'sustainable' or green certain suppliers really are or let's say in general aren't.
I must admit that mainly I didn't really learn anything new. In my former house in this city I already had made the change to a 100% sustainable energy supplier, just by calculating it on a website and making the arrangments.
Tonight I did leave with some questions that were kept unanswered. I suppose I can look it up online - when I find the time. But I wonder how many people present tonight have asked themselves the same questions.
Anyway, I tried to bring them forward but I didn't work. So here they are.
Before we go into details, sustainable energy is basically defined as 'the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs'.
Not really how we're doing it now, eh?
So... if we are talking about sustainable energy, on national scale, my first question would be... if we look at the stats Greenpeace provides us with (http://www.greenpeace.org/belgium/nl/e-ranking/vlaanderen/), how important is it that we take the source of that energy into account? I'm referring to the actual 'origin' of the sustainable energy, more specifically, where is this energy produced? Because to me, it sounds kind of paradoxical that we would invest in consuming (or buying) sustainable energy in our country that is produced in a country thousands of kilometres away from us - not even providing the inhabitants of that country with that type of energy...
Okay, I know this might sound a little fussy, but... I think it's a question worth considering.
Thus we are all about 'renewable energy', mainly energy that comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat instead of using up the sources that aren't renewable such as oil, gas, coal or nuclear power (putting aside the huge waste problems of the latter). Great!
Again, my next question is probably easily answered by several links on the internet... Then again, which one should I trust and who can help me broaden my knowledge on this one? How durable and environmental-friendly are the production-processes of the so-called 'vehicles' of sustainable energy? What is the environmental cost of windmills, solar panels, etc? How much emissions are due to their production and even more - how (long)lasting/durable are they?
It's obviously great that nations all over the world are - some more than others - valueing a possible switchover to more and also more affordable sustainable energy. In a lot of countries, windmills start popping out like sunflowers and solar panels decorate roofs. But then again, will we add our used solar panels to the dumps in the South? How much have we really contributed to a healthier and happier planet if the production of our windmills is so contaminating that it might take ages tocompensate this, not even considering adding some 'positive' energy-use to our society?
Anyway, I don't want to conclude this post with a negative vibe, because everywhere there's concern and action, there will be positive results. I steadily want to believe this until I die.
So I'll leave you with this video to watch and hopefully in a few days after some research I'll be wiser on the issues touched above.
Pretty tipicial isn't it, after neglecting this 'blog', space for sharing ideas and thoughts, I come back with such an ethical and heavy issue as 'vegetarianism'. I can imagine people rolling their eyes or laughing at 'the idealistic girl' with her 'world-bettering' ideas. But give it a shot. Just read it and then make up your mind.
Anyway, my vegetarianism has become much clearer and more logical, after being informed about what's the deal with the meat you eat. I should tell you, I used to be a 'flexible' vegetarian. After a trip to South-America where I discovered I could easily survive without meat, I chose - as I was about to live in a student's residence without parental supervision - not to eat meat anymore. My main motive wasn't because of the constant abuse of the animals or the bad circumstances in which they were bred. After 18 years of eating meat on daily basis, I discovered I was happy without eating it. I liked the idea of being happy and sufficiently fed without having to eat animals. Apart from that, I wasn't happy with the soy grown in Brazil and being fed to our cows. While people were/are starving living next to the soy fields... But in one way or another, I managed NOT to inform myself about real ethical reasons not to eat animals... I think I was afraid to face it. I mean, why bother? Why take another worry you can't affect individually? I was wrong...
I remember that when I was a kid on my way home, I passed this field with cows from a local farmer. I used to feel so guilty looking at their peaceful behaviour and imagining them on my plate as lunch...
Well, animals...as I had 'hushed' my mind with the declining of steaks, I kept on eating fish.You have to admit, the white, crusty fishfingers or fishburgers hardly remind you of vivid, jumping fish. Apart from that, I used to believe they were leading a happy life in the ocean, and then were suddenly caught and prepared for lunch. I didn't know or did not want to know that 1. our ocean is extremely contaminated and is being 'emptied' by our fishing strategiess 2. a big part of the fish we consume is also bred, genetically manipulated and is fed chemical bullshit. Yuck!
So... I decided to take a stand. I decided to inform myself and make a well-reasoned decision based on several sources. I was partly convinced after reading 'No Impact Man' by Colin Beavan (see an earlier post). But it wasn't until I read 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer that I made this decision.
"I will totally delete animals from my food list unless I am positively sure that the animal I am about to eat has had a nice, outdoor, animal life, has been fed real food (no chemicals or additional feeding) and has been slaughtered with uttermost respect."
Basically, in the society we are living in now, it's a synonym for declining all animals as a food source, because main stream meat or fish on your plate has NOT experienced any of what I described above...
One of the main reasons I was attracted to this book was his motive to write the book... Compared to a lot of activists who write pro-vegetarianism-books out of really animalcaring reasons - which I do not reject at all but I believe they can't connect with a lot of 'mainstream' people - Jonathan wrote the book out of a concern for his own progeny:
"But on the brink of fatherhood—facing the prospect of having to make dietary choices on a child’s behalf—his casual questioning took on an urgency. This quest ultimately required him to visit factory farms in the middle of the night, dissect the emotional ingredients of meals from his childhood, and probe some of his most primal instincts about right and wrong."
For many, having a family is the most natural thing to do. It connects thousands and thousands of people. And everyone wants the best for his/her kin isnt' it? How come so many people have never even questioned what they feed their beloved ones? I'm glad Jonathan did it.
In his book Jonathan sails from 'how to justify vegetarianism in your social life' til investigating the turkey farms where a lot of people's Thanksgiving or X-mas-turkey is bred...
I hope I have aroused some reader's interest here...
I will leave you with this website to hopefully keep you interested and have you follow my story...
