We're sitting in a circle in the beautiful back-garden of The Hub in Rotterdam. The 17 students that started this journey. People of all sorts. Entrepreneurs. Artists. DJ's. Jean-sellers. Farmers. Psychologists. All united with our year of common history. Year of highs and lows. Year of extreme experiences. An intense year. And just like that, it's over. I doubt that it had even occurred to all of us that this moment would be the good bye moment. The moment where our paths dissemble for the summer. All our focus had been on wrapping up the year by securing next years beginning; selecting a Team 2. We had forgotten that our year was now ending.

As the birds sang in the trees, birds that I do not recognize, foreign birds that don't live in my hometown, in my country, and a cat tip-toed between our wooden chairs we realized that this was our ending ceremony. Unplanned we just sat in a circle and shared. Shared our concerns. Shared our wins. Shared our losses. Shared support. Shared gratitude.   Read more...

We grew up in a typical hippy environment: vegetables in our backyard, self-knitted sweaters for Christmas and hiking outings with like-minded families, all together in a bus.

The more our parents cooked buckwheat, soy and parsnip, the more pocket money we took to the candy store. Few days went by without protest against our being 'different'. "They never have this at Sandra's place!" "Why can't you wear normal clothes?"   Read more...

Visions of calico dresses and poke bonnets, wagon trains, prairies and the wild, wild west? Me too. Pioneer brings that up. Bizarrely or not, the word comes from Old French and means a foot-soldier. I’m not too enchanted to link the idea of soldiers with peace, but consider this news from The Student Peace Alliance on the Web.

“We are so proud and excited to share this news! Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based socially conscious ice-cream maker, announced today at its New York City Times Square Scoop Shop that Aaron Voldman, Executive Director of the Student Peace Alliance (SPA) and Board Member of The Peace Alliance, is one of two nationwide winners of its "Peace Pioneer" contest.   Read more...

My sister Joyce Tannian is my hero.

So many of us, myself included, aspire to help others, to make a difference in the world and often get tied-up in our daily lives. My company manages engineers, producers and musicians, but we’re not solving world peace or providing solutions for the energy crisis.   Read more...

The crowd surges, hands grazing for the dreamscape overhead, its pulse locked into the synthesized loop spinning from the dj's drumkit. Dorothy tends bar, gently rejecting pleas for sex and pouring cocktails for comfort. She stares peacefully at a virtual representation of a Mayan witch-doctor dancing across the club in mid air.

For the past few weeks she has been working double shifts. Turns out her course credits are in direct proportion to her bank's. So she skipped this semester’s exams and allowed herself some time to decide on a Master for next year. But it's hard to think that far ahead. It's hard to think past the case which is about to come to justice or which might boomerang around the corner and stop her dead.   Read more...

For ten years now, I’ve sent a spiritual email every Friday to a growing mailing list. I call the gratis publication Seeds. My Seeds were originally inspired by Emmet Fox, the great metaphysician. His books are compilations of his miniature essays. What I wanted to do was write a sort of reminder of the spiritual approach to life to get people through the weekend. Anyway, ten years is a long time, and I can’t imagine stopping now.   Read more...

First of all ... congrats for Obama! I would have been happy with Clinton running for president, but I always felt Obama had more to offer. And let's face it, the states need a decent president. I have faith in Barak, but that scares me a bit as well. Because we know what frequently happens to charismatic leaders that want and are able to do too much positive change: they get shot by some individual lunatic that has no connections whatsoever with others (that's hard to believe isn't it?!).

But for us all, I hope he wins and changes the world for the better. I hope he can rise above the fear and temptations and make us proud of being humans and that he restores faith in politics.   Read more...

Astroloog Peter Delahaye zei begin dit jaar: ‘Alle niet bezielde structuren zullen dit jaar gaan instorten en alle bezieling zal structuur krijgen.’ Volgens veel internationale goeroes, filosofen en leraren is met name Nederland het land waar deze nieuwe trend – noem het gerust een kwantumsprong of paradigmaverschuiving – het eerst zichtbaar zal zijn. Nederland heeft er het juiste spirituele, politieke, economische en culturele klimaat voor.

En uitgerekend nu, voor het oog van de wereld tijdens het EK voetbal, worden de eerste tekenen van deze paradigmaverschuiving zichtbaar. Nederland durft het weer aan om (voorzichtig) Totaalvoetbal te spelen. Totaalvoetbal werd ooit bedacht door Ajax manager Jack Reynolds en later verfijnd door trainer Rinus Michels. In dit systeem mogen spelers hun gevoel en bezieling volgen. Ze mogen hun plek binnen het systeem verlaten en gaan er vanuit dat een andere speler die plek moeiteloos inneemt. Zo ontstaat een nieuw, dynamisch en verrassend soort voetbal waarbij creativiteit en communicatie essentieel zijn.   Read more...

For the most part Japanese people are focused on new things. They are hooked by the latest gadgets, the most recent conveniences, up-to-the-minute fashions, modernized homes, and the newest model cars. The latest. The best. Image. Identity.

On rare occasions, however, I get to meet someone outside that focused desire for material newness. The other day I was invited to a young couple’s home in the country. The husband, Ken, grew up in Tokyo. He was always fascinated by Spain, so after high school headed there for a stint to learn about life and himself. About other cultures, too. And in the process how to cook Iberian dishes. Later he returned to Japan and worked in various offices, even for a local government. But his heart was always in the countryside. He had loved animals and the out-of-doors since he was a child. And the longer he worked in offices, the more he longed for the country.   Read more...

Ook in Nederland moeten we eraan geloven, de vrachtwagenchauffeurs gaan protesteren tegen de hoge dieselprijzen. Een combinatie van de hoge olieprijs en accijnsverhoging (ivm vergroenen van het fiscale stelsel) wordt niet langer geaccepteerd door de branche. En dus staan we straks met de auto vast in de protestfile omdat de bus ook al niet meer rijdt.

De transporteurs protesteren omdat de olie duur is. Met 140 Euro per vat een record. Maar is dat de schuld van de Nederlandse overheid? Waarom niet gewoon de prijzen voor transport verhogen? Bijvoorbeeld door een brandstoftoeslag in rekening te brengen aan klanten zoals gebruikelijk is in de luchtvaartindustrie?   Read more...