Many of us have handed over our health and well being to an outsider called the ‘good doctor’. In effect, we have given up an innate capability of healing ourselves when something goes out of balance in our body. This capability comes through our own belief system. As with anything, if we believe we can, it may come true and if we believe otherwise, that will come true too. This is true for our health too.   Read more...

I walk the path of a warrior and settle on enemy ground. Take on their color, logic and language. Dance with their daughters. Make notes in the dark. Daylight comes early and breathes life into the apartment. The sun casts a nostalgic glow on the books as they stand row upon row upon row. The harddrive hums attentively, hosting a fresh batch of downloads. Sleeping in the apartment is like crashing in an airport holding room. Ghosts of globalization drifting in and out.

I wake to the sound of thunder as the DINKIES upstairs throw their morning fit. The one advantage to freelancing is that it strips life to its core disciplines, my morning ritual now burned into my physiology. It is as though I am released into the day from a deep stage of hypnosis, my subconscious mind fully functional as my conscious mind still searches for a point of recognition.   Read more...

Bulungula Lodge is perched on a small hill where the Bulungula River spills into the Indian Ocean at the fringe of a remote Xhosa village, Nqileni, in the Eastern Cape. It’s part of that majestic land known as the Wild Coast.

High tide comes swiftly on the beach, but if you plan your day well, you can spend hours roaming the ocean’s edge without seeing another soul. Swathes of vibrant shells decorate the shore and farther from the water, tangled knots of trees dig into the sand, transforming the beach to forest. Occasional goats, cows, and donkeys relax in the trees’ shade.   Read more...

Japan has a reputation of holding women back. But women here have a way of holding their own. Despite their demure manners and deferring behavior, they can be astonishingly strong. For the most part they are hardworking, unafraid of making decisions and of sticking by them. Also most often they will be enthusiastically contributing members of any group they belong to. “We do our best in whatever we are called upon to do,” they will tell you.

Many strong, focused women of ambition choose to start their own enterprises, rather than be trapped in the often limiting, ritual-strangling, demeaning jobs that a regular company has to offer. One such person, Miyoko, is a perfect example. She started low, observed, learned, held onto her dream, and worked her way up to where she is now, the owner of a fine study-abroad company.   Read more...

Last weekend, the new Cultivation Team of the international learning network Pioneers of Change (http://pioneersofchange.net/) met in Copenhagen to define their purpose for the upcoming year.

We kicked-off the weekend with a round of sharing our life stories and our connection to Pioneers of Change. I had been introduced to Pioneers of Change when I was on the Board of AIESEC in Germany (www.aiesec.de). I heard the name in the office and that the network had been set up by some AIESEC Alumni. It took me 3 years to engage with the network in Amsterdam. I was working with Greenpeace International then and a colleague from Kenya invited me to join the local “Personal Sustainability” conversations (http://pioneersofchange.net/communities/sustainability/scneth/).   Read more...

This is how it feels like at the moment, being totally submerged in our may projects. One month of working on assignments from our various partners of the school, one month of showing what we learned during the first year, one month of being in a team with 3 or 4 people instead of our usual 17. Silence at school, lots of activity outside. Exciting!

I heard of movies being shot, meetings held at the beach, interviews being done and websites being set up.   Read more...

Patrick Ireland is dead! Long live the Irish Peace!

A Thursday, May 22, 2008 article in the Art & Design section of The New York Times tells the story of Patrick Ireland’s funeral. He was 36.   Read more...

Het lijkt wel de nieuwe mode in mijn omgeving: scheiden en uit elkaar gaan. Soms is dat een oplossing voor de problemen, maar soms is het een vlucht. Hoe vaak zie je niet dat de individuele partners dezelfde patronen in hun nieuwe relaties weer herhalen? Een van de heikele punten in relaties is seks. Seks is ingewikkeld. Om die reden ben ik twintig jaar geleden met seks gestopt. Ik wilde weten wat het is dat mij dreef. Het onderzoek dat ik deed, duurde uiteindelijk veertien jaar. Veertien jaar had ik geen seks, ook niet ‘met mezelf’. Langzaam maar zeker werden de onderliggende patronen duidelijk. Een van die patronen wordt mooi beschreven in een boek van Osho over Tao (Als de schoen past).

‘Jij kunt niet liefhebben. Je liefde is een façade, ze is bedrog. Je liefde is een trucje, je liefde dient alleen om seks te krijgen. Daarom verdwijnt de liefde zodra je seks hebt gehad. Zodra je gemeenschap met een man of vrouw hebt gehad verdwijnt de liefde. Na 24 uur komt de energie weer boven, heb je weer energie vergaard en dan steekt de seks zijn kop weer op. Je gaat je weer liefdevol gedragen. Liefde is dus alleen een middel om seks te krijgen. Daarom is het moeilijk om van je eigen partner te houden. Hoe kun je die lief hebben? De noodzaak is verdwenen. Liefde is gewoon iemand het hof maken, een voorspel om de ander over te halen seks met je te hebben. Je partner hoef je niet over te halen, het hoort er vanzelfsprekend bij. Daarom verdwijnt de liefde. Je hoeft je partner niet het hof te maken.’   Read more...

When you say trains I think Siberia Express, endless tracks in snowtopped mountains, philosophical discussions with long pauses, excited anticipation of what will reveal itself around the next corner. I feel the rhythmic movement of the carriages that empties my head of thoughts.

When I use trains lately I experience crowds of hurried people, long lines in front of the ticket machine, loud phone conversations about things as interesting as the state of someones plants, the smell of fries mixed with sweat and sticky seats. I read that commuters experience more stress than the average soldier in Afghanistan. I believe it.   Read more...

Zolang ik mij kan herinneren, ben ik al een Superman fan. Natuurlijk had dat ermee te maken dat ik als ik in de Verenigde Staten opgroeide, waar Superman iedere zaterdag op televisie was en zijn stripboeken overal te koop waren. Ik wilde in ieder geval precies als Superman zijn en redde op mijn zesde in het Superman pak dat mijn moeder had gemaakt al meisjes uit de handen van het verschrikkelijke kwaad dat onze buurt in haar greep had.

Superman is mij door de jaren heen blijven achtervolgen. Loïs Lane, het bandje dat ik begin jaren ‘80 met Monique Klemann oprichtte, was niet voor niets vernoemd naar Superman’s vriendin. Monique leek ook verdacht veel op Loïs Lane. Toen ik stopte met Loïs Lane zette ik een duffe bril op en werd, net als Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent, journalist.   Read more...

I am a tree person because a Giant Sequoia saved my life. Twenty years ago I was pregnant—delightedly so—and in my heart of hearts, I knew something was dreadfully wrong with my child. It was one of the hardest times of my life.

On a cross country trip wherein we stopped at almost every single rest stop, pregnancy being what it is, we stayed in Eureka, California and communed with the redwoods. There, despite my certainty that something was wrong, one of the mother trees made something right for me.   Read more...

KaosPilots talk. KaosPilots act. KaosPilots do. KaosPilots sing. KaosPilots dance. KaosPilots co-create. KaosPilots smile. KaosPilots laugh. KaosPilots cry. KaosPilots sing Siyahamba when they're exhausted. KaosPilots pretend to be Samurais. KaosPilots gather freckles on their nose. KaosPilots play. KaosPilots care. KaosPilots tell stories. KaosPilots fight. KaosPilots travel. KaosPilots visit. KaosPilots invite. KaosPilots party. KaosPilots make maps. KaosPilots feed worms. KaosPilots shoot footage. KaosPilots applaud. KaosPilots welcome new friends. KaosPilots love. KaosPilots fall in love. KaosPilots entertain. KaosPilots give insights. KaosPilots surprise. KaosPilots help. KaosPilots do espressos. KaosPilots drink Mojitos. KaosPilots involve. KaosPilots get involved. KaosPilots listen. KaosPilots shout. KaosPilots change.

…and now they blog.   Read more...

Op 24 en 25 mei aanstaande is Dennis Merzel, alias Genpo Roshi, in Nederland. Dit is de link naar de workshopgegevens: www.genpo.org/Big_Mind_Big_Heart/Events.html

Volgens mij wordt het een interessante workshop, omdat Roshi een van de nieuwe verlichtingsdenkers is die heeft begrepen dat verlicht zijn niet zo moeilijk is als we vaak denken. In mijn eerste blog schreef ik reeds over hem.   Read more...

I have been thinking about what to write next for Ode. I have been playing with several things I have experienced or seen recently. But when trying to write something I found myself lacking a specific conclusion or goal in the story. The writing seemed a blurry, messy thing without direction, something not well defined. Which I, and most others, find annoying to read.

One focused message that I was able to draw from this mess is that the mind always asks us for a conclusion, a message or idea of what is true. It has to be short and easy to remember so that the world makes sense. This is kind of contrary to what the world actually is, the world isn’t fittable in a two sentence formula. Unconsciously we always let ourselves be run by a theory (or feeling, which is basically the same) and if one is not convincingly there we feel totally lost. We are addicted to theories and think we are right and important and in control if we have one that we believe in.   Read more...

The well-known Peace Symbol was designed in 1958. This year is its 50th birthday.

Wikipedia says, “This forked symbol was designed for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) and was adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain, and originally was used by the British nuclear disarmament movement. It was later generalized to become an international icon for the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time.   Read more...

Toen ik twintig jaar geleden ging mediteren, had ik daarover regelmatig discussies met mijn vader. Hij geloofde er namelijk geen bal van dat er meer tussen hemel en aarde was dan het oog kon zien of het oor kon horen. ‘Meten is weten’ was zijn adagium. ‘Als ik het niet kan zien, bestaat het ook niet’ en ‘eerst zien, dan geloven’ waren andere favorieten.

Mijn vader is natuurlijk niet de enige die zo denkt. De rationele, ‘wetenschappelijke’ benadering van de realiteit heeft de hele westerse wereld in haar greep en is stilaan de nieuwe religie geworden. Het is de manier waarop wij de wereld om ons heen benaderen, de manier waarop wij naar de dingen kijken. Het heeft enige tijd geduurd eer ik door kreeg dat deze benadering van de realiteit net zo bekrompen en beperkend is als welke andere geloofsovertuiging dan ook.   Read more...

Op de dag dat Jurriaan Kamp en Max Christern mij vroegen om een wekelijkse blog voor Ode te gaan schrijven, las ik dat het internet in 2010 vol zal zijn. Heb ik weer! Mijn carrière is nog niet begonnen, of hij is al bijna ten einde. AT&T – met 14 miljoen klanten een van de grootste internetaanbieders in de Verenigde Staten – liet op een congres in Londen weten dat het internet in 2010 krakend tot stilstand zal komen door de stortvloed van video’s, foto’s, websites, blogs... En daar ga ik nu dus ook aan meedoen.

Ik beloof u zo min mogelijk woorden te gebruiken. Het doel van mijn blogs is tenslotte om mensen te inspireren zichzelf terug te vinden en eigenlijk is elk woord van een ander dan teveel. Vooral ook omdat ik daarmee het volstrekt absurde idee blijf voeden dat er iemand zou zijn die in staat is om jou naar jezelf te leiden. Ik ben er al een tijdje achter dat verlichting geen proces is, maar een knop. Een besluit.   Read more...

When we talk about HIV and AIDS, more often than not it’s about the incredible numbers of who’ve died or who are now infected with the disease.

We think of the pandemic in somewhat monolithic terms. But the pandemic is in fact a series of epidemics, which affect people and the communities in which they live in different ways.   Read more...

Practice makes perfect, we all know this. What it has meant to me as a spiritual counselor for the past twenty-five years is that I look constantly for things that make for conscious spiritual praxis. One came to me the other day.

What if every time you received, read, wrote, deleted or sent an email, you first said aloud to yourself, “Peace?”   Read more...

Ted has been my friend for well over thirty years. But curiously, I have never met him. I get a very gentle magazine called “Fellowship in Prayer”, and once long ago they asked if subscribers would like to correspond with prisoners. Of course, I said yes. And that is how Ted and I got connected.

I have never asked my friend what he did to land himself in prison. I felt it was not important unless he wanted to tell me. He never has. And I respect his privacy and dignity in this matter. So, Ted and I relate on more hope-filled dimensions than the mistakes of the past.   Read more...