the gift of getting out

“It often seems easier to stay in winter, burrowed down into our hibernation nests, away from the glare of the sun. But we are brave, and the new world awaits us, gleaming and green, alive with the beat of wings. And besides, we have a kind of gospel to tell now, and a duty to share it. We who have wintered have learnt some things. We sing it out like birds. We let our voices fill the air.”
_ Katherina May, from Winterin

the gift of fleeting

“Alles wat altijd nog zou beginnen,

was afgelopen voor je het wist.
”
_ Tommy Wieringa



[Everything that was always about to start,
was ended before you knew it.]

the gift of excellence

“You become the books you read
and the paintings you admire
and the films you watch
and the photographs you see
so be careful
not to spoil your eyes.”
_ Cole Schafer

the gift of determination

“Go all the way with it.
Do not back off.
For once,
go all the goddamn way
with what matters.”
_ Ernest Hemingway

the gift of realness

Noticing.
A text,
a meme
or call.
A laugh,
a tear every now and then
or an extra coffee,
to keep the moment a bit longer.
Our care and respect
shows our nature.

I’ll keep on believing.

the gift of edge

“If you’re not living on the edge
then you’re taking up
a little too much space.”
_ Morgan Freeman

the gift of raw

“Laat het schuren.”
_ Marian Donner

[Let it scrape.]

the gift of feeling

Dear human,
what do you need today?

the gift of stillness

“Listen to the wind blow,
down comes the night.”
_ Stevie Nicks

the gift of wisdom

Drift.
Pause.
Refresh.

the gift of balance

“Write yourself to wonder,
especially if things hurt.”
_ Carlo Navato

the gift of self

“It’s a hell of a responsibility
to be yourself.
It’s much easier
to be somebody else or nobody at all.”
_ Sylvia Plath

the gift of shedding

“I have already
lost touch with
a couple of people
I used to be.” 
_ Joan Didion

the gift of obsession

“It’s healthy to be psycho for a while.
Climb a mountain.
Run a marathon.
Read until the sun comes up.
You need challenges to find your limits.
You need limits to find yourself.
There’s a version of you,
that only exists at the end of
extreme effort.
You enter a dark,
dreamlike maze inside your mind.
You see yourself from the third person.
And the only way out –
is becoming someone new.
Most ones never see
what’s on the other side
but what is on the other side…
is everything.” 
_ Ravi

the gift of surrender

When we let things happen.
Extraordinary starts.

the gift of happiness

“Niemand krijgt spijt
van geluk.”
_ Snelle ft. Zoe Livay

[No one regrets happiness.]

the gift of gone

“She’s changed.
You can see it in her eyes,
Feel it in her touch,
hear it in her tone.
She’s not the same.
And she’s not coming back.”
_ Kiana Azizian

the gift of expansion

“Art is confrontation.
It widens the audience’s reality,
allowing them to glimpse life,
through a different window.”
_ Rick Rubin

the gift of reward

Walking the yellow brick road
isn’t for the faint hearted.
There are abysses.
Closed fences
and doors.
Detours.
Yet…

Those beautiful skies,
colourful horizons
make it all worthwhile.

the gift of legacy

“Tradition is not
to pass on the ashes,
but to pass on the fire.”
_ Gustav Mahler

the gift of air

“It is the nature of the stone to be satisfied.
It is the nature of water
to want to be somewhere else.”
_ Mary Oliver

the gift of pride

It’s settled in
yet still settling.
Across the cover,
three times right,
on your toes.
Up and down from the curb,
like the tide
doing a cha-cha-cha
on some days.

Done.

Made it today.

the gift of rhythm

“Ja, het leven is goed – soms,
een paar dagen.”
_ Martin Bril

[Yes, life is good – sometimes,
for a few days.]

the gift of hope

“Hope is an emotional temper
that emboldens the heart to be active,
it is a condition, a mood,
an aura of being.
It is a feat of the imagination,
both courageous and ingenious,
a vitality that inspires us
to take innovative action
to defend the world.
Hope is essential
to our survival and our flourishing.” 
_ Nick Cave

the gift of forgiveness

Sunshine.
Blue in the sky.

A small word
became a ripple,
shattering
into pieces.

And I sat.

I would,
I wanted.

There was sun.
There was blue in the sky.
And the ships
calmed the ripple
away.

the gift of ready

The zone of lucky accidents.
Magic can happen there.

Photo’s _ Unsplash / Tobias Reich / Wilhelm Gunkel / Arun Kuchibhotla / Ryan Klaus / Bakul Diwani / Mari Helin / Jason Hawke / Seth Doyle / Giulia Squillace / Pavel Marianov / Engin Akyurt / Tam Wai / Curated Lifestyle / Joel Filipe / David Aznar / Valeriia Miller / Luke Gallegos / Jeffrey Hemsworth / Wolfgang Hasselmann / Yaoqi / Brent Cox / Lance Anderson / Ben Ashby / David L Smith / Heidi Bruce / Wes Hicks