About Love

Let there be space between your togetherness;

Either let the wind of heavens dance between you

Love, but never make a contract out of it;

Rather let her be a flexible sea, moving between the coasts of your souls


Fill each other's cup but don't drink of the same cup;

Give the other one your bread but never eat of the same loaf;

Sing and dance together and be cheerful;

But also

let eachother be alone, on it's self,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music


Give your heart, but never to be bond;

For only the hand of Life can hold it


And stand by eachother, but never too close;

For the pilars of a temple always stand apart

And the oak and cypress cannot grow in one's shadow..


Freely translated from Khalil Gibran
In: 'The Prophet'

Hitte

Hitte

De Jordaanse hitte
warmde me op
Ik voelde zon en uitgestrektheid
stond aan de top
oh, wat was ik klein

De hitte
een mooi gezicht
fijn
een opgewondenheid viel over me
als een deken,
een oude bekende
Ik was en kon vergeten,
werd bekeken

Licht
werd het steeds

De hitte
verschaft inzicht
kent leed
ik herken het;
het gemak van bewegen
op den duur
vrijheid
omdat ik weet

En als blikken toch
mijn dodelijke ogen konden doorzien
wat er soms door me heenging
eenzaamheid
en liefde
voor deze wereld
en voor alles
wat ik niet begrijp

Rest nu nog
Het stof van de woestijn op mijn schoenen
Plaatjes vastleggend
voor het thuisfront,
Een contact, doch
slechts door blikken betast
maar veelzeggend,
ze raakten een alomvattende wond

Ik weet nu
wat hitte doet
het maakte mensen gek
maar het is goed...

Jordan uncovered

Jordan: a great place on earth. So friendly, beautiful, warm and easy to travel around. The views, desolated areas, busy crowds, space aplenty, desert, rocks, water, modern life and tradition& history. I experienced many things, Amman, Madaba, Jerash, Petra, Kerak, the desert (Wadi Rum), Dead Sea, snorkling in the Red Sea, waterfalls at Ma'in.
I was wondering if the kindness of it's people was fake, knowing that the country lives of tourism. But as my trip was passing I started to think and feel this friendliness is real, people are mostly very kind; it's in their culture to be helpful. They literally take care. Whereas in Europe you just give people directions when they ask you, in the Arab world they bring you to your destination or as far as possible. Because of good and bad experience from the past in Turkey and my study background, I was a bit sceptic at first. But the (real) Arab world is not so much different except for a couple of things; no touching, harrassing, screeming or trying to sell in a forcing way.
Yes, people do stare at white Europeans, no matter what you wear. But when you attire just a tiny bit (which is even more comfortable in the heat) there is no problem whatsoever and you can move freely through the country.
Of course there are negative sides to find, to live as a muslim woman in my opinion, mostly veiled or sometimes totally covered in black or in chadors; whereby the eyes only are visible, it must be awfully hot and also restrictive in many ways. The social control is strong for many, and even though some woman are brought up like that and feeling happy the way they live, (it was seen sometimes by the pride and beauty they were showing off or the way they were moving, like it was a second skin) for me it was sometimes hard to deal with. Especially in the beginning, I could feel anger sometimes towards this 'men-ruled' society, it was them who once made these rules that woman should 'protect' themselves against the weakness of male flesh, and who decided that hair was the woman's pearl. Men should cover themselves as well according to the Quran, and some did, but they were allowed to wear white dresses, which seems much more comfortable.
What happens behind the veils? Eyes can do a lot. Under these black robes there could have been the most expensive and trendy clothes, which you could guess by seeing the shoes, make-up, sometimes showing a waistline and by wearing jewelry. Woman made their statements if possible somehow through subtle details. Anyhow, all this covering and mystique drives men totally crazy, so what about this 'so called protection'? I could feel the sexual tension in the air, the whole society sometimes. As the tv was showing lots of almost naked woman, the streets were black. People get confused and frustrated. For me it was confusing too, I must admit.
Strangely enough, moving some days in such a society, you see that woman are protected/ being respected by wearing the chadors and moving more free. You suddenly see your own bare arms as special, your wrists as beautiful, because they belong to you. My point is: you get aware of your treasurous self, freedom and feminity more than ever somehow.
On the other hand I still am not for the covering up, only because people are telling you from an ancient religious view to do so, but I can imagine it's more exciting keeping things to yourself or share them only with the special ones we meet in life...

A challenge: Share!

Experiment

As all communication nowadays goes through internet/ e-mail I wonder what has happened with the handwritten mail. The only thing I find on my door mat are bills, advertisement and other rubbish... You are almost forced to register everywhere; hyves, facebook, u-tube, msn messenger, in fact that's very impersonal and a form of slavery if you ask me!

Almost nothing is nicer than receiving handwritten enveloppes with a stamp. Think of the journey it has undertaken and the energy it contains. Isn't that marvellous, some kind of magic?
It would be such a waste if we forget about ordinary correspondence!

So, I challenge you!

Share by sending me something: news, a thought, an idea, a hello or goodbye, gossips, a photograph, science, anything will do if it fits through the mailbox. I'm curious and interested in your life.
It only has to cost you a couple of minutes, a stamp and a walk to the nearest postbox.
*There's one condition: at least the enveloppe should be handwritten!
*And I promise to answer! (please enclose your address if you'd appreciate so)

Just try it and find out what happens! I'm sure it will make you happy! You may even decide to pass this on or do the experiment with your own family and friends...

Don't worry: This is no chain letter!

Hope to read you!

Wendy Wessels
Richtersweg 108
7521 BZ Enschede
The Netherlands

Intercultural market

A magical mixture
Of feelings, smells
Believes and traditions
Gathered in one city centre

Having missions
Selling and showing
Sometimes
Promoting visions

African dancers and drummers
Bright colors and beautiful skins
Make me
Swing inside
Wish for more sense of rythm
I would love to take a ride
But my ratio wins

Bellydancers
Graciously controlling their bodies
Shy but ruthless
Also
A Turkish band
A sense of homesickness
Arises
Which I can only partly comprehend
I so long for Istanbul
But in this kent*
I will always be a stranger
A fool
Also

The locals
Just staring
Absorbing
Buying but not daring
To really dive in

Also
I was being consumer
An observer with an inner call
It's okay
For one brief moment
I would like to hold you all
And convince you to stay

In this city centre
In this magical mixture
And unity
Of all

Wessy 6-7-2008

*Kent: turkish, arabic: 'city'

Resistance

So many pigeon feathers
On the paths I wander
Which one really
Is destined to be mine?

I mostly pass them by
It's not a message
For me,
I bet
Not the right time
Yet

There we go again...
ME, I, MINE
Drowning in sorrow
My whole appearance
The doubt and fear
Again in one line

While the trees
Just are
Zen,
The wind is singing
And more than willing
To blow the tears away

And I resist
Crying
Picking up feathers

Why not give
It
Away

Nature, love and lightning

The spiritual walk (7th of June) was so amazing! I was brought up in that area, but there's so much to see there and feel. We detected water and leylines and felt the energy of the earth, trees and saw prana/qi in the sky (as flickering white-golden bullets; it's everywhere, just try yourself when you're somewhere in nature: look in the sky with relaxed eyes in silence, without focus. The dancing bullets will be visible then!) Some oak trees had really strong energies and it was wonderful to feel it from a distance. The guy who guided us was a very sober, funny man but on the same time very dedicated and emotional when it came up to his message, he even got tears in his eyes telling about the changes of the planet- the changing phase we are all in, 2012 etc. And he also knew so much of the plants, herbs and birds. I had good contact with him from the start. It was a special day and I was loaded with positive energy when I came out of the woods!

Now I'm going up and down, I'm very tired of intensive weekends, the job interviews- I will probably start with two new jobs in August, half as a PA of a director and half as a reintegration worker for unemployed and low-educated people. A challenge, but it also scares me to death..I have to be fit, sharp and embrace my fear to fail.. A whole of a job but I thought it would be good for me to discover what suits me, what my qualities are and I will learn so much more than I do now, working below my level, without fulfillment. How do people know when to make the right decision? Staying where you are or by trying? Or am I just torturing myself and is my Ego working here? Are people expecting too much of me? Am I expecting too much? I have moments of great confidence in all this and moments of panic, when feelings of failure overrule me already..

Last Sunday I walked home from the station in very bad weather and I got hit by the fear of being struck by lightning.. The fear of death was long gone, but so there and alive!
I am not friends with so called friend death, I want to live! and it suddenly frightened me to die suddenly because I haven't finished. At the same time I realised I have been playing with death for many years and it can be over at some point. I hope I may be healed . It's sometimes so hard being on your own but I will keep the faith somehow. Life's too precious.

Recommended: Eleven minutes- Paulo Coelho, it's all about love.
Jeff Buckley/ Antony and the Johnsons, his voice and lyrics are so beautiful! To speak of being expressive: this will make you cry or gain an inner smile!