Of dunes and mermaids

May 14, 2018May 13, 2018 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

Most days I love to take a walk by just heading into my neighbourhood of Amsterdam Zuid and roaming my usual paths. However weekends offer more time to get out of the city for day-trips a little further afield. This weekend for instance we took the train to Castricum station and went for a walk in the Noordhollands Duinreservaat, a place we regularly return to with great pleasure.

I like the fact that the landscape changes a lot as you go along. The first part is in the shade of the trees with bluebells lining the path. Then when coming out of the woods, you find yourself in the flat, sandy landscape, peppered with windswept bushes of all different types creating beautiful colour contrasts, and lakes on which birds gather and play.

After following the winding path, you end up at the final steep dunes which hide the North sea. I love this colour palette of beige and grey sand, dry dune grasses and blue sky with passing white clouds. We took a long walk along the beach, enjoying the sea breeze and the sound of the waves… Paolo exchanged a few words with a fisherman casting his rod from the beach, who when asked what he was trying to catch, answered “Platvis… en zeemeerminnen natuurlik” (Flatfish… and mermaids of course!).

Small jungles

April 16, 2018April 29, 2018 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

Exploring a botanic garden is a great way to travel without needing to go too far. It’s the possibility of stepping into totally different worlds just a short bike ride away.

These days we are slowly entering spring but it is still chilly outside, I particularly enjoy ducking into the warm green-houses, small jungles with a different climate to explore in all safety. Hundreds of species inhabiting the very tight space, the plants so densely packed together and overflowing on the path that they brush you as you enter their world, the air is saturated with humidity, drops falling from the ceiling and settling delicately into the creases of the leaves. So much exotic beauty brought to our doorstep.

Healing walks on the beach

March 9, 2018March 10, 2018 / cultivatingjoy / 2 Comments

JOYFUL GRATITUDE #69

In Brighton, we enjoyed long walks along the beach, each step keeping us firmly in the present with the crunch of the pebbles, the cold sea wind on our cheeks, the waves crashing over and over again on the shore… We looked for pretty stones until our pockets bulged with their imperfect shapes and their fascinating greys, oranges and blues. After a cloudy day, the sun came out, illuminating the abandoned pier with its last rays. It was good to be reminded how deeply healing being by the beach, no matter the season.

Finding peaceful moments in a busy day

March 5, 2018February 28, 2018 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

Woke up last Wednesday to find it was snowing! The streets were beautiful and so quiet, with the snow padding every sound. Instead of rushing to work like I normally do, I took my time and walked one stop further to catch the tram in order to have a peaceful moment before my busy day in the office.

On my way home I did the same. Despite the freezing wind, I got off the tram and went for a quick walk in my neighbourhood, watching the sunset with its warm colours overtaking the sky. I’m feeling deeply grateful for these moments appreciating nature’s beauty.

Beautiful imperfections

November 27, 2017November 26, 2017 / cultivatingjoy / 2 Comments

When was the last time you really looked closely at what is around you? Most of the time I am completely on auto-pilot, rushing to and from work, completely stuck in my head thinking about all the things I need to do or annoyed at the rain pouring down…

On Saturday morning, I took the opportunity of a ray of sunshine to go for a walk in the neighbourhood and consciously really looked at buildings, bikes, dogs, plants as I passed them. I started to notice tiny details. As autumn comes to an end, some plants are valiantly holding on to their last threads of life.

I was so happy to observe the plants on my way and focus on the beauty in their imperfections: slightly bruised and fading petals, leaves drying into brilliant reds, gorgeous lace-like patterns… It is the perfect trick for getting out of my whirling thoughts and truly being in the moment:)

Enjoying Autumn

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

I’m just back from a blissful weekend visiting my family in France. Three days of intense chatting and laughing over cups of tea, baking (and then devouring) cakes shamelessly full of butter and sugar, celebrating milestones over delicious Lebanese food and sipping champagne, and generally just enjoying spending precious time together:)

I snuck out for a few hours on Saturday for a walk in the forest by myself. The colours of the trees were soooo beautiful (these pictures taken with my phone don’t do justice to their splendour at all), it was breathtaking! As I walked, it was like my senses were waking up from indoor life… I enjoyed seeing little birds flying from one branch to another and singing nearby, treading along on the muddy path and the smell the fallen leaves slowly decomposing at the feet of gorgeous trees was wonderful. It was the perfect environment for some quiet time to process my thoughts:)

Sunday bike ride

October 30, 2017October 29, 2017 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

I’ve been craving nature recently, wanting to hear branches of large trees swaying in the wind and to smell the rich odors of humid leaves on the forest floor. At the same time, my energy levels felt low and the thought of catching a train all the way to a place where we could hike just didn’t appeal to me. So we found an in-between solution, closer to home.

Paolo and I simply wrapped up warmly and headed off on our bikes with no clear direction in mind. After a few random raindrops, the sun came out in earnest as we pedalled away, turning arbitrarily right or left, along roads we’d never been on. It was windy and for most of the ride we could hear the noisy highway, but it was still really lovely to get some fresh air, watch birds on the lake and look at the gorgeous autumn colours:)

Impressions of Prague

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 / cultivatingjoy / Leave a comment

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the magical streets of Prague. The Laver Cup was great. The two tennis matches we saw were full of suspense, keeping us on the edge of our seats the whole time.

I love the colours of houses with their light yellow, copper green and orange, as well as the beautiful facades and pointy towers.

Armed with the USE-IT map of Prague and many great tips from my friend Eva, we enjoyed exploring different areas of the city. I especially liked spending time in the local cafés trying their amazing selections of delicious cakes and soaking up the atmosphere. Three days was way too short, there are still so many things we didn’t have time to see (and so many cakes we have yet to try), so we’ll have to go back:)

Solar system

June 26, 2017June 25, 2017 / cultivatingjoy / 1 Comment

I love making collages. I’ve been making them since I was a teenager. When I am looking through magazines to find images and words that catch my eye and combine them, I feel totally in the flow. I’m a very visual person and looking at beautiful pictures, intriguing forms and varied colours feed my creative well.

Recently we created a new game we call ‘collage challenge’, where Paolo chooses a theme and I have 30 minutes to peruse my stock of already-very-cut-up magazines and make a collage (loosely) related to that theme.

It’s a good exercise for several reasons. The fact that Paolo chooses the theme means I have to get out of my comfort zone, look at images from a different point of view and be creative. Also the time constraint is extremely efficient for shutting out my inner critic and getting something on paper.

This time the theme was Solar System. Not an easy one when most of the magazines are travel magazines… but I decided to keep an open mind and above you can see the result. I particularly like the shisha-smoking caterhuman reflecting on the origin of the Universe:)

More botanic beauty

June 5, 2017June 15, 2018 / cultivatingjoy / 3 Comments

Recently I found out that there is another botanical garden in Amsterdam and it’s less than a 10 minute bike away from my flat! So on one of my free Friday afternoons, in between 2 rain showers, I decided to go and check it out.

It’s free and you can just walk in, while volunteers mill around doing their thing. It’s a lovely place to relax and you don’t feel at all like you are close to the busy Zuidas.

The collection of succulents and cacti both in and around the glasshouses is spectacular, with hundreds of different species in every single available space.

Observing all the different plants, with their details and colours was a real pleasure as usual. There were very few visitors so I was undisturbed as I got in close to photograph the details. I think I’ll be heading back there soon for some more inspiration:)

Check out Botanic Garden Zuidas for the opening times (it’s near the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam Zuid).