A Sandy Sunday walk

Many greetings from a sunny and frozen Amsterdam. I have been thinking of you and I wanted to write sooner, but the time was flying and I had other things and missions to do during the last two weeks. This morning is a beautiful one and I will send you some of this positive feeling by showing you some sunday pictures from the beach.

A view from the dunes to Bloemendaal beach

My daughter walking with the stick she found. 

The sun was shining every now and then through the clouds. The atmosphere was surreal.

So many mussels at the beach.

My children like to draw at the beach. Reminded of my own childhood.

A good outdoor walk makes me think more about life. I was smiling and happy seeing so many families having a sunday walk and people being sporty, taking care of themselves. There was no stress to be seen and the wind was like cleaning the mind and airing the brain!

There were many surfers of Sunday. It was lovely to watch even the waves are not so high in Holland.

One thing that I was thinking on my walk:

I went to a Marilyn Monroe exhibition one week ago. This "90 years of Ms.Monroe", showing the collection of personal belongings of this female icon, is making the story of her life somehow understandable in the context of the time she lived in and taking concern of her personal background. The transformation of Norma Jean into Marilyn Monroe is interesting. She had a difficult childhood and she was living in foster homes, because her mother had mental issues and the father was not in her life. She seemed to have a very big need to be accepted, respected and seen. She wanted to become a big movie star and she did it. We see in many ways a ready final product of this charming, blond, seductive actor and make our judgements based on that. The exhibition made me understand that she was not stupid, she worked hard, had many talents and she knew what she wanted and how to use her feminine powers to achieve things. At the same time she went too far I think, and could not be really happy in the end. The image and the icon she was, seemed to be partly made in the cost of her real personality. Maybe that was the only way that time for a lady like her and her background to reach the goal and get the attention. She had the charisma and she had more personal ambition than is seen in the movies and the roles she played. "I do not mind to live in a mens world if I can be a woman in it" is one of the famous expressions of her. At the same time she was crossing some lines and breaking some rules of the feminine roles in the conservative decades. But also using the typical, vamp and the innocent neighbourhood girly appearance to get famous. The sad, mysterious end of her life either a suicide or a murder... goes in a way back to the tragedy of her childhood. 

I have been thinking the femininity and masculinity since I saw this exhibition. How the differences in these natural powers are effecting our lives and how these qualities are both in us, different amounts and melted, mixed...like a the most raw, sensual, vulnerable and deepest qualities in our humanity.   

I think the natural way we are and excist is the most important thing in us to be protected. I just wanted to point this out, because it seems sometimes to be forgotten that we are part of the natural world too and we have to protect and respect ourselves and other people. The social media today seems to be a format for many people to reach out, get the attention, try to get famous and get some feedback from strangers. You can find some support and maybe even real friend there, good people exist :-), but I hope no one does this on a cost of the self respect and the real beauty in us. 

The childhood is an important part of our life. There we have the space to learn and experiment our drives and interests if we are lucky. We get to know our basic self and find our strengths in a supportive environment. Even a difficult childhood gives us a lesson, but can block our creativity and freedom in many ways. But still working on yourself, finding your unique way of life and finding your talents is possible at every age. Letting go of the old patterns and making a change can give a new chances in life.  I feel good, because I know my children are happy and I hope they will also stay good friends as adults.

The circle of life or a straight path of life --- depending on how we want to see it. I see it in both ways: going further to the unknown horizon, maybe having some important stops on our way and  at the same time our life is like circles. We are returning back to the centre of the spiral, collecting the energy from there and following the circle, reaching longer with our personal spiral. I think we always have the opportunity to find back to our original, pure spirit and we have to do this going back every now and then. Strengthening the roots of our existence is feeding the growth of our mind and personality.