+31624543835 info@marchaverhaeg.nl
Selecteer een pagina

Reading time: 2 minutes.

Some thoughts about different things I’d like to share here:

Just another day in paradise. Paradise can be everywhere, if you are open to your surroundings and fully experience it. But what makes it a paradise? The surroundings? The people? Both? Do I want to be here because I experience paradise or is it because of my friends that live here? It’s almost as if you would have to call this place home, because everyone is so enthusiastic about it, you cannot nót be. But where do I actually feel at home? I’m fooling myself if I’d say that this is home. It is kind of something like home, but as I said before, home is still in the Netherlands. And that is a nice feeling. Where is your home? Or is it enough for you to feel at home inside yourself, regardless of where you are? 

I was several days in another beautiful paradise on this island, together with a friend. The place is normally used as a retreat center. Beautiful nature, animals (lots of birds and butterflies), nothing to do and no one around, just meditating, swimming in the lake and in the pool, laying in the hammock, cooking, enjoying the sun and having some nice conversations. 

One of these days in paradise the heavy rainfall woke us up. It started in the night and it was pouring down for hours. Something that doesn’t happen often in dry season. I got out of my bed and on my way to the bathroom I stepped onto a wet floor. Turning on the light I saw a leak from the ceiling. A while later there was another small leak in the room. Then, when I was finished on the toilet, I discovered it wasn’t flushing anymore, oops. Also the lights were down. But all good; to have no running water and no electricity is something we’re used to every once in a while. You just adapt and wait. Relax and observe the rain. Around noon the electricity came back and we could get water at the neighbours, for doing the dishes, drinking, flushing the toilet, making tea and food. Late afternoon it cleared up and I swam in the lake whilst watching the sunset. Paradise. 

In this paradise I made pancakes with fresh goat milk, eggs from chicken that walk, local bananas and oats (from the store). On top I put some local honey, cacao beans and more banana. It was delicious. 

So if you know how and where to get the good stuff, you can live quite healthy here. There’s still real food from nature, like raw milk from cows and goats that live here, honey that comes from bees who live on the volcano, picking fruit from the many trees that are here, eggs from the chicken that jump around the houses and finding fresh herbs to make tea or to cook. 

What is love? What does it mean?

Today I fell in love, with life, the universe, a person; I had this strong feeling of being ‘in love’, flowing through me, because I didn’t suppress it anymore. It was such an amazing feeling, which made me see the world more bright and colorful.

Unconditional love is our true essence. Should we pursue this? How can you feel this? Do we need all these spiritual activities and ceremonies to try to get somewhere? Reach something? Find something that’s already inside us? I believe the art is in ‘not doing’, detaching, observing. And it will come to you. Live with awareness. 

I am realizing that I was caught up in conditional love: I felt worthed because other people want something from me. It makes me feel stressed in the end and further away from myself, because I was depending too much on other people. Self love is a never ending process. 

What do you do on a daily basis to feel self love?

Update:

  • This afternoon I’ll be giving a 2-hour embodiment workshop, in Spanish, for a local women’s group I used to volunteer with 6 years ago. I’m very excited for this opportunity and I can’t wait.
  • This coming Wednesday I’ll be flying to Corn Island, on the Caribbean east coast in Nicaragua. I’ll be spending one week on a bounty island, where I’ll be renting a little cabin right on the beach. What more can I wish for? Here I had great times with friends and family and there I will be alone, meeting new people, relaxing, snorkeling, diving, swimming, etc.
    I have now a little bit less than 2 weeks to go on my trip.

Not sure I’ll be able to write once I’m on this tiny, car-less, bounty island (are you jealous yet 😉 )