The two common 'red' threads in my life are curiosity and coincidence. Above all, there is an extreme amount of coincidence. This can be divided into happy coincidence, but unfortunately also into very unhappy coincidence. The latter is sometimes quite disruptive to the point of being sickening, but under the motto 'the persistent alias researcher wins', I have often seen a nasty situation turn 180 degrees into a happy coincidence. From this I tend to draw the conclusion that happiness and unhappiness may be not so different after all. This is something what might seem like a new idea now, but which will probably be commonplace in the not too distant future.

Often I have been asked to write a book about all the bizarre events in my life, but that will probably never happen. Not because I don't feel like it or I won't take time for it, but all the craziness just keeps continuing. Moreover, one is even more hilarious than the other and, every now and then, it is also strangely coincidentally intertwined, so where should I start? Anyway, the blog is patient, so who knows, maybe all the stories will end up there eventually.

Since the day I was born I had a very special upbringing. This upbringing, given to the best of knowledge, conscience and ability by my parents, caused me to start thinking about topics such as identity formation and meaningful issues at a very young age. My mother in particular often referred to a book by Spock (1950, see image). In her perception, it stated exactly how a mother could raise her children best: with peace, cleanliness and regularity. (The famous three R's in Dutch: rust, reinheid en regelmaat.)

The fixed rhythm of the day gave me plenty of time to investigate even the smallest details.

The very first discovery I experienced as a very small child. Lying in the grass, I looked at the outline of my hand against the sky. I realized in amazement that that hand is mine and that I am the one who moves it simply by wanting it. 

The most hilarious discovery was undoubtedly that I managed, as a nine-year-old, to empty the toilet cistern without hands by creating a pressure difference between the bowl and the water tank.

Curiosity remained. After fundamental biochemical research in the field of cancer and rheumatism, alternating with motherhood and jobs in the field of empowerment and relationships & sexuality, I have been working as a humanist, ethical and worldview education teacher in secondary education since 2006, after which I became a theologian, among other things. In addition, I like to continue to delve into different (major, but also individual) philosophies of life.

The unintended result of 'the misunderstood Spock' was that I acted like a traumatized monkey out of the revealing so called love experiment by Harry Harlow for a long time. I learned to live with it, but I realized only at the age of 30 that I had not completely done with it. When I gave a Technika 10 lesson to 10-12 year old girls, a slightly bigger girl spontaneously leaned against me during the explanation and accidentally called me mom. I was truly speechless. So this is how relaxed and uncomplicated mother and child could behave! That was a great relief since at that time I was pregnant for the first time: everything might turn out fine!

And it turned out fine, we all believe. So fine, in fact, that in the summer of 2018, in a place where no-one-but-one really wanted to be, we took a good look at each other and listened. From that moment on, we see each other less as a family and more as five individuals who love being together because it is very nice, but who at the same time encourage each other to take enough distance to develop further. And if we might forget about that moment, RTV Noord 'coincidentally' recorded and broadcasted it.