Life breathes (a short story)

It is early in the morning. 

Even the sun has only just come up.

A man sits on the quay. 

To his left there is a cup of yoghurt, 

his breakfast.

To his right there is a bottle of water. 

A really big one. Behind him lies a green backpack.

A pipe dangles in the left corner of his mouth. 

The smoke makes circles over his head.

The Traveller (for that's who he is) 

clearly enjoys the fact that he is alive. 

That life breathes.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

A positive world: single use plastics

We all know Mother Nature is not too keen on plastics. It seemed a great (and cheap) material but when we started using the suff some decades ago, we ignored the long term effects. We now know there should be something we should do about the problem. Here's a possible solution:

This Biodegradable Plastic Will Actually Break Down in Your Compost

We're at the start of solving the problem and still a long way away from ridding the world of (single use) plastics but experiments are promising, although there are still some hurdles to take.

A very promising method is the 'Ocean Cleanup' project by Dutch researcher Boyan Slat:

All well and good but perhaps we should simply stop producing the stuff. From July 1st on, most European countries will take some measures under the name 'SUP Directives' in which SUP stands for 'Single Use Plastics'. 

We're not there yet but one has to start somewhere. The biggest problem is that the (oil) companies producing plastics are very powerful and sometimes seem to control entire governments.

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Is there really that much difference between social media and real life?

Maybe you 've heard them too: people who complain about social media. That 'it's all so superficial! People don't share their true feelings. You can never tell by what they post what's really going on.' True. Not all the time people tweet or post what they really think or feel. They keep their personal information...well...personal. There are simply things you only want to share with your friends, your loved ones, your dog. or your therapist.

Facebook and Twitter superficial? Yeah, right. And before Internet people were completely honest when asked 'How are you?' -'Well, to be frank I'm still not over the divorce, miss my best friend who ran off with my wife; the only friend I have left in the world - my cat - has cancer and a few months to live at most. My 15 years old daughter is pregnant. Or so she texted me from the squat where she now lives with a 27 years old junkie. My car was impounded because I couldn't pay the fines my ex had left me with, but otherwise I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for asking. Oh, and I have three days to leave my house because I can't pay the rent after I got sacked because my ex told my boss about my drinking habit. But enough about me: how are you?'

Should people show more of themselves on social media? Would you like them to? Would you like them to share their private matters in real life? What if they would? 

What I don't understand - and perhaps you can enlighten me - why people would state something very personal on social media and later complain 'now everyone knows about my personal problem!'

On social media we tend to only talk to people we are familiar with, that we know, that exist in the same 'bubble' as we do. How different is that in real life, right? Outside social media we always talk to people who politically disagree with us, believe in a (different) deity, like different music, and so on, and so on. Right?

So, tell me: what do you think are the main differences between communicating on social media and communicating in real life?

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Hungry (a poem)

It was the sound of darkness

that unlocked his soul

and allowed her to enter

without the key to his heart

Where her feet touched his base

she left sparks of light

he used as breadcrums

to find his way out of the maze

he once called life

He felt hungry

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Meditation on emotions

The other day I followed an online workshop on dealing with emotions. Here are my notes:

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Rest is not a goal. The mind will make it another place it wants to go to.

Do not compare. Not even to yourself.

Every meditation is your first meditation.

It's okay to experience clarity and confusion simultaneously.

Allow yourself to be held

It's about being alive

We are one but not the same

'Don't judge the dinosaur':

It didn't have words

I am what you are

The consciousness in me recognises the consciousness in me

Be a wave, this unique expression of the ocean. 

Don't try to purify your inner child.

Allow your grief to be.

Grieving is part of the process of awakening.

Allow your grief to be part of your healing process.

When you're living it, you're living it. You're in the moment, not 'trying to be there'.

If you have intrusive thoughts or a thought  that conflicts with an image about yourself ('I'm a very spiritual/social/interesting/loving person.') and you don't want to act on those thoughts: what you push away will gain in power. Allow all of the thoughts and all thoughts about those thoughts to be. It's okay to have loving, 'nice' thoughts. Just that it is okay to have violent, 'bad' thoughts.

Light and dark thoughts both are simply thoughts and both never healed or hurt anyone. Trying to silence our minds, however, can. A thought can say whatever it wants but you don't have to act on in, agree with it, nor fight it. Let it be in the middle of your presence.

'What can I do to get rid of this thought or feeling?' Be aware of it, let it be. Don't judge it. Don't tell it it isn't welcome. It's in your power to just let it be. You'll be disempowering it. It won't feel intrusive anymore.

A thought or a feeling is like a wave

Dalai Lama difference with Hitler: 'I don't act on all of my thoughts.' The sun shines on both good and bad.

Even 'bad' thoughts just want to feel welcome inside you. A thought could never hurt you. Just like feelings they just want to be. They're nothing but a picture your mind made. If we don't allow them to be intrusive they can not be intrusive.

Take away what you know, what you're taught to call 'emptiness', 'loneliness', 'a void'. What do you actually feel in your body? A fluttering in your belly perhaps? We disconnect from that sensation. But why? If you feel it, it can't be 'emptiness' or 'loneliness': what you feel is real and accompanied by other feelings so it's full and not lonely.

Meditation is just noticing. 'Doing things' usually is a way to avoid where you are.

Notice the restlessness, boredom, the urge for chocolate, the yearning to shout at a loved one. Be aware of the craving, stay with the discomfort. Find relief in that.

Be present, don't run. If you allow yourself not to feel trapped, you won't feel the need to escape. If you don't act upon the urge, it will lose its power.

Trying to get rid of violence is the cause. Don't suppres it, don't act upon it. Let it be.

We can't heal the world without healing ourselves. 

We can express our anger without lashing out.

Life doesn't care about our image of ourselves.

All there's left is living. Now. From moment till moment.

Surrender to grief. Grieving is just love, coming in waves.

A teacher who tells his pupils he never has negative thoughts simply expresses his fear.

Here's my favourite meditation of all time:

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You're welcome to share your thoughts

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Hottest (a short story)

He missed her and judging by the number of love letters that she sent him that feeling was mutual. 

He decided to go see her, even though she was far away. The village where she was staying couldn't be found on any map. So he steered his car in the direction of the town post-stamped onto her self-made envelopes.

No money in his pocket to pay for his way back and without caring he arrived in the vicinity of her residence. Nobody he talked to had ever heard of the hamlet she used as her return address.

The one person who should know - the mail man - had the day off on account of a national holiday that was solely celebrated locally.

In the end he decided to send her a postcard from the post office from which she sent her love letters. There he saw a car with Dutch license plates. In the car was a young lady who looked at him slightly more surprised than a little.

Until then he had always believed that jaws only dropped onto chests in cartoons. He, too, was surprised for she looked a very great deal like his love.

That night the fire in his heart and that in his loins fought which could burn hottest.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

World of animals

Every animal is unique. Unfortunately lots of species have gone extinct. From different causes: harsh weather conditions, a giant rock from outer space, human interference...We humans wil go extinct too.

Thanks to our unique skillset it is most likely we will go extinct because of our own wrongdoings. 

Speaking of unique skillset: ever seen a bunny nót do 'the bunny hop' but this?

This kind of rabbit is called Sauteur D'Alfort. I never would have guessed.

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Boyfriend (a short story)

'I'm late', she told him over the phone. 'Oops!', he thought, in a slight panic. 

He found himself back in caring-mode: 'Should it ever come to that, I should like you to keep the child and I'd do my best to be a good father. But whichever decision you make, I'll back...' 'That's all very well,' she interrupted him brusquely, 'but how do I tell my girlfriend?'

'Oops!' he thought, in a slight panic, for the second time that night. He didn't have a clue what else to say and he told her so. Soon after, she broke off the conversation, clearly disappointed, leaving him with a multitude of questions.

The last time he heard about her, he learnt that she was a man now and he shivered at the thought there might be a man somewhere in this country who could be the mother of one of his children...

The day after said phone conversation he resolved to ask any lady with whom he was about to take the mutual affection to the level of a somewhat sweaty physical activity, whether she did or did not have a partner. Where before the question sufficed: 'Do you have a boyfriend?' 

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Ancient mysteries

Why do we call a clue 'a clue'? Where does the word come from? What does it mean and what has ancient Greece to do with it? Are you sitting down? Here's the answer to that mystery:

Little fun fact pic.twitter.com/KsIAO6N0z5

— achtDaan🎢 (@Daan_kr) June 3, 2021

Here's a fun YouTube list on Ancient Mysteries. Including a few episodes of the series hosted by Leonard Nimoy and a von Däniken classic!

Here's a valiant attempt at solving an ancient mystery that might help mankind. And I do mean 'man'kind:

How does a woman's brain work?

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon