After reading Quiet I got a better understanding of what behavior is related to having an introvert pre-disposition. That was helpful. Including the insight that introvert doesn’t necessarily mean anti-social.

Now I start to question that my relative introversion is indeed a pre-disposition as is often generally assumed. I have come to realize that it might very well be another coping mechanism instead. This increasing awareness is a nice starting point for dissolving this condition that when active partly disconnects me from reality in order to be able process that same reality.

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To get a better understanding of what mourning (or grieving) is and to get some guidance on behavior that is helpful in the process I am following the course ‘Verlies en Rouw Begeleiding’ at the Sociale Academie Utrecht. Redefining the optimal outcome of a mourning process was already helpful for me:

Being able to go on with a positive mindset whilst staying aware of what is lost.

My interest for this topic is fourfold:

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Back from my 3rd round of Vipassana meditation in Kanchanaburi (border Thailand / Myanmar) as taught by S. Goenka. After again 80 hrs of hard core meditation I finally start internalising the essence of this concept. As always I prove to be a slow, but also persistent, student…

Main focus of Vipassana is a clear awareness of bodily sensations as experienced from moment to moment in combination with a calm and equanimous mind. Observing the reality as it is, pleasant or unpleasant, without any craving or aversion (which is easier said than done). Thus creating a basis for wholesome action instead of an ongoing pattern of pre-conditioned reactions.

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My interest in regenerative agriculture (food production) started around 2010. Many have inspired my journey since but somehow I missed one of the first contemporary advocates of ‘natural farming’ as he calls it: Masanobu Fukuoka.

After many years of careful observation he has managed to develop a regenerative agriculture system that consistently yields rich crops whilst enriching the soil. He farms within the following 4 basic principles:

1. No plowing or tilling
2. No prepared fertilizers or even composting
3. Minimal weed suppression
4. No pesticides or herbicides

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26 years after starting QOL finally considering to launch the initiative (that was there all along but) I was not yet ready for during all these years. Until now… probably. Green bean is just a working title and the purpose below will iterate many times going forward:

‘To enable the experience of an increased sense of well-being for all from 18 to 30’

As I just turned 62 myself it is clear that my role will focus around holding the space for this initiative to unfold through the inspired hands, hearts and minds of this generation. Main reason to publish this at this early stage is to allow those drawn to this purpose to connect and be part of this project.

After writing this post I have been approached by a thought fellow to investigate this topic together. Also came across a podcast with Arne Popma a psychiatrist focused on youth who shares my line of thinking.

For a more ‘blue’ approach to well-being I like the holistic IPH (Institute for Positive Health) model (or one of the many variants on this angle). It integrates six components that are often looked at in isolation but are much more powerful when observed in combination: bodily function, mental well-being, meaningfulness, quality of life (narrow version), participation and daily functioning and offers a questionnaire to asses our current state on these axes.

The vast majority of the initiatives I’m involved in are somehow part of this well-being ecosystem. Reason for me to make this more explicit at this point in time is threefold:

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I sense that the phase of further integration (99% to 100%…) of past insights I have been in for a number of months is now coming to an end, thereby creating space for new insights to show themselves.

Some one-liner insights from workshop with Stephan Hausner on the art of facilitation of (family) constellations, organized bij Hellinger Instituut. Maybe a bit cryptic but it seems to come down to what we intrinsically know but is hard to integrate fully (100%): presence and holding space.

1. resistance means living in past or the future
2. limit yourself to creating and holding space
3. closing means excluding means giving power to what limits
4. be aware of limitations of the unlived potential of your parent(s)
5. siblings almost never have issues together, look for entanglements upwards
6. every encounter is about (re)balancing
7. sometimes more is needed than the container can hold at that moment
8. loyalty (towards parents) is often what stands in the way of presence
9. embrace interventions that ‘open or widen’, resits interventions that ‘close or limit’
10. presence is the greatest gift a facilitator (or anybody for that matter) can give

Throughout the day I receive small pointers. Small but clear invitations to pause and reconnect to a more wholesome basis and start again from there.

Ao when I become aware of …

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Growing diversity of fruit trees from peach, to almond, to kiwi and more.
For an overview see:

Our ability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances and to feel whole even when perspectives are unclear is being challenged at deepening levels. Meanwhile my Chabot chickens are laying their eggs, seemingly undisturbed.

Update green rooftop experiment, Q3 2021, foto by Ruben Visser
For a broader overview of the whole project see: Orga

3 day workshop on development of skills and energy around building wholesome organizations based on a long history of trial and error of Aart den Hartog & myself. See detail of first edition starting Q1 2022 (11/3, 1/4 and 22/4).

Bearded Vulture (or Lammergier),
wingspan up to 2.80, spotted on November 18, 2021.

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Completed training in facilitation of Family Constellations and grateful for all the valuable insights in the impact of (family) systems on our behavior. Wish I would have understood some of this earlier…

Thank you Yvonne Lonis for guiding us through this with so much care and love. And also for choosing Westbroek for this program, for helping to load this place with wholesome energy and for contributing to its connection with the ‘field’.