Of course my feelings haven’t really changed since yesterday. Of course I cried over him last night and even this morning. Of course I’m not less lonely or sad. But there is a distinct difference. Yesterday the year was old and tired. Today, the year is fresh and new and stretches before me with promises and possibilities. Everything feels lighter, more spacious.
Happy New Year people. It’s here.
I am not going to look back too much on this year. Emotionally it was a roller-coaster, that crashed rather tragically a few months ago. I am hoping to leave behind most of the wreckage of that wild – and often wonderful – ride and jump into 2011, directing all love and energy to my closest friends – and myself. And the work, of course.
Business-wise, 2010 was an excellent year and I thank everyone that I worked with or talked about work with or just had fun drinks with as an excuse for work. The jobs were wonderfully varied in nature and there are so many people in my network who are brilliant, funny, smart and sometimes even all three. I am happy you want to be connected.
Thank you for reading my blog, I will strive to keep you entertained for another year. No, not educated or informed: our social networks have plenty of self-proclaimed guru’s who do that. As a freelance, I am my work, my work is my life and there will always be a mix of heart and mind in my little stories. Or perhaps I should say, a mix of Dog and iPad.
Have a good one, people. I have faith in 2011.
The Dutch government started a new national campaign: this former land of the liberals is asking its citizens to photograph or video any “criminal activity” during New Year’s Eve, so people can be arrested later on. We are being asked to spy on each other. All in the name of safety, ofcourse. The buzz word for increased rules and regulations.
Some town councils (Huizen, for example) already asked their shopkeepers to point their security cams at the streets on New Year’s Eve, because there’s more damage that night than on any other. The Dutch are into fireworks big time that night, but New Year is just an excuse. Grabbed with both hands by that Christian Democrat who proposed today that manufacturers put warning labels on bubbly wine, because us innocents may get hit by a popping cork. God knows we can’t ‘think for ourselves. Especially not in Amsterdam. No drinking outside bars allowed unless seated, no drunken boating on Queen’s Day, no loud music during the Canal Parade, no lying down in some parks (that includes lunch time snoozes), no public drinking and/or dog walking in others. Police traps for cyclists with no lights and additional fines if you can’t ID yourself. We are being watched and monitored and labeled and tagged and told what to do from cradle to grave. No wonder we have lost common sense. It is no longer required to survive. In the near future we can all expect a tattoo on the forehead right after birth, saying: “Warning. Life will kill you.”
It scares me though, all of it. We hand over liberties so easily and it’s not as if the government is looking out for us any better. The Netherlands used to look after the sick, the unfirm and the unemployed, but no longer. On the one hand we are being asked to be more independent. Health is being treated as a choice: as though we could chose how much medication we take in our lives, as though we can chose to fall ill or not. We need to be insured for everthing, becase there are no more social plans to catch us. All that wouldn’t be so bad, if on the other hand, we weren’t being belittled and treated as children. There are rules to follow and laws to abide to. We can’t just DO the stuff we want, we need to fill out paperwork first.
“We will decide what’s good for you and in return we offer eh… very little actually. But we are surprised when you have not faith in us. Because we do have your interest at heart. Really. Really really really. Promiss.”
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