I was once naive

I have always loved life here on earth.

All the exciting things to explore, all the beautiful thing to see.

I have always thought the best of other people. I have always trusted their intentions.

As I grew older, I recognized that life also seemed to be a struggle. Everybody had to work hard and do their best. It seemed nothing came easy. And no, not everybody had good intentions!

I was born in 1971, and the 80’s were the years I became a teenager. I remember the atmosphere well. We still had the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, high unemployment rates, and even higher interest rates.

The world was also a bleak place, it turned out. But I had my great love for all kinds of music. I fell in love with the then brand new rap music. I also adored Duran Duran and the whole New Romantic scene. They were all about beauty, style and melancholy.

I discovered another passion; basketball. Yeah, I remember well what the score was after my first game; we lost by a 100 + point difference. After that, things started to get better.

I had my big imagination always with me. One day I would be playing ball for a college and after that I would make it big in the NBA. Oh yeah, Michael Jordan was all I could think of. Of course I had to wear his shoes. I remember well how long it took to earn enough money to buy a pair.

Somehow I also had to do my best at school. Things didn’t went well. I just couldn’t and wouldn’t adjust to this schooling system. I understood well that I had to play this game but I resisted.

I didn’t want to become all serious about life and play along with the game everybody played. I didn’t wanted to work hard just because everybody did so, I felt alone in that. Everybody just seemed to know where they were heading. I hadn’t a clue. I just wanted to play, and enjoy life. O, how naive I was. And still am really!

Flash forward to the present. I navigated life well eventually. Me and my wife are together for almost 17 years now and I am grateful that I have met her. We married in 2010.

Us

We grew together and became more and more ourselves. We did well for ourselves so that we could live a free live where we can do and create whatever we want. We live in a beautiful old redecorated farmhouse near a river behind the typical Dutch dykes. We have built a separate studio near the house where I do a lot of my creative work.

It seems that I have lost enough naivety because apparently I was able to navigate life well enough.

I am grateful for where I am in life. I lost a little bit of my naivety, but rest assured for the better part I am still this naive boy that just wants to play, and follow his own rhythm.