Meditations

It was luck that brought me here, even though I am not sure whether luck is something I belief in. Still, I was lucky enough to end up at the place that will be my home for just a few more days. There were two parts of this luck.

Firstly, the way I came to this place. My parents live not too far from where I have enjoyed my academic education, so at first I still lived with them, commuting to the university by bus each day. Naturally, after a while this got tiresome, especially because the last bus back went at a time way before the end of an average party, so at a certain moment I decided to look for a place for myself. Only days after that decision I once again sat in the bus to a party and it happened to be that another invitee, a fellow student and friend, also took that bus. We started talking and during that discussion we came to my recently made up plan. This turned out to be more than just small talk, because later on, at the very same party, she called me to her and let me know that another attendee of the party lived in a student house where very soon a room would become available. One thing led to another and my life in the Badstratenbuurt had begun.

This was the second aspect of the luck: the great location. The neighborhood consists of only a few streets, concentrated around an old bath house, is filled with picturesque houses and the population is a mix of students, families and elders, giving it a great atmosphere. Now you may think there would be some sort of compromise to balance nature, a yang like a tiny living area. Wrong. The space I had was plenty, especially for a simple student and even more so when I transfered to the largest room in the house, where I have lived the last 4 years. I never found a better response than 'exactly' to the expression of surprise by new visitors: 'wow, this room is big'.

Usually I don't get very attached to a certain place, a home is a home is a home just like the next one, but I think I will miss this place and will often look back on my time here with joy. The most important events of my life so far have their base and left their traces here. Important people in my life have visited here, spent days here or even lived here. During the packing and cleaning I stumble upon and go through many memorabilia connected to these events and people, which is one of the more rewarding aspects of the moving process. Also I try to soak up as much of the neighborhood as possible when walking around. For instance literally in the form of the fumes coming from the tobacco plant around the corner which fills the air with its sometimes pungent but strongly habituating fumes, but also by observing the views and the people.

Most notably, there is my neighbor, the 85 year old man whose name I never learned, but who has entertained me with his stories about for instance his 105 years old mother who still lived with him only a few years ago. Every time I see him I know I will be occupied for at least the next 30 minutes, learning trivial things about neighbors I have never heard of, but also learning from his wise words about his many life experiences. These put the events in my own short life into perspective and make me look forward to the rest of it. He reminds me also of my grandma, who has been going strong and enjoying life for so long, but of who we learned today that now she is admitted to the hospital. I already planned a last visit to her before I go to England, but this new premise will probably make it less joyful.

All in all I have a great time to look back upon, which could make one sad and homesick. However, I would rather use it as an inspiration for the future, to drive me to have a time at least as great in any upcoming part of my life. There is no point in looking back to the past with melancholy or look to the future with despair. A person cannot lose what has already been, neither what is yet to be, but only this very moment.