The delight of laying down at the beach, reading that thick historical novel or sitting beside the pool with that juicy romance might be very different this time around or not possible. You might need that book to transport you, to take you to the places that you cannot visit right now.

It can be perilous to make a recommendation.  You say to someone “This is one of my favourite books!” or “This is a great book!” or “You should read this one!” and they read it and they hate it.

Have they judged you, as well as the book?

Poetry can touch you, make you wonder, consider, reconsider challenging - controversial - issues. I would argue it can ‘get inside of you’ like no news article can.

Ken je dat gevoel dat je je bevindt op een kruispunt? Je staat voor een dilemma en moet een belangrijke beslissing nemen. Dit kan op het werk zijn, maar ook in een privésituatie. Je wilt ‘doorgaan’. Herken je daarbij de neiging die beslissing eerder te snel te nemen? Vast. We doen het allemaal.

Do you know that feeling of finding yourself at a crossroads? You are faced with a dilemma and need to make an important decision. This could be at work, could be in a private situation. You want to ‘get on with it’. Do you recognise a need to take that decision rather too quickly? I am pretty sure you do. We all go through the motions sometimes.

Book covers are essential. A lot of thought goes into designing a cover before it reaches the bookstores. Does a cover always portray what is written on the inside?

I’ve been thinking about the body. We all have one. And the Covid-19 pandemic exposes us to this truth: no matter our knowledge economy, no matter our technologies and trinkets, no matter our insights and strategies, in the end we are but frail flesh.

Is it possible for a ‘head’ thing properly to capture embodiment? Examples in fiction seem few and far between. Two, however, jumped at me from the shelf, and spoke to each other as well as to me.

So, what are you currently reading?

What will change? Nobody knows. Balancing between dark and light. It is not predetermined. The choices are ours.

Wat zal veranderen? Niemand weet het. Balanceren tussen donker en licht. Het creëren van onze toekomst ligt in onze eigen handen. Het is niet vooraf bepaald. De keuzes zijn aan ons.

I find myself intrigued by the fiction that is yet-to-come. If stories are part of our coping strategies, what stories are currently evolving that will in the years ahead help us to understand what is happening to us now?

Good Friday to you. In many cultures and countries around the world Easter celebrations have begun, in alternative ways, for sure.

...until Lanny disappears.
Like us, but of course in a very different way, the family’s life is uprooted, the routine that gave their life substance and belonging disappears.

Let us be ready to imagine our different future. Dream about ‘what might be’. It would only be so human to fall back to our default way of working and living. Let’s hope that the books we read now, the games we play, the movies we watch, the online gatherings we experience, entice us to a new life ahead.

And in these troubled times, is it not more important than ever that we try to understand what the lives of others might be like?  Rather than read a research paper, or a technical report or a policy briefing, perhaps it might be better to read a novel. #FictionFriday

It’s #FictionFriday. If you are home bound this weekend, you can still sense other worlds through novels such as this one. Joyful reading!

Change, we want to deal with it. Preferably with limited implications. We say we will 'manage' it. What does that really mean? If it does not hurt, will the change ultimately produce progress?

Verandering, we willen het wel aangaan. Liever niet te veel consequenties. We zeggen dat we het ‘managen’. Wat betekent dat? Als het geen pijn doet, levert de verandering dan uiteindelijk wel echt iets (nieuws) op?

‘Eli is at the kitchen table, trying all his markers one by one to see which will still work. According to the current trajectory, New York City will begin to experience dramatic, life-altering temperatures by 2047.’

Not knowing where you are heading can be a very powerful concept.

Written for the occasion of the

International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust 

27th January 2020

We remember

“Practise, practise, practise!” My teacher is convinced that based on our years of experience and through our own inspiration, ongoing exercise will lead to us developing our own style and our own practice.

Fabulous invitation, a little scary too.

“Oefenen, veel oefenen, zegt mijn leraar, zodat je op basis van al je ervaring en je eigen inspiratie je eigen stijl verder ontwikkelt. Gebruik je eigenwijze kracht!”

Prachtige uitnodiging, maar ook best eng.

It’s the season to relax, spend time with loved ones and devote time to what makes life so beautiful. It’s that time to share suggestions of what to read. We thought you should definitely read the following five books:

Whilst policy makers, business representatives, world leaders, activists, journalists and many more had gathered in Madrid for the UN’s annual two-week climate summit – COP25 – a group of engaged communication professionals met on the 4th of December at the annual EACD (European Association of Communication Directors) Forum in Geneva. This year’s theme was ‘Communications in the light of the SDGs’. Very apt.

What is language to you? Do you live, work, dream in one, two, or even more languages? Is it important to you?