Sunday scribbles #36: Love at first sight.

Summer 2002: I was a little boy of ten years old when I went on a holiday to visit our family in Greece, with my two year older brother. This was quite an adventure at the time: our first time travelling without our parents. Not that I don't love our parents, but boy was this awesome. Unaccompanied minors, how children travelling alone are called, are treated like royalty if you ask me. Although the trip itself was already beyond awesome, this wasn't even the best part of these holidays. Which is a big statement, cause travelling alone as two kids, did feel like a major accomplishment in our lives back then. We were all grown up now! No, the best part happened at one of my favorite beaches called Pelion Potistika beach, or as we say: Xinovrisi, being the municipality of Argalasti. For anyone who isn't familiar with the area, I strongly advise you to look it up and enjoy its beauty.

Source: Potistika Beach – VolosPelion it's true! (volosinfo.gr)

As it usually goes on family vacations, we headed over to that beach with our family and their friends. After an hour of driving through the magnificent mountain of Pelion, my family and I arrived at the beach where it all started: my first crush, or at least the one I can remember the most clearly to this day. Our Greek family are in-laws. My mothers sister married a Greek man, which is why that part of my family over there is somewhat limited. Unfortunately I don't have Greek blood in me, physically though. Mentally I am 100% sure I adopted a part of the Greek culture in me. For this specific trip, we were accompanied by a dear friend of my aunt. A woman who's actually the reason my aunte met her, then future, husband way back. Now this on itself isn't very mind-blowing since she often comes along, but that day she brought along her children. That's just how it goes. The saying 'the more the merrier' is something you encounter almost every day in Greece. The love story, at least for me, starts with her son, and more specifically: his girlfriend. I will never forget that moment I saw her. It was as if the heavens had sent an angel on my path: Cleopatra, she was called.

Oh, she was breathtakingly gorgeous. I had never seen her before, and I had never experienced this feeling, but I was head over heels in love. A little shy boy, about ten years old, had a crush on a woman who was twice his age, had a boyfriend, and lived thousands of miles from his home town. This wasn't exactly ideal, but that didn't matter. I didn't have any intentions either, because at that age you don't think about any of that. I was in love, and that was all that mattered. Even in the photo album that my mom made after this first trip as a UM passenger (remember: unaccompanied minor), I literally wrote the following in Dutch: “Mom, dad, thank you for letting us go to Greece. I have found my true love!”.

That is the feeling I want to convey with my work Coup de foudre. Not necessarily love at first sight, but above all else: selfless or even childish infatuation. Love that you don't think about. Love that is suddenly just there, and fills you with the sole feeling of joy and excitement. We're all getting older, we can't stop that. But we can ensure that we stay young. Let go of your thoughts for a moment, and enjoy the moment as if you were struck by lightning with a feeling of love. Love for a person, a place, a moment... anything. The work depicts a boy and a girl, opposite in an open dimension. They float in infinity, because when you experience this feeling, you notice that it is limitless.

I would like to invite you not only to look at this piece, but also to allow yourself to experience this indescribable feeling of love.

Have you experienced this yet? Feel free to return to that moment.

Are you currently experiencing this? Consciously enjoy it to the fullest.

Have you not experienced this yet? Be open to it, and let it in when it presents itself.

P.S. This one is now on display the the public spa my wife and I try to go to once every month. Also the place where I asked her to marry me. A very special place to us, with the most kind owners you can imagine. Thank you for all the nice moments so far, and to come.