Fun & Famous
PEOPLE WHO FLASH WITH THE DALAI LAMA AND DEEPAK CHOPRA
May something happen
Honestly, I throw in a quote every day as well. In the category ‘from friction comes shine’ and: ‘when one door closes, another opens’. That kind of thing. I also really love wise sentences. A few words that carry a lifetime of wisdom.
When my internship in Singapore ended (indeed, seventy years ago), my dearest colleague Jesse, with whom I had spent eighteen hours a day for half a year, wrote this in the farewell book that was made for him: ‘In order to discover new oceans one first has to lose sight of the shore.’ I found it beautiful. And I have another one. ‘What if I fall? But darling, what if you fly?’ Oh yes, and this one: ‘Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.’
The moral of this story: quotes and wise words, I have a thing for them. Honestly. But I think they are not always used well. For example, when they are sold on a foam board in a home store (Renske has trouble with that too, read here for a moment). No matter how beautiful the words are, I find it immediately hopeless. Because the words are too beautiful to be sold in tenfold. I want the sentence to be just for me and not to be included in mass production.
“I should have known, suddenly he quoted ‘his great example’ the Dalai Lama”
Then there is the phenomenon of people who have such a sentence as a WhatsApp tagline. Or at the bottom of their email signature (read here by the way about the stupidest email signatures in general). Then you are a bit lamenting about that dinner you really don’t want to go to/the babysitter canceled/the bulk waste you thought you had ordered suddenly isn’t picked up and then you get such a life quote thrown at you. And the same one every time. Undoubtedly well-intended with the idea of giving their recipient something, but when I’m in an email exchange, I’m even done with Deepak Chopra.
There are also people (I will name names shortly) who effortlessly compare themselves in one breath with the greatest thinkers. ‘Martin Luther King said it too...’ ‘What I learned from Nelson Mandela, as Plato also said.’ I believe that ’uncomfortable‘ best describes how I feel about that.
My daughter swam a few weeks ago for her A diploma. With a high breathing rate and a heart rate nearing 200, I sat by the side because oh, oh, oh would she get through that darn hole. In front of me were at least 200 shivering little kids and next to me parents like me. Sitting just a bit too far forward on the bench, elbows on your knees, hands together and camera standing by. The director of the swimming school tried to calm the nerves a bit and addressed all those present. We were welcomed, the process was explained and, I should have known, suddenly he quoted 'his great example' the Dalai Lama. The neighbor next to me in the pool I believe was also a bit bothered by the grand words in this children's context and conquered my still beating heart that was way too fast. ‘What does the Dalai Lama have to do with this? Did he float too or something?’ He was silent for a moment and then mumbled: "My great example Jesus Christ just walked on water. He didn’t need that A diploma at all.".
Honestly, I throw in a quote every day as well. In the category “from friction comes shine” and: “when one door closes, another opens”.”
