In March we set­tled in Amers­foort, to spend a cou­ple of months in The Nether­lands. April was ded­i­cat­ed to the wed­ding of my sis­ter Eline and brand new broth­er-in-law Simon. We even went to Israel for this. At home I spend my time star­ing at either the lap­top or the tele­vi­sion — depend­ing on my moti­va­tion and activ­i­ty stress. Once in a while, I also watch Ivan.

Just watch­ing an ani­mal close­ly can take you out of your mind and bring you into the present moment, which is where the ani­mal lives all the time — sur­ren­dered to life. (Eck­hart Tolle)

The best thing is that he, as a cat, not only lives in the present moment but usu­al­ly also sleeps in it. The mis­ery we see on the news is not here; the his­to­ry of the cos­mos is not now, except for the lit­tle piece of it that hap­pens here and now. A human con­scious­ness that allows you to think about the world is great, but think­ing is also an addiction.

Apart from all this, Ivan is just the sweet­est cat of Amers­foort. And the one shed­ding most hairs around.