Spirit of the River

Today, I would like to talk about the kind of dreams you do not lose: the dreams you have at night. Do you remember you dreams? Do you write them down? Do you ever think about what they might mean? (I'm honestly interested, so use the comments to tell me) I used to write my dreams down in the past. I was able to fill up more than a whole notebook with them (unfortunately I don't have that one any more). I started another notebook for dreams recently, but I do not remember as many dreams as I used to. This might be connected with the fact that I am not as creative any more, and that I have lost quite a bit of motivation and do believe less in my other dreams (i.e. the kind of dream that you wish would happen in your life). I do miss having really vivid dreams because even though it only happened very rarely, I was able to experience some great things in my dreams. Other times, my dreams mirror the frustrations in real life. One dream I can remember very well without even...

I will only write a short one today, as I am still feeling quite sick, and need to use my energy for working on my jobs. Part of my work is translating books, sometimes "real" books, sometimes e-books. All of them (and most of the books I read) have dedications. I am also writing a book, but when it comes to dedications, it's always a page that bothers me a little, and to be honest, a page that makes me sad. I read how other people can dedicate their books to partners, friends, their family and so on, and then wonder who I would dedicate my book to. Michael Jackson, because he was more of a friend to me than anybody else? Patrick Stewart, because I learned more from him than from my own father who just hated me and always had to remind me that I was just an accident? Lucy Lawless, because she helped me a lot even though I never got to talk to her? Kate Mulgrew, because I wanted to have a mother like her? Kenny Wizz, because he gave me hope? Tolkien, because he insp...

Today, I am suffering from a fever, coughing, a sore throat, and my body aches all over. However, I cannot blame it on my lifestyle in general. I might not be the most active person at the moment (not the best weather for long hikes), but I go for walks, I move around, walk up and down the stairs, drink plenty of water, and eat healthily. I usually don't have issues with my health apart from one or the other tension headache, and a few things have changed positively since I adopted a healthier style of living. I am a very good example of how physical health can be absolutely ruined by other factors. I knew I was on the path to becoming sick for various reason. I was able to delay the onset, but I wasn't able to take the steps that would have helped me to completely avoid being sick. In the past, I was very sceptical when I read various studies about non-physical health related issues that can shorten people's life. But now I start to see how those could actually be true. ...

I have recently been working with different books about introversion (partially because it was a job, partially because I was interested in the topic as I am definitely an introvert). One of the books I've read was by Laurie Helgoe, and she uses an interesting idea to describe how introverts and extroverts connect to friends. It's only a short paragraph, and I felt like I would like to use this idea for today's blog post. Laurie Helgoe wrote that introverts are like luxury retreats or spa retreats that only have a very limited amount of rooms, while extroverts are like a normal hotel with dozens, if not hundreds of rooms. The extroverts is able to interact with plenty of people as there are usually many vacancies in a big hotel. However, the rooms often all look the same and don't come with a lot of service. You get the basic room service, but usually you just check in, stay a while, check out, and many other people make exactly the same experience. Basically it mea...

I was not sure what to write about today, as I did not feel very motivated. But then I thought about an article I've read about Captain Janeway last night. So why not write a little about her? I have to admit that I don't care much about mingling with other Star Trek fans. They seem to be quite elite, and not very accepting of people who aren't fan of every single Star Trek series. So I keep to myself, and I am not one of those hardcore fans who can tell you which events happened at which star date. I enjoy Star Trek (TNG, Voyager, and Archer's Enterprise) for the stories and characters, the developments and the philosophy. I don't care much for huge intergalactic battles. Captain Janeway has turned into my favourite. If I had to choose one character to meet in my life (if they all were real), then it would be her. As much as I love Picard, and as much as he helped me with getting through my childhood and teenage years, Janeway is the one who completely stole ...

Why are Vulcans so popular? I love Vulcans. I've loved them since I was a kid, and even now Tuvok and T'Pol are amongst my most popular TV characters. What is it about Vulcans that makes them so attractive to people? I know from conversations with other people that Vulcans are very popular. Why men like T'Pol is not such a difficult question to answer. I'm sure it has less to do with the Vulcan character than with what she looks like. But what about characters like Tuvok and Spock? And what is the appeal of T'Pol to women?  A short overview I am not going to delve into the history and development of the Vulcan belief system and spirituality, but it basically boils down to this: the Vulcans believe that many problems in their past were caused by uncontrolled emotions, e.g. hate, jealousy, anger, greed. Vulcans used to have a very violent nature. At some stage, a Vulcan called Surak developed a philosophical system based on logic and meditation, on the con...

Do you know the old Bee Gees song "Words" (it has also been covered by Boyzone, and I find that version a bit easier to listen to). It is partially about the meaning of words, how words can change someone's heart, how they can win a heart, how important that they be, but also that the other person might not believe a thing the other says. When words are all you have If you have been following my blog (either here on the old version on Wordpress), then you know that I love words, I love languages, I love books, I love meaningful lyrics, I love writing. However, at the moment, words also make me sad - because if words are indeed all you have, then you do not have much at all. If you then also only get the words from strangers (i.e. from songs, from books, from strangers you meet on the internet because your "friends" don't care), then it is even worse, because of course those strangers do not know you. They have not written the words with you in mind. The ...