In The Netherlands today, the schools opened again. Not completely, but with half the students today. Tomorrow the other half is going. Thursday and Friday we repeat this. It's our first step out of the intelligent lockdown, as the government insists calling it. It's nicely timed to coincide with the end of a planned school holiday. The two-week May holiday just ended. And since we could not take a Holiday in Spain, we spent some good Lockdown Holiday times by the inflatable pool in the garden. That's where I took the photo above.
Anyway, in many other countries, measures are being wound down. Step by step, carefully. It's not back to normal yet, so we have to get used to new stuff. Like face masks. The Dutch government is calling on us to not use medical face masks, if we use a face mask at all. So, now would be a good time to learn how to make one. This video, from the CDC over in America, is a good explanation. And don't you think that uniform does give it some added credibility? Anyway, it's short and very clear, so I thought it's a great one to share with you.
A New Normal Begins
Meanwhile, as many initiatives around the world are set up to help us navigate the new normal - whatever that is - and many researchers are working hard to find a vaccine, this newsletter will be changing a bit, too. You probably noticed the frequency of the first issues is no longer the drumbeat setting the pace now. Content-wise, we're going to embark on a journey together. With every issue, I hope to entertain and inspire you. And share stories with you. I'm looking forward to your feedback and suggestions.
Now that we are all going back to a new normal, we can use some help in staying sane. And maybe also in staying productive. I tried to write one of those "Do this and you will be awesome" posts. I failed. It was rejected by a big publication on Medium. And that got me thinking. I learned something from that: writing those type of posts, where the content is only there to attract views (not necessarily readers), and earn the writer money, is simply not my thing. Still, I actually liked the article, and went ahead and published it myself. I had some great feedback. One reader commented "from the title, one could imagine you’d get ‘the usual’ Medium advice…but I took a risk because I know your writing". That is a very nice compliment, but also a great reflection. From that reflection comes a great learning: do what you are good at, don't do what you're not so good at.
The three things I recommend everybody to do on a daily basis is dance, connect and create. Read it in full here (it's what they call a friend link - the story is behind a paywall, but with this link you can read it for free):
Three Habits You Need To Get More Stuff Done
A Touch of Poetry
Now for some poetry. Recently, I released chapter 5 of my poetry podcast Tripple Effect. Poet Sylph Hemery is my guest, and we talk, of course about poetry and how writing in the poetic form tritriplicata shapes poems. I am a big fan of Sylph's work, and very proud she joined me on the show. You can listen to it here.
Talking about poetry, I have launched a publication on Medium, to be a home for my tritriplicata poems and the show notes of my podcasts. Then one poet asked to be added as a writer. Then one more. And another one. At the moment I have ten poets listed as writers, and they are sharing awesome poetry. That's how, during the Corona Lockdowns of 2020, I became a publisher. Finally. As it is also 20 years ago this year that I finished my education in publishing school. Three poems shared to the publication can be read here (again, friend links):
This Was Not Created By A Pencil
Inspotainment As Finishing Touch
I'm ending this with a touch of inspotainment. That's a bit of entertainment that inspires, but also a touch of inspiration that entertains. This time we're going back 10 years to a short film you can find on Vimeo. It's about coffee. To me, this story is one that makes me want to tell stories. Let me know what it inspires in you.