STATUS

3nummere-tidningnov 2010

Ladda ner på: www.foreningensofia.org/sv/ungdom/status-e-brev

INNEHÅLL1. Framsida

2. Innehåll

3. STATUS?

Ut över tröskeln

4. Connect Conference 2011

Konferens för tolfteklassare i waldorfskolor världen över

5. Katharina Ludwig

The Brain of Connect

6-8. ConneCtwork

Ungdomsmöte för gymnasielever, 26-28 nov 2010 i Järna

Anmäl dig nu! www.connectwork.se

9. Tankar bakom röda tegelväggar

Tankar om studier och hur man hamnar där man hamnar

10-11. Making bold choices

Thijs Moonen profil

12. Epilog

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STATUS?LEDARE - Signerad

Amanda Huircan-MartinezFöreningen SOFIA

amanda@foreningensofia.org

På något outgrundligt sätt blev det höst igen.

Skolorna är i full fart. För andra är det kapitlet av livet slut nu, och kanske har livet verkligen satt igång efter en varm lång sommar. Vi har överlevt ännu ett riksdagsval, kanske återstår det ekon av missnöje ännu. I vilket fall blir vädret kallare och dagarna mörkare.

De små biståndsorganisationerna får det lite svårare att klara sig dessa kommande fyra år. Man vet som egentligen inte riktigt vad som skall hända med budgetar och projekt och allt som plötsligt inte stöds av den sittande regeringen. Det här kanske blir det sista nyhetsbrevet från STATUS, men det är svårt att säga. Ibland får man helt enkelt luta sig tillbaka och ha tillräckligt med förtroende i att allt kommer att bli bra i slutändan.

Ibland räcker det med att bara sticka huvudet ut genom dörren och glo in hos grannen för att bli inspirerad. I Järna håller våra grannar i alla fall på med massor av spännande grejor som vi tänkte berätta om i denna upplaga av STATUS. Vi ska berätta om en internationell waldorf ungdomskonferens för tolfteklassare som kommer ske i Ytterjärna, samt ett förberedelsemöte för denna konferens med särskild fokus på att introducera den konferensen för svenska waldorfskolor.

Connect Conference 2011 och ConneCtwork November 2010.

Dessutom får vi känna på vilka individerna är bakom dessa projekt, hur de hamnat där de hamnat, var de kommer ifrån och vilka beslut de tagit i sina liv. Vilka olika vägar kan man välja efter skolan? Ska man bums hoppa in på universitetet och plugga... något? Eller ska man jobba ihjäl sig eller resa till Indien? Eller bara ta det lugnt?

Det kan lätt kännas lite stressigt när man står där vid tröskeln på studenten med fina kläder på och är jättelycklig över att allt är slut, men att ändå veta om i bakhuvudet att den lätta delen av livet också är slut och nu kommer det svåra. Nu ska man själv besluta saker, och kliva upp ur sängen och uträtta något. Och alla som tycker så mycket, lärarna som tycker att något är viktigt, och dina föräldrar, och teven och kompisar, politiker, samhället i stort och människor runt omkring som hela tiden ska tycka att något är mer värt något annat.

Och allt det här ska du typ ha koll på när du kliver över tröskeln och ut i dina fina kläder, och på något sätt ska du vara redo att sätta igång. Med något.

Kanske vet du till och med att det är något speciellt du ska syssla med, men du har bara inte kommit på exakt vad det är ännu.

Läs vidare om det känns bekant, eller intressant. Vi har alla stått vid den tröskeln, eller står där nu eller kommer stå där någon gång, tidigare än vi kanske anar.

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The Connect ConferenceA once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the whole world in one week! Summer of 2011, for the first time in Järna, Sweden. Young people often have the feeling of helplessness in the situation our world is in. We can see the problems but don’t know where to begin to make a change. Where are we allowed to practice taking

responsibility? Where can we begin to help shape something together? How can we find our talent and take up our tasks and responsibilities to create a better future for our world? The Connect Conference 2011 in Ytterjärna, Rudolf Steiner Seminariet addresses youth in this matter. It is an event prepared by young people for young people, inviting into a process of organising and putting on a conference. Professionals, activists, volunteers, 12th graders from Waldorf schools and artists will co-create an event that will have an effect on their lives and their future. Connect is inviting to a conference brim full of eye opening speeches held by experts in their field and work sessions to deepen these themes in diverse artistic and practical ways. Themes such as: elite globalisation, unjust politics, unfair economics, destroyed environments, disempowerment of people are approached in order to begin to think about finding a way of counteracting them in the future. Cultural presentations from all countries and joyful moments out in the Swedish landscape that surrounds the campus the event is held upon will round the program.

High school students are invited to bring their class 12 projects, their passions and initiatives to share with everyone at Connect. The students have spent many months on working on their themes and have become young professionals at them. To share from this newly gained experience in front of an international audience gives them the opportunity to have a taste of how it feels to be in charge of

something as a practice-run for responsibilities they will take in their professions in later life. Connect allows each participant to step up to being a contributor, of the conference and of society at large by allowing the beauty that lives in each of us to show when we decide to go up on stage and shine for others, for this world.

Connect invites pupils that are about to leave school as they are at a point in life where everything will change and be redefined. School is a place where everything is provided for us. The lessons are structured, we see our friends’ everyday, we are given experiences and knowledge by our teachers. When we leave school the framework that has been holding us falls away. We go into life as we chose to - we are the designers now. If we look at what the world needs today it becomes clear that our choices of where to go after school are very significant for more than just ourselves. The situation we are facing is extreme. There are hardly any jobs available, we see intense pressure on everyone to function in an economically run society, but what is even more important, there are hundreds of jobs

that are not being done! Jobs of changing the world! Tasks of preventing more ecological damage, of bringing justice to the world, reframing the economical world, and strengthening the social cultural and artistic life in society, decreasing poverty and overcoming the prevailing separation between us and nature and us and others by inventing new ways of being together in community and in our world. Who is going to do these jobs?

Who do you want to be when you grow up? Our world needs us to ask this question honestly and follow our potential strongly. At Connect we want to experience what it means to be young and about to enter adult life. Connect wants to celebrate the end of school time by opening eyes to the

possibilities young people have once they begin to choose freely and consciously. Let’s enjoy taking the steps towards our responsibility for the world! Let’s dream big of our lives and make choices for our future carefully and with the consciousness for the needs of our world as equals to our personal needs. Only by constantly remembering our connection to a greater purpose in this world, we can find our true tasks and help creating a sustainable future for everyone!

We are the generations we have been waiting for!

A colourful team of young and active individuals from around the world is organising the Connect Conference 2011. A mother to be, a former teacher, several individual students, a waitress, participants of the Youth Initiative Programme in Järna and students from the local Waldorf schools.

The Connect Conference needs your support too! Each initiative in this world has a financial need and a need in material things, as well as a mere need to be supported with positive gestures. If you feel like you would have something to contribute, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Each gesture of support is a great encouragement for us to carry on our work and create this opportunity for youth from all around the world!

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Katharina LudwigNetworkerOrganiserWaitressBabysitterSocialEntrepreneur and Brain of Connect

About MyselfI will be 26 soon. The age where youth becomes slightly different. Maybe the second half of youth? The age when all ideas that came from 20 to 25 are begging me to be looked at again and taken seriously! Unfolded and made more concrete. Tested and filtered and tested again if they really are what needs to come into this world. And then, once only a few are leftover from the bundle of ideas, these few good ideas want to be deepened and done. No more procrastination. No more fear of failing. They want to be done now. In the last few years I have tried and doubted and collected thoughts and experiences. Now, turning 26, this time is over. Now it is time to be me and to act out what I believe in and only that. No more excuses. Only me. What a celebration!Life at 26 is not only about being enthusiastic, it is also about sustainability. I feel grown up when I write these words. I feel that I know how I will be once I am actually grown up. A few more years and I will be sure of the things I want to do. It is a good path until there. Not an easy one, but one that is deepening my personality, giving me challenges on each junction, tasks and quests to fulfil for my personal development.

My next ProjectsAre going to be two things: ONE - my own learning journey that leads me past coffee machines in wonderful cafes, through kitchens where I will cook adventurous meals, into books of great authors and seminars, towards new languages, conversations with fascinating people and into the world. TWO - the process of organising and putting on the Connect Conference in Järna, Sweden from now until July 2011 and which gives place to the themes of the part ONE of my projects in its process but is a whole learning process in itself (read more about it on page...). I want to cultivate spaces where people can be themselves. If it is while drinking coffee or at my conference, or while drinking coffee at my conference, the importance in it is that we need to find spaces, conversation spaces, where we as people are invited to be who we are and share this with other. Authentic spaces, spaces that you and I feel responsible for! Welcome!

My BackgroundI was born in Germany and brought up in a wonderful and a wee bit crazy family of 6 very individual children and two very individual and loving parents. My schooling took place in Waldorfschools in Germany as well as South Africa. The world became my interest soon after and I joined youth initiatives and organisations in Switzerland to help bringing project ideas into the world, hosting youth conferences and trainings as well as leading workcamps. I took life as my university and gave myself the Bachelor in being Me in April 2009, when I had completed the biggest project I have done so far, the Connect Conference Dornach for 500 young people from all around the world. Through identifying a need in my youthgroups, the need of good food for good thoughts, I began cooking for my friends, for initiatives, for meetings, for seminars and eventually for bigger conferences. In August 2009 in the Open Space time of a youth conference I invented the „Supperheroes Adventurous Catering“ Service for youth initiatives and smaller private events.

My PhilosophyI am myself and I change my mind ever so often about what that means but somewhere inside me there is always that same truth and that leads through all I do and into all my decisions. Decisions are part of my philosophy. Decisions are a strong and meaningful moment, each time I make them. They are extremely exciting and deeply challenging mostly. As is responsibility. Responsibility is what I practise in all I take up to do. What is my responsibility, why do I feel responsible, whom am I sharing this responsibility with? The future is important for me and feeling connected to the world at large, a greater meaning behind the visible world and behind the visible faces of people, a deeper time than the time that is measured by our clocks. I think when we engage in true conversation, you and me; I can feel that great meaning. I feel it also when I create spaces and work on initiatives that contribute to the development of our world and humanity as a whole.My Philosophy gives space to learning. Learning is never finished, can always be taken up, and should always be an aspect in all we do. I want to learn as much as I can as long as I live. I noticed that when I see the world from a learner’s point of view I could never be bored. I have something to study in each situation, something to find out in each conversation and something to be interested in wherever I am. Life is brimming full of good things as a learner!

My involvement in society is voluntarily. I live economically by being a waitress, and by juggling with my wages in order to make possible what I need to do this month. I strongly believe that I don‘t get paid for my work of the last four weeks, but on the contrary, that I get paid in order to do my work again the next month. This way work in a cafe can enable me to work voluntarily in all other areas of my life. Nonetheless I need support and would gladly accept anything each person who reads this has to offer to help me on my path.

My ContactsKatharina Ludwigkatharina@connectconference.orgfacebook: Kathalika LooSkype: kathafly1128

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ConneCtworkA brief understanding of our work - By Jaréd Boyd, participant in the Youth Initiative Program 2010-2011

The solitary individual in our mind is a contradiction in terms; we are incorporated with each other, through our humanity.

It is our solemn wish as an organising team, to bring together various Waldorf classes of Sweden and raise their awareness and gather their support behind the social initiative of Connect; an international youth conference that will be held for the very first time in Sweden, Järna, next year in summer. The conference is what the name suggests, the connecting of young like minded individuals from around the world, into a community of like minded persons separated only by geography. The more dire our situation gets as inhabitants of earth, the flaking political systems of the world, the corrupted interaction of social injustices and our failing economic conditions; as a means of progression, the more urgent is our need to be aware of the consciousness of others, to share with each other ideas and dreams. To be ever mindful of the situations of others.

We are what we are because of who we all are.

By assisting in the establishing of these connections through networking, it is our sincerest hope that the various classes that become aware of this mass social interaction will assist in shaping the identity of the up and coming conference, to give it a new personality, a conference for youth by youth. We as human beings must sustain each other even in the hours of the direst peril, and with our current heading in relation to our connectivity as people and our interactive connection with the environment that hour is ever more rapidly approaching. It was put forward by Mahatma Gandhi that we should ‘be the change you want to see in the world’ and we seek to bring this to realisation in our brief weekend on connecting through networking, in ConneCtwork.

We as the organising body, are made up of different nationalities; Belgian, German, Swedish, Brazilian, New Zealand and South African, which has allowed us a marvellous opportunity to come together with a large diversity of ideas, principles and values. All of which, have hugely benefitted our process and group dynamic in relation to how we’ve gone about planning and arrange various aspects of this youth meeting, which has been named ConneCtwork.

Föreningen SOFIA har besökt waldorfskolor i Sverige under flera år, samt stött många ungdomsinitiativ i waldorfSverige. 2011 planeras Connect Conference i Ytterjärna. Connect har tidigare bara gästats av en svensk waldorfskola någonsin, så inför att konferensen flyttas till Sverige jobbar vi i Sverige på för att så många svenska waldorfskolor som möjligt får möjlighet att delta!

Med detta i åtanke beslutade sig SOFIA för att organisera ett ungdomsmöte över en helg för svenska gymnasieelever som en kick-off inför Connect Konferensen 2011. Med hjälp av en grupp från årets YIPklass kommer vi i november 26-28 med ConneCtwork.

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It is also an understanding of us, the organising team, that to illustrate the potential of participant involvement in the arrangement of the content and facilitation the large Connect, that they will be able, to a certain degree of practicality, be able to help shape the content of the November meeting; ConneCtwork, through suggestion. Every idea will be taken under equal consideration and will be discussed thoroughly. Plurality of ideas and suggestions have strengthened our process as a group and every contribution from a participant to the built up to the meeting will be treated as if came from another member of the group that is just not present. We feel that this is an important aspect of the process of the ConneCtwork conference as it will also hugely benefit our understanding of what participants would like the youth meeting to be.

The Team Who’s behind ConneCtwork and what do they wish to bring to the meeting?All participants of the Youth Initiative Program 2010-2011

Christian Gmelin Hej, I am from Germany. Me, as a YIP participant and one of the ConneCtwork organisers would like to bring the power of now, the attention to the moment.

Jaréd BoydI’m from the chaotic rainbow nation known as South Africa. Through my encounters with many people of many diverse cultural backgrounds, here in Europe and throughout my life, I seek to gain a better understanding of the connectivity we all share on the basis of our humanity. A very important part of the core of my being is something called Ubuntu which is strongly tied in to this humanistic idea of interconnectivity. Ubuntu has no translation in any western language. The Liberian peace activist, Leymah Gbowee, offered the definition as being “I am what I am because of who we all are.” Personally, in the context of my life and how I wish to portray it, I would best describe Ubuntu as being nothing more or less than compassion, brought into colourful practice. This is what I want to bring, and this is what I hope to gain a better understanding of through my experiences of the diversity of humanity, the fact that we are a person through our relationships with other people.

Marley StrebI bring a young energetic passion for music, sports and travel. Inspired by great musicians and poets in Brazil, I am looking for answers to several questions that surround me daily. I look forward to sharing ideas, ideals and initiatives with young people my age and with a culture that is different from mine.

Skye ChadwickKia Ora! I’m Skye from New Zealand. I am looking forward to Connectwork as an opportunity for youth to gather and share stories, weaving them together in a meaningful way! I hope that from the weekend new connections will be formed and dreams for the future will be inspired.

Siene van HoorickI’m Siene from a crazy little country known as Belgium! While traveling around the globe for the last years, I’ve been studying Philosophy of Education. I hope to bring some sparkling enthusiasm to the ConneCtwork meeting and am looking very forward to meet all of you(th)!

Marcelo FerreiraI was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is one of those cities that tells you every day how unequal and horrible the world can be. But it is also a place where a lot of good things happens. I have been working for a social project in Brazil, called Aramitan, which aims to provide a free and open space where young people often living in high-risk situations can meet. From my own experience in life, I believe that the world could be a more peaceful place if people just communicated a bit more. In short, I’m a brazilian 22 year-old, studying economics at university back in Brazil but is now currently a YIP participant.

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Tankar innanför röda tegelväggarKatarina Nilsson Lannerstedt - Civilsingenjörsstudent, KTH

Jag styr stegen uppför backen denna morgon, precis som så många andra mornar. Hösten har kommit och längs betongen glittrar frosten. Luften är krispig och gryningens dimma drar sig långsamt undan vartefter konturerna av staden framträder allt tydligare i morgonsolens ljus. Runtom kring mig myllrar det av ingenjörsstudenter som liksom jag i något sorts halvsovande tillstånd knallar på för att möta en ny dag av utmaningar.

Vissa dagar kan jag inte låta bli att skratta lite åt att jag har hamnat där jag är idag. Jag var för fem år sedan nyss utsprungen från en musiklinje och hade inga tankar på att någonsin mer öppna en mattebok. Det blev istället en hel del resor efter studenten. Detta var så givande att jag kom fram till att jag gärna skulle kunna tänka mig ett jobb i något annat land eller där det ingick mycket resande. Efter ett tag blev jag sugen på att plugga och då var det veterinär som gällde. Det hade jag drömt om sedan jag var liten. Så då blev det till att plugga basår och skriva Högskoleprovet. Någon månad innan jag skulle skicka min ansökan åkte jag på studiebesök på veterinärutbildningen. Det besöket ledde till en chock. Efter att ha besökt djurkliniken hade jag en klump i magen och av olika anledningar kände jag bara: “Nej, nej, nej! Det här klarar jag inte av att jobba med!”

Så där satt jag med betyg i kemi, matte, fysik och biologi som jag inte visste riktigt vad jag skulle göra med. Jag ville ju börja plugga men jag hade ingen plan B, jag hade varit så inställd på att bli veterinär. Efter att ha låtit allt sjunka in lite under några dagar kom jag ändå fram till att jag ville börja plugga till hösten, men det var ont om tid. Ansökningen skulle vara inne om några veckor. För att komma fram till vad jag ville göra skrev jag en lista på vad jag ville få ut av mitt framtida jobb: det skulle vara roligt och omväxlande, kunna påverka människor och världen på något positivt sätt, gärna innebära en del resande och så ville jag få användning av de naturvetenskapliga ämnena jag hade läst in. Efter lite research på internet insåg jag att ett jobb som passade rätt bra med önskningarna på min lista var civilingenjör.

På pappret verkade valet självklart, men i verkligheten var det ett skrämmande beslut. Jag var orolig över de många matte- och fysikkurserna som ingick och var inte säker på om jag skulle klara dem. På Komvux hade jag haft lättast för kemi och biologi och dessutom tyckt att det varit rätt roligt. Det fanns dock inte så mycket tid att vela och min ansökan till högskolan var lite av en chansning. Det blev till slut i alla fall en ansökan till ett civilingenjörsprogram med kemi som huvudinriktning.

Första terminen var omvälvande på många sätt. Det kom lite som en chock hur stressigt det var. Det var ett helt annat upplägg och tempo än på Komvux, med föreläsningar, inlämningsuppgifter och tentor. Första året läser många program liknande kurser. Man får en bas inom matte och fysik och så läser man några kurser inom sin valda inriktning. Det var kul och intressant men också rätt tungt och de gånger det var som tuffast var det tur att man hade snälla klasskompisar som kunde stötta en i att kämpa vidare.

En vanlig dag för mig första året kunde se ut så här: morgonföreläsning i matte på temat gränsvärden och derivator; kaffepaus med medtagen frukt; föreläsning i kemi om atomorbitaler och kvanttal, lunch med medtagen matlåda i kemisektionens lokal på campus, eftermiddagsövning där vi räknade sådant som tagits upp under matteföreläsningen tidigare under dagen; sedan åkte man hem och räknade på inlämningsuppgiften i matte, som kunde ge några poäng i förskott till den kommande tentan; sist av allt försökte man hinna läsa några sidor om elektronkonfiguration i kemiboken inför morgondagens föreläsning.

Förutom djur och musik, hade jag sedan gymnasiet varit intresserad av miljö och klimat. Mitt intresse låg på den nivå där man sopsorterar, handlar ekologiskt så långt pengarna räcker och försöker hålla ett öga på miljödebatten. Tanken på att jobba inom det området kom under mitt första år på civilingenjörsprogrammet genom diverse händelser. Jag kom i kontakt med likasinnade människor genom en kårförening som jobbar för hållbar utveckling och fick möjlighet att sätta mig in i hur man som ingenjör kan jobba för att skapa ett hållbart samhälle och hur man under skoltiden kan påverka sin utbildning mot en “grönare” inriktning. På en arbetsmarknadsdag för blivande kemister hörde jag talas om INUG (Ingenjörer och Naturvetare Utan Gränser), en organisation som bland annat förmedlar volontärtjänster till ingenjörer (och naturvetare) runtom i världen. Här någonstans började jag tvivla på min inriktning mot kemi. Jag kände för det första att jag ville läsa en annan sorts kemi än den som erbjöds på mitt program. Jag ville också ha en mer tvärvetenskaplig inriktning än vad jag verkade kunna få inom det jag pluggade nu. Samtidigt ville jag inte ta steget helt från den tekniska banan. Tankarna snurrade. Vad ville jag egentligen och vilket program kunde passa bättre?

jag träffat intressanta människor vilkas erfarenheter och intressen har färgat mitt liv. Precis som min magkänsla sa mig att veterinär var fel väg att gå, pirrar det till i magen när jag nu blickar framåt. En bit framför mig ser jag nästa anhalt på resan suddigt träda fram. Jag vet inte exakt vad som väntar där men magkänslan säger att jag är på rätt väg nu.

Svaret kom som en blixt från klar himmel under en lunchföreläsning med en ingenjör som berättade om hur hon hade varit på ett koleracenter i Zimbabwe på uppdrag av Läkare Utan Gränser(de samarbetar också med ingenjörer). Hennes uppgifter var bland annat att organisera återvinningen av sjukhusets avfall, se till så att vatten och sanitet fungerade för att förhindra smittospridning, se till så att behandlingshemmet hade rent dricksvatten och utbilda personalen så att de skulle kunna driva detta vidare när hon hade åkt hem. Då kände jag: “Det här är exakt vad jag vill kunna göra! Hon är ingenjör, hon gör en insats för människor och miljö och hon får resa. Vad har hon läst?” Det visade sig att hon hade gått ett program som heter Samhällsbyggnad. Att ta beslutet att byta program var mycket lättare än att skicka min första ansökan till kemi, jag bestämde mig för att byta till Samhällsbyggnad redan i samma stund som jag gick från hennes föreläsning.

Min väg dit jag är idag har alltså inte varit spikrak. Jag har hunnit stanna till på många ställen men tack vare detta har jag träffat intressanta människor vilkas erfarenheter och intressen har färgat mitt liv. Precis som min magkänsla sa mig att veterinär var fel väg att gå, pirrar det till i magen när jag nu blickar framåt. En bit framför mig ser jag nästa anhalt på resan suddigt träda fram. Jag vet inte exakt vad som väntar där men magkänslan säger att jag är på rätt väg nu.

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Making Bold ChoicesThijs Moonen

About eight years ago, in ninth grade, I was attending a strict elite school in my home country. Education was understood as transferring knowledge, and preparation for university and career-life. Because this way of teaching didn’t inspire me, I was lost in thought most of the classes, and as a result I didn’t perform well. The solution at hand was to start taking medication to help me concentrate and thus improve my grades. And It worked. My scores went up, but along with it, I lost the joy for life, and eventually I even became scared of life.

The underlying idea of what I encountered in that school is the firm belief that if we lead our lives according to a given norm, things will be ok. It tells us that if we but follow the path that is laid out for us, the system will take care of the rest. This belief is, in fact, built in to the very society that surrounds us. It centers around safety, study, career and paychecks. It gives meaning to pension funds and savings accounts, mindless consumption and all-in holidays. But the idea that everything will be fine if we follow this beaten path, is dead wrong.

Our current societal habits, which are supposedly surrounding us with safety, are creating a mess on a global scale. There is extreme imbalance in the distribution of material needs, there is a plague of depression and spiritual poverty in the West, and as a species we have caused a threatening biosphere collapse. Business as usual is, in other words, not even benefiting the small elite that believes the system was created for their benefit. Worse still, it reduces life to a plain chase of values that were created artificially and which block our the deeper potential of humans individually and collectively.

However, the understanding of the failure of today’s dogma’s opens up a beautiful invitation to take a more poetic approach to our lives. Just like there are few rules in art, we must trust in our intuition so that our lives themselves become our greatest artistic masterpiece. Following the heart is something that many have written songs about, but few have actually done.

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The tools we have are observation and truthful inquiry. They ask of us to simply observe and inquire our thoughts, our habits, our feelings and our beliefs, even those which we once took for absolute truth. A truthful observation reveals the patterns that hold us back.

The most important deed then, is to make bold choices. Make choices from a place of trust, rather than from the fear that it might be the wrong one. It might have you swim against the stream, against conventional believes, but it will make your life rich in experience. A first of those bold choices, and one that requires enormous courage, can be to speak out your concerns and wishes to your peers. This will allow you to connect with like-minded people, which is essential in the development of our higher potential.

At the end of ninth grade, I simply switched schools, and ever since, my life has taken turns which I could never foresee. I have taken choices which came out of mere intuition rather than reasoning, and which only make sense when I look back on them. I now find myself in Sweden, following a strong calling, and things are starting to unfold which are incredibly exciting, even in their earliest stage of existence.

So travel, do, observe, and follow, make mistakes, and do it again. You will find that your direction in life might remain unclear, but it is in the diversity that this creates which builds the tools you will find useful later on.

May your life be rich, and blessed with courage and adventure.

Thijs (Tintin), born 1986, studies journalism in Belgium but lives in Sweden. He is involved in several innovative (and some not so innovative) projects, but his main focus remains the exploration and study of life itself, and the potential that lies ahead. See below for his “Essay Contest”.

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Thijs Moonen’s

Essay Contest on, “Corporate Colonialism”

The essay contest: write an essay, win 100 euro’s

“In the olden days, essay contests were often held to bring awareness about a theme. Did you know, for example, that a mean called Thomas Clarkson become involved in the abolitionist movement because of an essay contest he participated in? Clarkson became one of the leaders of that movement that eventually led to the abolishment of slavery in the US!”

About a week ago, I had a conversation with Lars Johansson, director of the documentary Poison Fire. Lars talked about “Corporate Colonialism”, a term he used to describe the horrible practices by a big oil company in Nigeria. Corporate Colonialism happens all over the world though, in different forms and

magnitudes. I found it so shocking and intriguing, and I thought more people should know more about it. So I decided to open an essay contest, with a 100 euro cash award for the winner. Are you interested? Send in your essay before November 28th 2010!

Practical information:

What? Write an essay about the theme “Corporate Colonialism”, and win 100 euro’s.Where? Send in on moonen.thijs@gmail.com, or via the webpage below.More info? All your questions answered on essaycontest.withtank.com

Viktiga datum

26-28 november: Connectwork Ungdomsmöte, Järna (sidorna 6-8)28 november: Deadline för uppsatstävlingen om, “Corporate Colonialism”.

Pågående saker

Varje tisdag kl 19.00 organiserar YIP ett Public Lecture, ett föredrag med den veckans bidragsgivare, öppet för allmänheten. Spana in yip.se för mer info om veckans Public Lecture.

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