Loss and beauty on the fourth silent walk

Last Sunday we walked the fourth stage in the series of ten silent walks ‘the Walk of Wisdom in a year’. The theme was August harvest month with the invitation to take stock and harvest: What have you learned about yourself so far? What has brought you profit or loss? What lessons can you learn from this? It was a beautiful summer stage with 27 degrees, no rain and the cooling shade of the woods on the route from Plasmolen to Malden.

Halfway we took a break at café Lagom in the Mookerheide Hunting Lodge of Natuurmonumenten. In the light of the theme, this is a salient choice: the hunting lodge is said to have been built by Jan Jacob Luden to impress a sweetheart. Jan Jacob (1877-1936) was not able to harvest, his attempt was in vain! Yet we were all enjoying the castle: his ‘failure’ had resulted in a beautiful estate.

It was nice and quiet in the group, with cordial exchanges during the breaks. In the rear, litter was collected – the harvest: a full shopping bag. In doing so, we have left the world a little more beautiful. Everyone with his or her own thoughts and a shared feeling of satisfaction, which makes it a wonderful mini-pilgrimage through beautiful nature (Sint Jansberg, Mookerheide, Mookerschans, Mulderskop, Heumensoord).

The fifth silent walk in the series is Sunday 9 September through the Hatertse Vennen: link.

Quiet growth

You don’t have to be different
than what you are now
You don’t have to be anywhere else
than where you are now
You don’t have to do anything else
than what you’re doing now

‘Cause everything is as it should be
You’re perfect just the way you are now
Accepting yourself
Just the way you are now
is the first step to flourishing

(Text from: Stil, Terra Publishers. From the series: The Art of Being)

Photos: Margriet Hendrikse.

Thanks to Lidy van Lie Peters and Anja van Wegen for the preparation. The walk was guided by René van Nieuwkuijk with the cooperation of Damiaan Messing (report).