“Wisdom is the ability to open up” – farewell interview Jan Alers as board member
By Damiaan, co-coordinator and pioneer of the Walk of Wisdom.
“‘This is what I want’, I knew when I opened your website. A dear friend was staying with us because she was walking the Walk of Wisdom . What she told me about it stimulated me. I am a planner and love maps and routes. My best children’s book was ‘Wonders of the Forest’. I love wonder and inspiration. Intuitively, I felt how it all came together in the Walk of Wisdom .”
Jan Alers was an advisor and board member of the Walk of Walk of Wisdom for 8 years. I got to know him in the garden of co-developer Manja Bente. Just like then, in this interview a glow comes over his face when he is full of something. His gestures then almost take on a life of their own, as if something outside him is pulling the strings. When I talk to him, it becomes clear: the movement comes from within.
John: “The Walk of Wisdom is not just a beautiful route from A to B. It is an inspired route. It is made with love and people often walk the route with an intention. To bring something of oneself out, to let it flourish. I feel that every time a pilgrim does that, the route itself becomes more inspiring and ‘loaded’ with that intention.
Soul stands for what makes a person unique. It’s what you really, from the inside out. Your life potential. Everyone has that potential, although it is different for everyone. Walking the Walk of Walk of Wisdom offers an opportunity to discover what it is, to help it unfold.”
“I see a development in which we are becoming more and more consumers of the earth. In my work for a housing corporation, we stack houses on top of each other due to the shortage of space. At 26 high, the distance to Earth becomes very large. People are spending more and more time at home, between concrete walls. In parallel, digital worlds. Contact with the earth is lost. Whereas: contact with the earth is very important to me.
By going outside and walking in nature, you will start to feel again. Endorphins are released. No two moments or plants are the same. In the unpredictability of wind, storm or rain, you experience the insignificance of man. The cruelty of nature fascinates me: animals eat each other, plants compete for light. It’s about survival. At the same time, nature is a web of interconnectedness and interdependence.
It’s all so ingeniously put together, down to the smallest details. Nature is a miracle of which we are a part. Take the ego. The ego is part of our human nature. There’s something positive about it: it protects us. The ego has to be there. The question is: can you make the ego subservient to your soul? I hope people will ask themselves that question.
The Walk of Wisdom is not only nature, but also people. The volunteers who make and send your starter pack or supervise the departure ceremonies. The host families where you will spend the night. The encounters along the way. Everywhere along the route you will come across the beautiful symbol of the seedling, designed by Huub and Adelheid Kortekaas, on marker signs. The route is connected to the 750-year-old tradition of the Stevens Church and the 1,000-year-old Nicholas Chapel. They are invitations to reflect on your essence and to be amazed. The Walk of Wisdom is a fabric that you are part of for a week and leave something of yourself behind. “
“The pursuit of harmony is an important motivation for me, but not of the overly romantic. Without darkness, there is no light. There is suffering. That’s just the way it is. It’s about whether you can accept it and open up to what else is out there. What comes next? As they say in Martial Arts: ‘if you are wrong, you are right’. Don’t waste energy on how you got it wrong. Open yourself to the opportunities that are still there. Translated to pilgrimage: do you accept what comes your way? Do you do something with it or do you let it run? Can you make that choice consciously?
When you go for something, what you need falls to you. Thus, having a dream helps to see the possibilities to make that dream come true. But you have to have the dream first, otherwise you won’t see the possibilities. In situations I often ask myself: what wants to happen here? I believe that people have something naturally good in them. I want to help bring out that goodness. That attitude is my attitude to life: I take it with me throughout my day. It’s in the little things. A smile at a fellow human being can already be meaningful. Since I’ve been looking at it this way, I often get a smile back from life. I experience that as a great richness. But ‘you have to see it first, before you realize it’, Johan Cruyff said. ‘”
“I am happy that I have been able to contribute to the development of the Walk of Wisdom route behind the scenes of the Walk of Wisdom for the past 8 years. I think it’s really nice how many people are involved as volunteers. It’s all going so well. Also the many practical things that pilgrims on the route probably do not see. We had a lot of conversations about how to organise that. A lot of models have come along. They were sometimes sharp conversations. Such a process can be You can’t push it, but you can help make it happen.
For example, we have divided the tasks of the foundation into different task areas [D: such as marking, pilgrim office, departure ceremonies, etc.]. In which one or two volunteers become co-owners of one of the task areas. With a small foundation with little money, we can still do a lot. My advice is to continue along this path. Of course, with clear agreements about each other’s responsibilities. Furthermore, don’t make too big policy plans. Life grows and evolves even without policy plans. Let the Walk of Wisdom grow organically from what is.
Tip: organize an annual meeting day for pilgrims with stories, food, music. Where there is an interest in the soul. Where heart, head and feelings are connected. I think there is a need for that.
After 8 years of board work, I am now making room for someone else. I also want room for something new. However, I will stay on as a marker. I am connected to the Walk of Walk of Wisdom with my heart. “
“What is wisdom? The ability to open up to what wants to unfold from within.”
Jan Alers, marker of the Walk of Wisdom and former board member
