Amsterdam | A Zestful Quest

I’m always surprised how easy it is to start taking certain things in life for granted. And as soon as that hits me I feel ashamed because I should be grateful for what I have and count my blessings instead. I had a tough Wednesday night this week when I was reminded again of some very unpleasant moments last year. And since I wasn’t made to feel welcome by all the harsh remarks that were made, I ended up running out of the house in tears. I had to get away from the ghosts for a few minutes and called MvdM. to get things off my chest while I wandered around the area. I stayed out for 45 minutes, it was cold and freezing that evening, but I didn’t really notice.

After a really bad night, I woke up the next morning feeling extremely down and not in the mood to make any changes that would contribute to my near future. I ended up communicating with two people who are the closest ones in my life at the moment. And after some time when I took a short break, making my first mug of coffee in the kitchen that day, it suddenly hit me while I stared at the kettle waiting for the water to boil. I was thinking about my conversation with MvdM. the previous night and about the conversation that I was having with JB. I felt embarrassed and wondered what the hell happened to my willpower and why I still allowed someone to control me like this.

Instead of judging the situation or myself, I started thinking about all the amazing gifts I had received over the last few weeks. A beautiful Valentine’s message, wonderful words of appreciation left by my readers, phone calls from friends across the Canal and from Scotland, encouraging emails, a bright sunny Sunday so I could go out and enjoy the scenery and satisfy my photography addiction, the foxes that I saw nosing each other out in the middle of the night only a few metres away from me, lunar eclipses, birds singing at dawn, an ex-colleague but most of all a dear friend telling me he misses me, trees blossoming and JB. showing me a different perspective and the right angle that morning…

I managed to snap out of it because JB. reminded me to put myself in a better place, which was the greatest gift someone could’ve given me that day. I wrote an email to a recruitment agency that MvdM. had suggested to me: set up by former colleagues of his. He had gone there to have a chat with them that same Thursday morning. A few emails later I was invited for an interview on Friday at ten which lasted for almost two hours. That, is extremely unusual over here but I had a great time talking to this woman who had also been a recruiter in Amsterdam for a few years up until some months ago. She has given me extremely useful information and advice and I felt that finally someone had taken time to listen to me!

Since yesterday I already have three inspiring options through this agency, with three awesome [design] companies here in London. Both design companies work with Dutch clients and being Dutch is a major advantage in this case since the Dutch clients prefer to communicate in their own language. One of these clients is based in Amsterdam and it means I would have to fly and work there on the project for a few weeks. The third job option is a well-known charity within the UK and international. So I will be busy over the weekend finishing some portfolios in PDF format which will be send out to these [design] companies on Monday.

I will start freelance but two roles have the potential to become a full time creative directors position… The universe is smiling at me again, so please let me not forget how to hold on to this feeling this time, but if I do, don’t hesitate to remind me! *hug*

Can you hear him sing?

I went to an amazing place last Sunday: the British Library, near St Pancras tube station. I wanted to see a temporary exhibition called ‘The Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900-1937’. It was nice but I guess I have seen most of the printed books, posters, record covers and brochures at exhibitions in the Lowlands already. One thing was quite funny: ‘de Stijl’ was one of the subjects of the exhibition as part of the Avant Garde. Each subject was linked to the city of origin. So the first thing I noticed when I walked in was my own place of birth ‘Leiden’ printed in huge block capitals followed by ‘Amsterdam’. I have to admit I had this funny feeling all of a sudden. It’s just weird to see such a familiar name in such an unfamiliar place.

The other section is a permanent exhibition where you can find books, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, photographs and stamps. Examples are the Magna Carta, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll, Shakespeare’s First Folio of works, the Gutenberg Bible and Mozart’s music scores along with some other scores of great composers. I was sneaking a few pictures when I was told off by the security guard so my camera ended up in my handbag. I think this part of the British Library was the most interesting part to be honest. I love to see all the old handwritten books, the thick paper, the beautiful bright colour illustrations in the bibles and manuscripts. It’s a shame that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because these really are wonderful treasures.

Another part that caught my eye was the King’s Library: a glass tower of books at the heart of the British Library. The private collection of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820. The Tower is designed by Colin St John Wilson, architect of the St Pancras building. Possibly inspired by a similar tower at Yale University in the United States. It has six levels all linked by one internal staircase and two lifts. All book cases are on rollers so they can easily be pulled back to allow access. The books are kept in a controlled environment with a temperature of 16º C [61º F] and 50% relative humidity. The Tower houses the King’s Library and the private library of the politician Thomas Grenville, about 105000 volumes in total.

The King’s Library Collection compromises around 85000 volumes, mostly books and pamphlets with smaller numbers of periodicals, maps and atlases some of which are manuscript dated from the 1450s to the 1830s. Almost all printed in Europe or America. Much of the material is in English or Latin, but many other languages are well represented especially Greek, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.