“Align with love and gratitude – consciously every day – and inspiration will start to flow, in abundance.”
Ever has it been
that love knows not its own depth
until the hour of separation.
– KAHLIL GIBRAN –
You just know one day that it is true. You know it in the end when you feel death approaching. Death means that everything that is not you is taken away from you. The secret of life is ‘to die before you die’, and then to find out that death does not exist.
– ECKHART TOLLE –
The Power of Now
(translated from Dutch version)
A man recently died,
who was not even one day,
of his existence,
satisfied.
But he just came to that insight,
a second before
he stepped into the light.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
(Based on Dutch version
of Klein Orkest – Verloren Tijd)
What if losing means winning?
Sometimes the best way to add to your life
is to subtract from it.
Sometimes you have to lose some things
and truly let them go
to gain better things.
Sometimes it takes losing everything
that you think you need,
to show you
that there’s something better for your life.
Sometimes it takes losing your everything,
just to show you
that there was none
that you ever needed in the first place.
It was already there.
But in all the noise,
it had to be found first.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
All your life you think you are your body. Sometimes you think you are your mind. The moment you die, you find out Who you really are.
– NEALE DONALD WALSCH –
Conversations With God
(translated from Dutch version)
When you think about death,
you have a firmer grasp on life.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
Between what is said
and not meant,
and what is meant
and not said,
most of love is lost.
– KAHLIL GIBRAN –
Dualities are a law of life:
rich and poor, prosperity and adversity.
Endings and new beginnings.
Time and eternity.
Life and death.
Whoever embraces the one, but ignores the other,
does himself short.
Thus denying the full reach
of the essence of duality,
and of life.
Both sides of the coin,
form the coin.
Without darkness there is no light.
Without non-being, there is no being.
To hide one and embrace the other,
is to deceive yourself.
Sooner or later,
the other side,
will make itself heard.
For it is part of being.
Acknowledge both,
and the fear of the side you are pushing away,
will heal.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
“Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
– ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY –
Little Prince
No fear.
No distractions.
The ability to let that which does not matter
truly slide.
– FIGHT CLUB –
(movie, 1999)
To live life in a way
that at any time
you are ready to say goodbye.
So that all time from then on,
feels like an
unexpected
gift.
All expectations
that can never be fulfilled,
make way for
sincere
appreciation.
Not demanding anything.
No outrage.
Have no right to anything.
A life of gratitude.
For all that was, and all that is.
In which you make the most of your
bonus time.
That is a life of abundance.
A rich life.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
“Life and death are closely intertwined. According to the existentialists, the fact that we are finite gives meaning to our lives. Death as a limit calls on us to live a meaningful life.
Every human being is condemned to seek the meaning of his or her own life. But what if, at the end, we have to say: ‘It was not much’? This is the agony that plagues us.
That is why we need a new way of dying, one that begins during life. There is no good dying without the art of living. What we need is a new kind of trust: not the trust that you will reach your destination at the end of your journey, but the trust that you will live your life in such a meaningful way that it will not matter when The Grim Reaper passes by.
To relate in your own unique way to yourself and others, to your own vulnerability and the finite nature of everything.
The new dying is about an attitude in which we are attached to life, but at the same time we are willing and able to detach. That is something you can practise throughout your life.
Death is not the lid on the well – the capstone – but takes shape during life.”
– JOEP DOHMEN –
Emeritus professor philosophical ethics at the University for Humanistics and lecturer Bildung – in Filosofie (Philosophy) Magazine¹
(translated from Dutch version)
“You are not the only publicist who talks about impending death in the media. It seems to be a trend.”
“That’s right. I don’t assume that all of a sudden more publicists are dying than before. I think it’s a good development that we are talking about it. I’ve noticed that it’s quite a stir. I get a lot of reactions. There’s a factual reason behind it: in the Netherlands, very little is said about death. Eighty per cent won’t or can’t talk about it. Shocking.”
“Death is a far cry for many people.”
“We have indeed become increasingly healthier and older. Many people die out of sight, behind the doors of clinics and care centres.”
“Is this boom in publicity a reaction to that?”
“I think people are getting unhappy with the fact that everyone has to invent their own death.”
“Do you dwell more on the past?”
“Yes I would recommend that to anyone who is terminal. Your ambition should not lie in the future. It can be very satisfying to look back and list the things you have finished.”
– RENÉ GUDE –
Philosopher and former Dutch philosopher – in Leeuwarder Courant ²
(translated from Dutch version)
“(…) in the Netherlands very little is said about death. Eighty per cent won’t or can’t talk about it. Shocking.”
If you are not conscious
what questions do you ask yourself
at the end of your life
for evaluation,
how can you live
truly purposeful
everyday
for what really
matters?
Begin with the end,
and see
what happens…
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
Love,
collect the shards,
life
is learning to die.
Love.
Facing death
to paradoxically,
as the ultimate mirror,
become free of fear.
To be able to live from the truth,
in joy and love.
From your true Self;
from inner peace,
with others,
with passion.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
Death is a fact.
It is better not to hide from it,
in fear.
But to use it instead.
From pure love.
Love of life.
Love of living from the heart.
Love for real connection and bonding.
That go beyond death.
Death is a counselor in disguise.
So, using death to our advantage,
would be wise.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you are free to do anything.
– FIGHT CLUB –
(movie, 1999)
Connection is the keyword.
We are all looking for REAL connection.
Because it is so scarce these days
and the most valuable.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
There is an arms race for our attention.
So many digital stimuli, so many quick temptations.
So easy to get addicted to attention and texts,
not getting anything done.
Stunned to live on autopilot.
To be lived.
Sometimes it is good to consciously go back to the essence.
From inner peace and connection with yourself.
Away from all the noise and stimuli.
Pure alignment.
What do you live for? What do you really want?
What do you REALLY want?
Making a conscious decision,
what you want now.
At this stage of your life.
Breaking free from old patterns.
Really start to live.
As it serves you;
a flourishing life.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
The approach of death and death itself, the dissolution of the material form, is always a great opportunity for spiritual growth. The tragedy is that most people miss this opportunity because we live in a culture that knows virtually nothing about death and, for that matter, virtually nothing about other things that are really important.
(…)
You then realise that death is an illusion, just as your identification with form was an illusion. The end of the illusion – that is all death is. Death is only painful if you cling to the illusion.
– ECKHART TOLLE –
The power of NOW
(translated from Dutch version)
For one thing is certain:
never in your life
have you been so close
to the finiteness of your physical existence,
in this form,
as right now.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
If you had one week to live;
what would you do?
You probably WON’T:
be texting on your phone for hours,
scrolling on social media,
worrying about trivialities,
and things over which you have no control.
Like you do now?
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
The Last Hour Experience
is a workshop
‘embracing the end, of this life, in this form’.
So that you can
LIVE this life to the full.
With flair.
With guts.
Without fear.
In gratitude.
From your heart.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
“One of the most interesting aspects of death is that you can ignore it.
It seems the human mind has an in-built ability to deny its possible non-existence.
How we can close our eyes to something so obvious is beyond me. But we do, perhaps to be able to do our job every day.
Otherwise we would be so perplexed by the fleetingness of every second that we would never work again and would all move to Tahiti.”
– LANCE ARMSTRONG –
Every Second Counts
(translated from Dutch version)
SMARTPHONE PARADOX
We are addicted to our phones
because of our deep irrational,
conditioned fear
of missing out; FOMO.
And while we give in to that fear,
and dive into our phones all day,
we miss the phenomenal experience
of every beautiful moment
around us,
and the peace and gratitude
in us,
over and over again.
Everything there was
and all that there will ever be,
is this one moment.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
When do people really start living?
When they face death.
Death is the truth.
If we are not aware of it,
we do not live in the truth.
And if we do not live in the truth,
what are we living in?
Mostly we live in regret.
“Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons” – Jim Rohn
Take part in The Last Hour Experience,
and avoid possible regrets.
Wake up.
Discover your essence.
What your life is REALLY all about.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
We are all each other’s passers-by,
we are all terminal.
Only the duration of the encounter,
or the time until our deadline,
differs.
A short encounter,
can stay with you for life.
A whole lifetime,
feels like a short encounter.
– JULIAN VAN DER WOUDEN –
Vita Florentis
¹ Sophie van Balen and Nele Goutier 2016
Sophie van Balen and Nele Goutier, ‘School of Death’, Philosophy Magazine 2016, pp. 26-29.
² René Gude 2015
René Gude, ‘Ik Blijf Maar Sterven’ (interview), Leeuwarder Courant 21 February 2015, Sneon & Snein p. 16-17
