RELAX, RELEASE AND REJUVENATE!

(Something a little bit different)

It was late summer last year, when my friend Dee and I agreed to make time for a visit to a wellness centre. Just the two of us, and full-on treatments and saunas. As is always the case, actually planning a date and combining two diaries (one of which is very busy), it was eventually the New Year and still no concrete plans!

Then suddenly a great offer online for 2 days at Wellness Centre ‘Zwaluwhoeve’ (which in Dutch means Swallow’s Farm) and a hotel for one night next door. So incredibly cheap we could hardly believe it, so we made a reservation. We are going!

One cold, dark January Wednesday morning off we went, ready to tackle the rush hour traffic on one of the busiest motorways in the country, with our bags, trolleys, beauty cases and such like. It is only when you go away that you realise how many things you need from your bathroom each day! We got there much sooner than we anticipated and had time for a ‘pick me up’ coffee and tea as well.

Checking in, goodness me there are a lot of people arriving here as well. The, only minutes ago, empty car park is now full! Armed with our towelling robes, a stack of towels, plastic bags to carry our things around it all day and the locker key, we went up to the changing room. Even busier up here and sub-tropical temperatures, so you are really glad to get out of your clothing.

After a quick visit to the rest room, then downstairs, with towels and bags, wearing almost impossible to walk in slippers too, we studied the map we had received at the reception.

Where to start? There is so much to do and we have two ‘special treatments’ planned for today as well. Hope there is a clock somewhere because all feeling of time has completely disappeared here in this wellness world.

Having walked round in circles several times, up and down different corridors, we decided to start our day in the herbal bath. Off go the towelling robes, and slowly we go down some extremely slippery steps into warm water and the most delicious herbal aroma filling the air. Despite the huge signs everywhere, saying ‘Silence Please’, everyone is busy chatting.

After our skin has gone wrinkly, we have sat there for quite a while; we take ourselves off to the Sandalwood Sauna, mainly to dry off.

Within seconds, there is perspiration flowing down my entire body. Dee says she doesn’t even feel that warm yet!

We then meander back to the showers, get lost again and decide as it is noon by now, where has the time gone? And yes, we finally found a clock, off for lunch in the restaurant, mainly before the crowds come in and also we have a ‘treatment’ planned for 1pm.

I am so thirsty despite the bottle of Green Tea I have with me, which is empty and I have already filled once with fresh water, and a delicious cheese sandwich on really tasty bread goes down very well.

Off to the rasul, if we can find it. I must remember to tell the woman at reception that it might be easier for guests if you got a copy of the map beforehand, this needs a complete study before you arrive, this complex is so vast! We have all forgotten map reading these days with our ‘sat-nav’s’, which get us everywhere.

10 people (including us) waiting for the rasul. First of all a total scrub with some really scratchy, grain like stuff, and yes, please help one another with your backs, there is a choice of 4 things which we can coat our bodies with: Clay, Coconut, Orange or Chocolate. Each one has a different effect on the skin, from detoxifying, to neutralizing, softening or feeding the skin, the human body’s largest organ let’s be honest. It’s when the man who is holding out the dishes asks: ‘Anyone like a Bounty?’ (A mix of chocolate and coconut) my mind is made up and Dee goes for the Clay. In a darkened room, we plaster the stuff over our bodies and then sit down on a stone bench. Within seconds the room is filled with hot steam and the concoction which we have spread everywhere slowly begins to melt and run into every single crevice. It is incredibly hot; we actually cannot see one another anymore. A few lightening flashes and rumble of thunder and on goes the water. It takes simply ages to actually rinse off this mixture, which has gone from thick cream to slippery, slimy goo!

Eventually when we are dry and re-robed, a cool fresh glass of iced fruit water makes us all feel human again but our skin, oh my goodness, as soft as a baby’s bottom!!

On our way in, we noticed that there is a session planned with singing bowls, including tea that afternoon, but first of all we have to find our way back to the Reception to book. Five people later and consulting our map yet again, we eventually arrive back where our day began at the Reception. ‘Sorry full,’ says the Receptionist and we make our way back to the sauna with the Northern Lights, over 80oC and very hot.

Red-faced like two lobsters, we go out into the fresh air, deciding that it might be better to cool off in the garden than in the deep-freezing cold plunge pool. Not for the faint hearted at all! At that moment, the largest sauna of all spills out a lot of people who look as if they have been boiled in water and they stand there naked in the wind to cool off. I think we will give that one a miss, when we hear them talking about the buckets of ice which has been doused all over them during the cooling down session.

It’s now time for our second treatment and there we go again, with our map, now trying to find the section called ‘Beauty’. We have time and eventually we find it and sit down in the waiting area, actually glad to have a rest. Yes, a wellness day can be quite busy but we both feel that we are giving our bodies and our minds a rest, despite the non-stop talking.

It is then that you realize that a day (or two) out with one of your best friends is incredibly rejuvenating. When you talk about literally everything without any form of judgment and any subject, no matter how important or trivial. You can talk about the things that you often worry about, yes this my friends, is relax, release and rejuvenation of the mind! The added extra is that your body is getting the same!

I have chosen for a Ceylon Massage of my back, neck and shoulders, Dee had gone for the Indian message of head, shoulders and neck. Within seconds I am floating off into another world, this is so incredibly relaxing. The woman who is working thick Shea Butter into my skin has already said that she can see that I am someone who spends a lot of time sitting behind my laptop. How true!

She kneads the knots and such like out of my neck and shoulders and to be honest I would have been quite happy to lie there and have a sleep for a couple of hours. But as it always the case, just as you sink into the most relaxed state of all, the session comes to an end and you have to get up and go.

Thirst brings us back into the restaurant area and we go for a thick, chilled fruit smoothie, which is just delicious. Sitting there gazing out of the floor to ceiling windows we see that the new warm salt water pool, right in front of us and outside is empty, so off we go again. It is much colder now and dusk is descending, as we leave our robes and bags and step into the pool. No one else there, a private moment then? The water is wonderful, warm but not too hot, despite the steam rising all around us. It is so salty it is hard to keep your feet on the bottom of the pool. Dee suddenly starts laughing out aloud as she notices that everything that normally hangs down, following the law of gravity, is uplifted! Yes, we suddenly have perky breasts again and no rolls around our tummies. We laugh so much that a group of 4 women who have just stepped into the pool ask us: ‘what is so funny?’ We can hardly reply we are laughing so much, but when we tell them, the same thing happens of course. Wow this is amazing! If only it was something that remained the same always. No more lifts or Botox, a hot warm salty pool gives you a moment of the eternal youth!

By the time we eventually get out and my Goodness it is freezing in the fresh air now and we hastily put on our robes, we decide one more sauna, not too hot, to dry ourselves off before it is time for dinner.

After a delicious meal and more drinks, we are suddenly tired and decide it is maybe time to call it a day and off to our hotel room. Literally a couple of meters across the road from the wellness centre itself. It was hardly worth actually starting and moving the car. We have brought wine and some snacks. Amazing really how tiring the day has actually been, but we have done a lot.

It feels so good to lie back on the very comfortable beds; pillows propped up against the wall and have a glass of wine, which we drink far too quickly. More talking, more laughing, catch up with our social media, which has been off all day (I must do this more often it is quite wonderful not to have looked at my phone all day) we are ready for bed. Eventually under yet another conversation we both sink off into a deep sleep.
Dreams of things that are possible, things we maybe want to change in our lives, loved ones and we are both totally Zen!

Day 2

The alarm I set wakes me up. I have actually been awake a couple of time in the night, but this bed is soft and after turning over, sleep continues. A quick shower and an easy snack type breakfast in our room with the things we brought with us, day 2 begins once more in the reception. Fresh robes, new towels, a new map and our ‘special treatment’ of today, the Haman!

You might think having been here all day yesterday that we might have found our way around this web of corridors and rooms, but we have to consult the map yet again to find the rose sauna, the scent of summer roses and soft music sounds ideal. Having spent another half hour in our favourite herbal pool. Today is a day when you are obliged to wear bathing suits and such like. We both agree it feels very different and the people are different too as well. Perhaps a younger group more couples as opposed to yesterday when the majority were women and older men.

The Haman is amazing! It is an ancient ritual of cleaning both the body and the mind and where people socialized as well, not that a conversation is possible. First of all a really rigorous scrub, and then being completely soaped and massaged with olive oil soap. Bubbles which are massive and you can feel as if you are totally immersed in a world of soft soapy bubbles. The massage is good too, and then copper bowls of warm water to wash it all away and then the impossible, trying to turn over and sit up on a very slippery marble high table, when more bowls of water are sluiced all over you. Sadly its time to go, and we make our way back out of this warm little haven, back into what actually turns out to be a mild spring like day. The wind has dropped; being outside is really pleasant today.

Sorry to have to leave around lunch time for another appointment, but we both agree, this has been a wonderful retreat and definitely something we are going to repeat at least every 3 months. We promise one another that. This is really how to relax, take yourself away from the hum-drum of your every day life, shed your clothing and wander around all day in a warm cosy towelling robe and throw any inhibitions to the wind. Talk, knowing that everything you tell one another is just between the two of you, there is no form of comment (apart from positive advice) no criticism, no feeling that you have to rush and do something else this is really relaxing, releasing and rejuvenating not only your body but also your mind.

We thoroughly recommend!!

Back at home, back into the normal routine, I still feel very ‘Zen’, calm and totally rested, so much so, I actually admit I am tired and decide to give myself another day to acclimatize and not do a lot. This feels good, this relaxed state of mind. My skin feels totally amazing, not a rough patch anywhere and incredibly soft.

Can’t wait to go again……

BLUE MONDAY !!

Just a short blog this morning. I hardly have opened my eyes before I am inundated with messages on social media that this is the ‘most depressing day’ of the year – Blue Monday. Having now opened the blinds, yes it does not look the most appealing day I agree, windy, cold, grey and threat of rain (here in Holland), but come on … why I am almost having to be brainwashed with the idea that today is going to be an awful day, nothing is going to go right, it’s depressing and so on. Well if I allowed all this social media and also the newspapers and television (morning news) are running the same story, to get to me, I may as well just go back to bed and forget the whole day and get up afresh tomorrow.

Where does this rubbish come from? Loads of so-called experts have come to the opinion all over the world that today of all days, is Blue Monday. Why not Blue Friday or Blue Sunday? Why is January the month when apparently we are all ‘in a dip’?

Of course we can allow ourselves to be totally influenced by the media and by coffee time we all believe it!

I decided to look up where this idea comes from?

Well apparently Blue Monday (today 15th January 2018) is the date of the most depressing day of the year. Why I ask myself? It then goes on to say that: Blue Monday is usually on a Monday! Wow I wonder who came up with that thought?

The term Blue Monday, is as it often the case, derived from the English idea of ‘feeling blue’. Feeling blue means that you are sombre, down, or depressed. I am slowly getting to this point just reading the words!

Apparently the colour blue, which I personally associate with the word ‘peace’, comes from the shipping industry. If a ship lost its captain, the crew would put a blue band around a ship to depict their sadness. When the ship eventually came home, then people could see that the crew felt depressed by the loss of their ‘leader’.

The actual man who came up with the idea of Blue Monday is the British psychologist Cliff Amall. He made up his own scientific theory in 2005 that the Monday of the last full week of January would be a day when people were sad? Err what? It was all attached to the idea that their good resolutions had flown out of the window; the weather was bad (well at least that is true today, because since I started typing its pouring with rain too). The days are darker, shorter and guess what? Monday apparently is the first day of the working week, just in case you had missed this point somewhere along the line!!

Blue Monday is apparently a Western European/North American idea. In India for examples the Hindus’ are celebrating the midwinter time (the change over to longer days). They look at this darker period apparently half way through January, from the sunny side. From this moment on sunrise every morning will be earlier than the day before. This of course also relates to the difference between the northern and southern hemispheres. But if you like me are thinking, right let’s all go to India in January from now on, some people on the globe are actually celebrating.

Blue Monday is also known as ‘Depressing Monday’. People don’t think the word Blue is awful enough anymore to describe such a ‘bad’ day.

Right enough is enough!! The real answer is how much do you allow yourself today to be influenced by old customs and far fetched ideas. Isn’t this a day like any other start to the week when you can get out of bed in the morning being grateful for what you have. Grateful that you have a bed to get out of, instead of a piece of plastic somewhere in the middle of nowhere. That you have a job to go to which earns you the money to live? That January is like every single month of the year, it just happens to be the first one? The first one, why don’t we turn that idea around and think, yes, the first one!

I was just about to say ‘what a load of crap’ but I have to say that it is a dark day for sure, I have had to put the lights on to see my laptop better. But, I am not going to allow myself to be pulled down by some silly idea that I have to have a total depression day today. Actually I am in the flow, I am writing a new book (this happened last year 2017 at exactly the same time too). Ideas are flowing, I am being creative and yes, the weather might not be that wonderful, but I am spending my time doing something I really love, going into the fantasy world of writing. Expressing my thoughts, making a story (it’s a fictional book by the way, so no holes barred) and I am not going to go down the road of even thinking for one moment that this is a terrible day and I should not have got up in the first place.

Turn the energy around; think about all those people dancing with joy in India, they are celebrating, so why don’t we just join in? It is up to you whether you allow yourself to be dragged down into a feeling of depression, that nothing is going right, it’s a blue day, and then believe me that is exactly what will happen. You will just pick up this nonsense energy and be taken up in the flow. You can make the choice you know to think differently. Show that you are strong, you dare to not be just one of the herd!

This is such nonsense, have you ever heard of Pink Tuesday or Yellow Saturday??

Keep focussed on what your dreams are? What you want to achieve this year? Maybe some of your well intended resolutions have faded away? Is it that bad? There is always a moment like today when you can begin again isn’t there?

Come on everyone lift up your heart and don’t just go with this weird idea, which someone just came up with, medically or scientifically proven, or not? It is just an idea which mainly installs fear and fear means power. Have a think about that!

Happy, Happy Monday everyone! This is a brand new day and keep focussed.

On a more positive note and we all need that today apparently, the first new moon will occur on January 17th to be exact (marking the beginning of a new lunar cycle. The moon is between the earth and the sun, that is why we can only sometimes see the small crescent shape) and also the second full moon on the 31st January. This is really called the Blue Moon. The English saying: ‘once in a Blue Moon’ means that a big opportunity is coming and a lot of positive energy too. A really positive moment then!

Sorry Cliff Amall I think you got it all wrong.

WHEN ALL THE NUMBERS ADD UP!

Yesterday was a special day as far as energy was concerned. It was the 11th day of January (11.1) and as I have mentioned before 2018 is an 11-year. So yesterday literally had everything going in the right direction and I wonder how many people took advantage of it?

I mentioned in another blog that I was on an 8-day online course organised by a good friend of mine. We all started in a big group (more than 600 people) and for 8 days we did an active meditation, a small exercise and a ritual. The whole theme was to Kick-Start 2018 and also make plans and resolutions for the New Year. If you want to see more please go to www.janosh.com and click on the Webshop under Kick-Start 2018.

Now I don’t know if you, like me, start the New Year normally with all sorts of ideas about things I am going to do differently or change! Usually by mid January all plans have either faded away or been forgotten, so this year I was really keen to try and do it differently.

Not taking hypes or trends into account, when the online workshop began we all, of course, had to make a list of our resolutions. I did. The strange thing was by the second day, I had either changed or tweaked them all. It suddenly did not sound right to make some vague statement, I had to come up with something much more personal. Every day the active meditation had a different theme, helping us to grow. I really enjoyed it.

At the end of the 8 days, and sad that it is over, I really felt that I actually would like to do it all again. That chance was offered too, the interest was so great that they are offered a ‘second time around’ on the 15th January. Those who want to do it again, plus all the new people who have enrolled, we will start again with one another.

Normally when things repeat, I find that I am easily distracted. I am so incredibly busy too one way and another. Just like last January 2017, I am writing a new book. An idea suddenly popped up in my mind and off I went. In the meantime I have just passed the 36.000 word mark, so you can probably imagine my eyes can hardly focus and my fingers are tired from the typing. But each and every day, I sit down to read my email and before I have got through everything, a thought comes up and I write another couple of chapters. And this blog had to be written in between.

This was by the way, not on my list of resolutions to write a new book. It never happens that way, suddenly the title comes up and I make a general summary of what the book is going to be about. Using special software for writer’s I add the chapters written everyday. This software is amazing and helps me where I often repeat words in a chapter not to mention giving me a summary all the time of the characters, their age, their names and such like.

This morning, I just happened to tidy up my desk, which was cluttered with all sort of pieces of paper with notes and things to do, and I came across my first list of resolutions. It was quite an eye opener, mainly because some of the things I wrote down on the 2nd January when the workshop started are no longer really relevant.
One thing I have definitely learnt from this workshop is that resolutions have to be things that are actually achievable. And even more so, things that are clear.

There is no point writing down a sentence like: ‘I want to win the lottery’ lovely as we all think that might be, it’s far too vague and the universe cannot decipher what you actually mean. You may well win a lottery perhaps the amount of money you paid for the actual ticket in the first place, or a small sum, but the jackpot is too far away, unreachable in fact. Statistics prove that. But having said this, we can and should always talk about what we think might be a dream come true. After all there is always a lucky winner too. So make your dreams big, there is nothing wrong with that!

It was a good exercise to find this first piece of paper this morning and compare it with my final list. Much more achievable things and also things I know that I can really stick at.

One of them was: ‘continuing to lose weight’. I have been working on that for quite a while. I don’t like doing it, but I know inside that the reason why I am doing it, is important. I am facing the possibility later this year in having a small heart operation. For those of you who haven’t fainted at the idea. It is something quite routine these days to stop the arrhythmia in my heart (in other words the fact that it beats irregularly).

The electrical circuit in my heart is like a labyrinth of impulses, which are all over the place. My heart is confused does not know what it is really supposed to be doing. My cardiologist has told me that the operation (ablation) will be much more successful if I lose some excess weight. So there is the goal and that is why it becomes so much easier to keep going. I have to admit I did have a bit of a respite over the Festive Season, but I have a sort of ‘deadline’ there, 13th March, my next appointment and I don’t want to sit there saying, er … sorry did not manage to keep up with my plans. I want him to think, my goodness she looks a shadow of her former self (ha-ha). In other words he has to notice that I am so much slimmer!!

This is the point I want to make about the phenomena of ‘making a new resolution’. It has to be, as I said earlier, something that you know you can achieve. If you have been a chain smoker for the majority of your life, it is scientifically impossible to just stop and think; right I won’t smoke anymore. There has to be a trigger to make you want to and that is – will power. You really have to want to; otherwise you know you will not succeed, so you may as well not even bother in the first place.

It is important if you make resolutions, to do this. Impossibilities should not be part of the equation. It should be things that you can actually do, with a reason to make you want to do it, and something that it not so drastic that you end up feeling ill or having withdrawal symptoms!

My original list of about 10 items is cut down, trimmed and pruned into 5 things. 5 things that I know I will at least have a chance of achieving.

Yesterday I was very aware of a huge surge of energy all around the world. There was a lot going on. Oprah Winfrey made a wonderful speech a few days earlier at the Golden Globes. After the fires in California, the mudslides have happened and people have lost literally everything. Not to mention those still missing.

In the country where I live (Holland) there was another earthquake in the northeast, 3.4 on the Richter scale. It is an area where they are extracting gas from the ground, and yet another quake. People need help. They want the Government to come up with some sort of plan. Something to give them the very barest basic essential; a home, a place where we feel at ease and comfortable.

Astrologically speaking yesterday there was a lot going on to. Having had a day very recently (4th January) when there was a Grand Trine of the three fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius (which basically means that the planets are in alignment and make a three sided shape) so it is time to get passionate about what you want to do this year. Then Mercury, the Messenger joins practicability (Capricorn) for two days. Thoughts are much more serious, you are more focussed on your ideas and communication with others is much more grounded than normal. You can think about what needs to be done and if you make a plan this will be highlighted. We will think more about things and also about the next steps we have to take.

I did say, 11th January 2018 was special day energy wise.

Another friend wrote in her daily post: the 11.1 date is a great day for inspiration about your true soul purpose. 11 is about the Truth. So if you have been feeling fearful about showing the world who you really are, or afraid to change something, then this is the day to release those fears and step into your power.

This was to me, all proof that my 8 day online workshop had been something much more important and it was right, each and every day, I did prune and trim my own resolutions, much along the lines written above.

What I want to achieve in 2018 is right. My list is now right and it is now up to me to inspire myself to keep going, no matter what, on some things, this is for the greater good at a later dare.

Some my question to you, dear reader today is:

Did you make resolutions and were they ones you can actually do?

Are you keeping up with what you more or less wanted to do at the beginning of this year?

Have you forgotten all about them?

If not, why not? It is perfectly OK to adjust them!

Today’s date the 12th January is all about expression and creative vibration. A great day to socialize and be with people you love. Spend time on yourself, make sure you are really using your imagination, read, write, daydream or create.

Let’s get going then! Everything is ready and in place to allow you to achieve your dreams, goals and resolutions. Why wait?

Jill Kramer
12th January 2018

SHARING A PART FROM ‘THE BLUE HOUSE’ (as promised)

SHARING A PART OF THE BLUE HOUSE (as promised)

For my first ‘official’ blog of 2018 I thought it might be nice to share a small part of my first romantic novel (published in 2016 both in English and Dutch) with you. There has been a fantastic amount of reactions to my WordPress blogs so far and I try and answer each and every one of them. I think at the very least that is polite when people say such nice things and ask to be added to the feed.

First of all where did the inspiration come from? Well a lot of the things in the book are my own personal experiences and some true, also the stories about the places visited, but it is a romantic fiction novel about two people Grace & Matthew.

They know one another in totally different circumstances but meet up unexpectedly at an event at the end of December 2016.

I actually attended the event ‘White Planet’ hosted by a long time friend of mine in the north of Holland. So the beginning of the story is about my own experience during that event. It was that same afternoon that I suddenly heard the title of the book in my mind. We were being asked what our goals and such like were for the New Year and I said I wanted to write something different, a novel, fiction, something that I could make up in my mind, not based on just sharing information or my own experiences.

From that moment on the book began to take form in my mind, I had a title, two main characters and I liked the idea of going from the two of them telling the story chapter by chapter. Of course I had some help too from a friend, again I did not expect this to happen, but it did and he gave me insights about his real life work, which formed the character Matthew in the book.

But in the end, no matter who was involved, this is a romantic novel and has no bearing on people in real life, hence the correct disclaimer.

It was just as if the words fell out of my fingers, I started in the New Year and it was all done and finished by the end of the month. I made a plan: set down the backbone of the book in some notes used some special writer’s software, which helps to keep me on track, and also who is who in the story. It was just as if the story was writing itself.

Sometimes I would read bits out to my own family asking them what they thought and all sorts of things happened whilst writing. For example I was just writing the part later on in the book where Grace has to drive Matthew’s Tesla car. She is hopeless, cannot start it and then my own phone went. A very good friend of mine told me a real life similar story during the conversation. I was flabbergasted to be honest; I had just done several paragraphs on exactly the same subject!

Whilst writing it was as if, each and every moment brought some sort of confirmation, or something happened, perhaps something as insignificant as a song on the radio, as if the universe was constantly sending reminders and things as if to say, this is good, keep going.

Once finished and edited by my own daughter, what better day in any year than to publish a romantic book, than on St. Valentine’s Day, 14th February and just by chance the time was exactly 14.02 when the book was literally published.

The first reactions were incredible, people loved it and a lot of my friends here in The Netherlands said they wanted to read it, but why not in Dutch. Never done that ever before. So another friend helped me with a translation and the Dutch version was published too. Date 20th July 2017. This again made a nice numerological combination(20 07 2107)

Since publication quite a number of things have happened apart from sales and good reviews. The Dutch version is nominated for the Harland Book Award 2018 (results will be available in April 2018).

Also the Central Book Library choose this book out of the hundreds published every day, and shared the first 17 pages for free via their website. This gave me a top hit on Google for a day.

Yes, the Blue House has been a real experience, in both languages and the thrill of seeing both of them side by side is quite something!

So I thought it might be nice to share the introductory pages, which copyright the text as both books have ISBN numbers (obligatory). The lovely quote from Jeff Brown at the beginning is one I love about words. He read my very first manuscript (Impossible Love) and said he liked the style and the story so much. Great encouragement, he is a well-known Canadian author with several publications to his name.

So this is really how it all began.

A REAL SHORT PART FROM … THE BLUE HOUSE

‘Words so powerful. They can crush the heart or heal it. They can shame the soul, or liberate it. They can shatter dreams, or energize them. They can obstruct connection, or invite it. They can create defences, or melt them.

We have to use words wisely.’

Jeff Brown ©

THE BLUE HOUSE is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

Copyright © Jill Kramer 2017

All rights reserved

Published only in The Netherlands 2017 by Brave New Books

ISBN: 9789402158960

Edited by: Nelian Chabot-Kramer

Publications in other countries and Dutch translation: under negotiation

KRAMER, Jillian, Elizabeth
THE BLUE HOUSE, A NOVEL

Introduction

Where do I begin to tell the greatest love story of all time? A story that all started in a magical place: White Planet, in a high dimension far, far away from here. A serene place, totally white, beautiful and intense feelings of love are everywhere.

How can you get there? Well you can only go when you are completely ready to surrender and give in to everything. When you feel that you are at the truly right moment when you are willing to release your soul and fly free. White Planet is a place where everything is possible for everyone no matter what skin colour, race or creed.

Free your soul and allow her to visit a place, which is just amazing!

And this is how it all began!

CHAPTER ONE

GRACE

This is a story that I would have never believe could happen unless I had actually been there.

It was the lull between Christmas and the New Year and I went to an event called White Planet. The date is 28th December 2016. White Planet is part of the Year End Celebration at the centre of my host who I have known for a long time. It’s a spiritual experience, I have been to many over the years but as he had decided to shut the centre at the end of this year, this is the absolute final event.

It was a long drive up to the north of the small country from where I live. Thick swirling mist, so much so that planes were being re-directed and airports shut but with good sense and slow speeds and the unmissable satellite navigation, which is a god-send, (I would never get anywhere without it), I arrive at the hotel I will be staying overnight and check in.

Dress code for the event is all white, logical really because that is the theme of the day. After I had checked into my hotel, and changed into my white outfit, set off once again in the even thicker mist to my destination.

The first thing that happened as I drove up into the car park was that two people got out of a very sleek sports car, one of whom I recognised immediately, a fellow member of the online workshop group I took part in 2016 and then someone I had never in my wildest dreams expected to meet at this moment in this place. Flabbergasted is I think the word I would use and total non belief that this is real, well it is for now, and I know this person well but in a totally different context.

The usual refreshments and the introductions and then the event begins. First of all we are all going to take a journey together and look back at the year that is coming to an end and decide right here and now which energy we are going take into 2017, which in fact is now only a couple of days away.

And yes, what energy do I want? – because this will set the theme for the New Year and I heard during the day that it is important not to focus on negative things that have happened this year and let’s face it, everyone can think of something negative to which we all gave far too much energy and thought to. What is the positive thought I want then to take with me into another new year?

Well actually it’s is quite easy when you think about what is your passion? What are the things that you love to do the most? Well actually I know the answer to that question because the thing I love to do the very most is to write and play around with words. Then I feel at ease and can enter a world of fantasy or facts. I was actually quite surprised that when the host of the event said that I have a talent for writing and 2017 is going to be the year when I write a book and achieve the fame I want. I actually had never thought about it that way, I write purely because I love to and not so much for best seller lists or recognition, it only takes one person to read my words and become inspired by them and that so far, has always been enough.

But it wets my appetite and the thoughts came for this book.

But back to the event …

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the first half of the event, apart from the fact that it was really excellent and food for thought, literally too because the drinks and nibbles in the intervals were excellent as well.

After a huge vegetarian dinner buffet and so much conversation that at times I forgot that I was supposed to be eating, because the initial shock has gone now and I am finding myself engaged in the most incredible conversation and hearing things that I had never expected to hear. I am so engrossed in the conversation that I don’t notice at all that a lot of new people have arrived for the second part of the event: White Planet.

Suddenly the theatre doors open and scented white smoke fills the room, which is so dense and thick. We are asked to walk into the room, which is rather difficult when you can hardly see and sit or lie down on the cushions on the floor. After the earlier experiences that afternoon of falling three times off my ‘Fatboy’ and having to have help to get up, I relented and took a chair.

We closed our eyes and in a long deep meditation made our way through dimensions in time to go to the White Planet. Deep breathing and exhaling and step-by-step we made our way. When I opened my eyes at the appropriate time, I could hardly believe what I saw, there were images everywhere, on the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls and literally everything was white. It was like being in a virtual white world and totally believable that I was actually there. I find it hard (believe it or not) to find the words to say how amazing it was. We saw images and holograms on one wall, the likes of which I have never seen before and then after a second meditation started to move our bodies in the rhythm of the music and tones.

I was suddenly aware that someone took my hand and I felt their long soft fingers entwine around mine, and the feel of someone close, moving like me, not touching, but very close. Eventually when we were told to open our eyes, it was not a surprise at all, but exactly the person I thought it might be.

Later during one of the intervals we went to the so-called ‘chill room’ to relax and move away from the music. It was just magical, completely dark apart from candlelight and on a huge sheet of glass on the floor, covered with crystal balls all reflecting the light of the candles, flickering images on the walls. I laid down on the piles of cushions and watched the laser images on the ceiling. It was all quite breathtaking and all the time I felt the same hand in mine and his physical body close to me.

I was very aware of a huge circle of light which surrounded us and just as if rays of light were shining all around. It was so peaceful and serene and a mixture of dark and light, pure energy all in one space.

The session comes to an end when the level of energy is raised even higher to bring 12 hours of magic to and end. It is just after 2am and after yet another snack and a cup of hot steaming coffee, people prepare to leave and go out into the starry dark night, and have to de-ice their cars. The mist is freezing and thick and I make my way slowly having said my goodbyes back to my hotel and get undressed and sink into bed.

My mind is swirling with the events of the day and I cannot get to sleep even though I feel physically exhausted. Eventually I drift off into interrupted short sessions of sleep to be awoken by the alarm at 08.15.

To be continued ….. in Chapter two written by Matthew

If you feel that you would like to read more?

This book (and the Dutch version) can be ordered through the site www.bol.com. Just type my name (Jill Kramer) into the search and you will find them. Bol only sends packages out to Holland, Belgium and Germany.

If you live in another country and you want to order, please send an email to me: wordpassion12@gmail.com

Include your name and address and if you have a PayPal account, your email. This is easy method of payment and avoids exorbitant bank charges.

The price of the book is Euro 19,99 ex postage. Obviously different postage rates apply for each country.

Also attached is Chapter Two written by Matthew who has a completely different view all about White Planet.

Read on …..

CHAPTER TWO

MATTHEW

Is this for real? And how many times have I asked myself this question over the past hours. I think back to that exact moment that I got out of my car and there to my amazement is one of my patients getting out of hers. Grace has always been one of my more ‘special’ patients. When I first met her way back in the summer of 2012 she had travelled a long way and also waited for a long time for a second-opinion with me. I remember that meeting well because she has such a story to tell about her heart and when I found out that she had had an operation on her heart way back in 1974 I realised that the names she spoke with such ease, had been the people who inspired me to become the cardiologist I am today.

She had a natural way with words. When I listened to her heart I remember exactly the dress she was wearing. It was a flowing summer dress, blues, lilacs and turquoise and she had a freckled tanned soft skin. She had no shame as she slipped the shoulder straps off and lay down on the couch so that I could listen to her heart. Her ECG was a mess, her heart was irregular and I could see from the echo that one of her valves was leaking slightly. I heard the faint sound of the clicking shut of her mitral valve. She fascinated me. She was the living proof all these years later that the pioneers of heart surgery were amazing at what they did.

The first thing was that I completely change her medication and arranged for a new appointment. Her complete and utter blind faith in me as she shook my hand and smiled was something that I still remember to this day. After she shut the door, I asked my assistant to get her notes from the National Heart Hospital in London, which took quite a while and I marvelled at the papers that lay in front of me: her operation notes signed by one of the most famous cardiologists in the world.

I spoke to her on the phone a few weeks later, when she came back from her holiday in Hawaii. She said she felt better and I made a new appointment to see her again.

Over the years we fell into a routine of regular check up’s and I remember each and every time I came into the waiting room to call the next patient, I would immediately see her sitting somewhere, her whole presence filled the room. She would always look up and smile and I felt myself blushing.

One particular time she was waiting in one of my clinics in the temporary building we were housed when huge building renovations going on at the hospital and the new Heart Centre was being built which would become one of the most advanced and state of art centres in the whole of Europe. It was the medical device clinic and most of the patients waiting were male and elderly. I came out of my room and there she was sitting there dressed in pale grey and a maroon coloured jacket. Her t-shirt was a mass of shining glittery things, which caught the light and her fair hair was flowing around her shoulders. I looked at her, said she was far too early but she nodded and smiled and seemed happy to just sit there and wait reading her book. I rushed through the clinic waiting for her name to be the next one on my list.

She was a joy and always made me laugh about something and after the we talked about her heart, we would always find some subject either about wine or food or holidays and I knew that I chatted on to her longer than I did with other patients. She had soft freckled hands, wore little jewellery (she did not need it) and her fingers were long and she had the most beautiful manicured fingernails.

Yes, she was a special patient for sure, she fascinated me right from the word go and also her story.

Two times we stopped and re-started her heart, it’s a pretty straight forward thing, and she always amazed me by her tenacity and most of all, her complete trust in me that everything was safe just as long as I held her heart in my hands.

I found out through social media that she was also a talented writer and she would often publish blogs and when she did one about me and how I looked after her heart, of course it became the talk of the hospital.

‘Never change a winning team’ she would always say, ‘you are the best doctor ever and I never regret for one single second that I came all this way to be your patient’.

I remember one time when she left I just had a huge urge to hug her, she was that type of person, and I asked her if I could. She laughed and said of course and as I wrapped my arms around her and felt hers around me, something stirred in me deep within. I couldn’t explain at the time.

One of her heart valves started to leak badly and at first I thought she might have to undergo a second open heart operation, but she brushed the idea aside as if to say, everything will be perfect because I know you will look after me.

I am happy to say with a change in medication her valve stopped leaking significantly and ‘our plan’ had worked, the operation was not necessary anymore and her only comment was: ‘see, I know you would just fix it all’. People may think that she was flippant but it was her total trust in me that touched me the most.

This Christmas turned out to be the worst in memory for me. I found out that my wife has been having an affair with one of my best friends and colleagues for quite some time and choose Christmas Eve of all days to tell me that she wanted a divorce and would be leaving in the New Year.
I blamed myself completely because I know I work so many hours every week and I am involved with all my patients and hospital life, but I could not understand how anyone could destroy years of memories in one short moment at the worst possible time ever of the year. We have been married for nearly 30 years and we live a comfortable life. She is the mother of my children for goodness sake, and she really wants to throw all this away?

I went and packed a bag and walked out and got in my car and went to my sister’s. No explanations whatsoever to my boys who were home from university for the holidays, and I found myself driving up northwards, totally shell shocked and wondering what on earth could possibly happen to sort out this mess. I was full of anger, I felt totally rejected and I asked myself time and time again, what have I done wrong? Why? Why now? Then the bitterness came up of how a person who I considered to be not only a colleague and a good friend could betray me like this and destroy the lives of two families? Questions and more questions and by the time I arrived at my sister house, I felt a complete and utter wreck.

Helen is my favourite sister, I have got three but she is the one I feel most comfortable with and as my car drew up at her house, she opened the front door and her arms, which I fell into and burst into tears.

What a Christmas it was and I felt guilty for forcing my presence on her and her own family, but she and I sat for hours late into the night talking and I could talk to her. Then she told me she was going to an event on the 28th and that she would phone up and get a ticket for me.

‘It will be really good for you’,

she said,

‘something completely different and you can just relax and go into a fictional world where love is the only thing you need to think about’.

Yes right, as if I want to think about love, when I feel that my own heart has been shattered to smithereens.

She managed to get the last available ticket and we set off in thick mist to this centre which was only a short drive away and as I parked my car I just could not believe my eyes who got out of the car next to mine. My English patient!!

Helen jumped out of the car, and went to her, they seemed to know one another (how??) and hugged one another as if they had been friends for a long time. As I got out of my side of the car and locked it, she turned around and her mouth fell open with surprise.

‘What on earth are you doing here?’

she asked. She was just a mass of white and glitter, she looked amazing!

Well, to say I was ‘gobsmacked’ would be putting it mildly. Helen was looking at me with a puzzled face and we went through the routine of introductions, hand shaking and walking inside.

Helen said she had been doing an online course during 2016 with Grace and that Grace actually worked with the team translating the words into English.

Of course and now I recall the one time her phone laid on my desk and I had seen her screen saver, which was one of the images I was now looking at on the wall in front of me.

With so many people arriving there was little time to talk and when the event started I could only look ahead and see the back of Grace’s head as she was sitting two rows in front of Helen and I.

We would have to wait until the first interval to continue the conversation … so I sunk back in this huge cushion and concentrated on the words being spoken and the images I could see and what was happening to me!

To be honest I am not sure what to expect really, of course I have heard about the golden ratio and Pi, but sacred geometry – the language of the soul – ?

INTO THE NEW YEAR … 2018 AN 11-YEAR!

 

Happy New Year!

Yes, hi everyone survived Christmas, all the celebrations, food and drinks and then my least favourite evening of the year since I was a child – New Year’s Eve.

It is and always will be a strange moment. A moment of reflection, looking back at what has happened during the 364 days of the year, which is about to come to an end. Do you, like me, have so many things to think about that your first reaction is – thank goodness I survived it all. It was almost like a roller coaster ride. When I took the time to actually go back month-by-month, I came to the conclusion that I have been very busy and have not allowed myself to have much rest. From the first day of January until the last day of December, something has been going on, from highs to lows and to be honest I am exhausted.

After the celebrations of New Years Eve and the actual moment when the clock strikes midnight and a new year begins, before I actually go to bed, I of course like everyone, think ahead about what the next year will bring.

I saw a lovely quote on social media (posted on the 31st December) that said:

Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one!

As a writer I love this idea. The idea that I have a totally blank canvas to fill, with any colour I choose. I can choose what the subjects will be, when and where and eventually and hopefully create the masterpiece.

The beginning of a new year heralds the moment of creating a clean slate. The old year has passed now and on the 1st January, there are endless possibilities.

Do I want to make any good resolutions? Well to be honest, the majority of time I make any, they have usually be well forgotten before the end of January, so maybe it would be a good idea to take a difference approach this year and not make any. Do things differently.

The energy of the year 2018 is a so-called 11 energy (just add up the numbers). When two numbers repeat we call this a: master energy. It is stronger, brighter, has more possibilities than usual, in fact all the pointers are sitting there ready and waiting to make this a very special year.

A lot of people around the world are talking about this. The fact that the coming year will not be thinking all the time about our own personal development but rather joining forces and creating together to make a better world.

Let’s face it; there can be no doubt about it in anyone’s mind. The world today is in a mess! This is putting things mildly too!

But I don’t want this blog to be about things we already know and thus pulling the energy backwards, I hope that it will be to inspire all my readers that we all have to join together if we want to create change. We do for sure. It cannot get any worse.

But the thing that is important is, how do we do that? Well first of all and despite the fact that for years the energy has all been about our personal growth, is now to get ready to work together for the better good of all mankind and create a better world for everyone.

You may be thinking at this moment, like everyone does, how can I personally be part of the change? I have spoken about this before in other blogs, that it literally takes one person to take action and the energy flows like waves across the planet. One single person with a good intention who takes action is enough to inspire others and so the waves gain strength and movement until literally everyone on the planet can feel it. They recognize the feeling deep within.

So in that way, change begins with YOU! What do you want to do this year to make it different from 2017?

Personally, I am taking part from tomorrow for the next 8 days, in a worldwide online workshop organized by a very good friend of mine. 8 days of inspiration and rituals. I am not making any good resolutions this year because deep down inside I know I will not keep them, but I am much more interested in being part of a large group spread across the globe in starting a wave of change.

A better world for all us. No longing thinking about myself, but more about everyone. No longer living on my own little island, but paving the way to join all the islands into one. It may sound like a huge task, it is. But someone has to start somewhere and this was the reason why I decided to sign up for this workshop. I know the work very well; have known the person organizing it for a long time.

Sitting here this dark raining late afternoon on the 1st January I was inspired to start typing something to release out before normal daily life resumes in the morning. When people go back to work after the Festive Season break, when we step into the hustle and bustle of our normal routine.

Just take a moment to reflect yourself. Before you launch yourself in the usual rounds of wishing everyone a Happy New Year (well those you haven’t already!). What does a New Year mean to you personally and how are you going to take the step towards something new?

Remember that often a small step is much better than trying to make a giant leap all in one go. Something small, a word, a thought, a deed can get the ball rolling. That is all it needs. Joining forces, being one, humanity has craved this for centuries. Let go of personal need but concentrate on being part of a bigger whole. That is what the 11 energy of 2018 is literally offering us all.

Let’s make a difference together. The page is blank; it is up to you to write the first word.