My current stamina is still challenging me and life is far from easy. My partner comes home from work half an hour earlier to prepare dinner.
This Summer of 2014 is one that we will remember and is overwhelming, but not because I have been under the weather.
Whenever I open the paper or listen to the radio there are plenty of news items that make me feel sick: the crash of flight MH17, Syria, Gaza, Iraq, Kurdistan, Uzbekistan, Ebola, the schoolgirls from Nigeria. The world is a mess.
Just last week this happened here in the Netherlands: a woman tried running over two twelve year old boys with her car. Allegedly because they teased her dog. And people wonder how come I paint freaks?!
Thankfully, I can stop the abundance of horror, aggression and madness momentarily. Like an ostrich I can put my head in the sand and try to ignore it. Escapism is what I need from time to time, but I am ashamed of my own behavior. All those frightened people in miserable situations out there have no options at all.
I live in a country free of war. I don’t have to worry about having enough to eat or running out of medication. And I am free to choose my own education.
Even though I feel sad that the chances of recovering from my chronic illness are slim… me living to see world peace are even smaller.
Next time I will publish the second article of ‘Peace please’, in that part I will reveal why I paint freaks.
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This post is also available in: Dutch