In one of my first blogs I wrote about intention: that intention is key. Some would say that everything starts with that simple thing; a thought, a feeling, an insight, and a strong willingness to say ‘yes’. Like it would stir up the stream of creation. So that’s what happened on this sunny day two weeks ago. And this little bench became suddenly a bit magical.

Orange

It was King’s Day in my home country. So everything turned orange – or red, white & blue – in my home town, the city of Amsterdam. And everybody would dance, cheer and drink on and around the pittoresque canals, surrounded by stands and activities in the typical streets of Amsterdam. In my turn I decided to join with a little King’s Day act myself (started like 2 years ago): giving people the opportunity to win a small bottle of Moët & Chandon – for free. The only thing they needed to do was copying a little close-up magic thing with Orange poker cards.

But as you might figure: it can be challenging, if not too difficult to repeat. It’s more of an interactive thing, to interact with a bunch of people in a fun way. And more importantly: to show them that some things in life are for free, or could appear in a magical way. So if they couldn’t perform the close-up magic (perfectly), I would give them a little bottle of Prosecco, or a voucher of Rituals. And that can be astonishing and empowering enough, because they would get it as a gift. For the record: the concept of receiving things for free or magically is for many people unknown, or at least unexpected.

The Kings

Even though the illusion of the card trick got nothing to do with clairvoyance or whatsoever, I do notice that coincidence and randomness can give it a magical impulse sometimes. And on this King’s Day it wasn’t of any difference: the first person I picked – a woman dressed in orange, but wearing a stylish, black top hat as well – was able to tell the card I picked, after some help of mine. And surprisingly enough, both she and I had randomly picked a king, of all cards on King’s Day. She picked the King of Hearts, and I picked the King of Clubs. Even the friend of hers was astonished – and she wasn’t the only one – so she suspected us of conspiring together. I guess it was a herald, a sign, of more magic to come.

Pile Of Cans

After this encounter I went pretty much straight to a friend of mine, who always organizes this fun event with soft balls and cans. People go crazy when they have to throw the pile of cans down, even though they have to pay in order to win – yes indeed – a big bottle of bubbles. I don’t see this friend, aquaintance, of mine often at all, but it’s always fun to meet her there, also because of her relatives whom I happened to know as well (she and some of her family members used to be my colleagues when I was having my side-job as a teenager). And after a couple of hours I left the place; off to my bike, parked at like a kilometer away. So not much magic over there, but at least a friendly place where I felt welcomed and part of the group. And that mattered.

Intentions

Because of the good weather and the nice atmosphere I decided to detour a bit, and stopped for some minutes to sit on a bench. It was fun to watch people walking by, and my legs needed some rest as well after 4 hours of walking and standing. And there I was thinking of some of my dreams and the power of intentions. So in a wild mood I thought: well, if intentions are so important, and the Universe will also respond to them, why not set one that is crazy and big? And see what happens…

To be honest, it had to do with the content of my blogs and to make them more known to the public. A physical book would also be part of it. After all, one of the reasons why I started these blogs in the first place, was to share my experiences sincerely so that other empaths, intuitive people, or any interested ones – like you all – could relate to them. Ensuring you that you weren’t crazy, that you can enjoy the wonder, and that you would be able to put your own intuitive experiences in perspective. Let’s say to find your own group or tribe, a place of belonging.

Coziness

When I walked further, into the direction of my bike, I got to this place near a canal with some great, chill music. Some part of mine didn’t want to the end the day, so I decided to sit down on another little bench – yes, thé bench. Two guys were already sitting there, but I managed to sit at the corner of the green, wooden thing. A girl who clearly belonged to this little group of people, showed up and made clear she wanted to sit next to me and one of her friends, by pushing her friend a bit aside. And then she squeezed herself between us, on the bench that wasn’t big at all. Leaning a bit into me.

Another friend of theirs showed up, and looked into my direction. Guess he was surprised and felt drawn to me, because of the coziness on the bench – it looked like I suddenly belonged to their group as well. He gave me a fist bump, as a token of kindness, and sat down next to me, when the girl jumped off to go to the loo.

He started talking to me and I noticed this sincere connection with him. The girl who went to the toilet, got back and went dancing, after offering me a lollypop. So I gratefully accepted her gift. The guy next to me was from Serbia – as all of his friends were – and he tried to talk a bit of Dutch to me. So we had this whole conversation about learning languages and living abroad (since I had been living in Spain), and as mentioned before I noticed that we had an open and genuine connection.

Joke

The girl who offered me the lollypop, got back again, and told me surprisingly enough that “I had stolen her lollypop”, as part of a joke. Guess it was meant to be, since it encouraged me to ‘make it up to her’, by offering her the opportunity of winning the bottle of Moët & Chandon. Long story short: they all enjoyed the close-up magic, I gave her gladly a small bottle of prosecco instead, a friend of hers showed me one of her own close-up magic tricks (taught by her grandparents, so she told me), and I continued the conversation with this guy.

When I told him that I sensed something sincere about him, and his attitude towards different cultures and their languages, he opened up even more. And although we hardly knew each other, he told his impatient girlfriend (some other girl) who wanted to leave at some point, to wait for some minutes because we were having a conversation. He also told me, when leaving: “I wish you all the best in life, and please stay the person who you are. You are really great.” He even said, when I thought that he had already left, something like: “Love you, man”, while touching his heart. Let’s say it was remarkable.

– Part II –

The Energy

When the whole group of Serbian people had left, two Dutch guys asked me politely if they could sit next to me. Well, of course, and I welcomed them. The guy next to me (also from Amsterdam) started to talk to me, and we were having a whole conversation about the crowd in the city – in fact, a bit too much of a crowd, according to us both – and the fact that he really enjoyed sitting on the bench, relaxed and simply chatting with me. I had noticed his sincerity as well, and I literally started to wonder: what’s with this bench? Was it the energy of it?

His girlfriend showed up, and because of the lack of space she decided to sit on his lap. But she didn’t notice the full glass next to him, so the whole drink ended up on my trousers. She apologized, and after doing so, she stared into my eyes – for at least five seconds. I was wearing my orange sunglasses, but they are very light coloured, so you could still see my eyes clearly. And there we sat, looking into each other’s eyes for some while. It was funny, and it made me fully aware of the moment.

Social Battery

The guy was handsome, by the way, and his girlfriend (who stood up at some point) had really pretty eyes. But what I liked most about him, was that he wasn’t acting like some cocky or phoney guy. He wasn’t pretending. He even told me – while his girlfriend wanted to talk him into some party – that at some point “your social battery becomes empty”. And he felt tired by all the sensory stimuli. It seemed like he wasn’t wearing any mask. He just shared his true emotions and thoughts. Something I really appreciated. In my turn, among other things, I told him that they made a cute couple, as far as I could tell, since I felt that sincerely. And he appreciated that. Anyways, after a while he stood up, asked for my name, and said: “Hey, it was a pleasure. Maybe I’ll see you around.” So that was it – another sincere conversation, on a not so serious day.

Colonial Roots

Still wondering what was up with this ‘magical bench’, I welcomed ‘the last guest on my bench’. He had been talking to the girlfriend – the girl with the pretty eyes – but when she had left, he decided to sit down to join me. Without any hesitation I welcomed him as well. After all these people I was even curious what he had to say. And my premonition was right.

So even though the previous people made quite an impression on me, this guy turned out to be the cherry on the cake – story-wise. His roots were from Surinam (mixed, I assumed), and he started to talk about several things, like: changing societies, colonial roots, the importance of earth as a role model, his jobs at universities, the craziness of the war economy, and even… the importance of belonging.

Turned out that he was working on some (economical) platform, where people with Surinamese roots should be able to invest their own pension money. And besides that he was working on a photo book from some student of his – a photographer – who wanted to share things about the Moluccan culture (some part of Indonesia where my ancestors are from as well). Talking about roots and belonging.

Inviting

It was interesting, especially since I felt completely at ease to share some of my own ideas as well. Some ideas that I might not share easily with people, let alone with some stranger on King’s Day. But the vibe was there, the atmosphere was pleasant and inviting to discuss those things.

And on top of all the things that he had told me, he also said that he was in particular looking for someone who could help him out with the project of the Dutch/Moluccan student. Organizing stuff, coming up with a fundraising project, et cetera. Maybe I was the right person, he wondered, since he had noticed – sharply, by the way – that I had Moluccan roots myself. Well, apart from the financial part (ideally a financier would finance the whole project, or a big part), I did find the project interesting. Especially because it was a creative project about and from a guy with similar roots.

Other Priorities

So he asked me again, but I had to turn down his offer. Simply because I had other priorities: making my own book, bringing my own ideas and light to a bigger audience. But it was interesting that his project was also about ‘belonging’, being able to relate to your own group or roots – in fact, my own roots – and bringing it to a broader audience. He had even come up with a title for the book already, with the word ‘belonging’ in it – but I won’t spoil it fully, respecting his ideas.

I did tell him that I would keep the whole project in mind, and if anything has shown me through the years: I believe that simply because we had this conversation about the whole thing, through spoken word, the Universe will find a way to make it real somehow – which I told him so. And he agreed. So I asked him to invite me on Linkedin, just in case. I mean, who knows what the future will bring, right?

In Motion

It seemed like the intention setting had set something in motion indeed. And even if it was just for a couple of hours, on a bench near a canal in Amsterdam, it made me feel that I belonged way more to a bunch of people, who were practically strangers to me. Guess the Universe likes to bond whenever you ask for it. And you should think twice before you set your intentions and sit down on a green, wooden bench.