Think cosmic. Feel global. Act local.
Interview with Anne-Maria Voorhoeve
Anne-Maria Voorhoeve - founder of the Hague Center for global governance, innovation and emergence. Strategist, social alchemist, social architect, cocreator and expert in facilitating Mesh-working networks.
Interview was taken by Peter Levich - founder of the Future Foundation. Psychologist and facilitator.
Below is the text of the interview; a video is also available.
Interview was taken by Peter Levich - founder of the Future Foundation. Psychologist and facilitator.
Below is the text of the interview; a video is also available.
A little speck in the cosmic
Peter: Hello, Anne-Maria. I'm impressed by your work and what you're doing. When I research the projects of the Hague Center, I feel and think: "Wow, it's so good that somebody is doing this. How is it possible to make this channel from something very deep, as I feel, to consensual reality?" People call you a social alchemist and expert of meshworking.
What do you feel and think about the future of our planet and civilization for the next 30 or 100 years, or any other horizon you want?
Anne-Maria: Well, that's not really my scope. I don't look that far ahead. I try to look at what we have now. When I imagine looking at the beauty around us, at nature, and I listen to cosmologists and other people about where we've come from, I think there's such beauty and potential and mystery possible with life.
I do have, of course, this longing for where we can go towards—that there is a balance, that there is a place for everybody, every living being, everything, and that we treat that with respect, and that each finds its own way to grow and show its spark into the world.
That's kind of what I hope we can come towards, because I see and feel that we do not do that as humanity now. I think most parts of nature are finding their own way, but as humanity—and that's where there's a responsibility that I feel within me—we are not really respecting all life forms, not humans, not other life forms.
So if I look at the future, I hope that we can really come into a balance with that, with respectful, loving care and joy of being here together and finding co-creative ways to spend our time, to play together, to develop things, because we have this innate wanting to co-create something.
How can we do that where we are respecting all life forms? That's kind of the vision I would say I hold. And I somehow feel that it must be possible. I don't know how, but it must be possible. I've always felt that, even as a young child—I felt it must be possible to do it differently.
I see us as a little speck on this planet in the larger cosmic reality. And somehow that's there too, being respectful for that as well. I am here. I want to see how I can do something on this Earth, even though I have also, as a kid, imagined a lot about being out everywhere into the larger context. I love to listen to people like Jude Currivan and others who are sharing about all these other realities. I am assuming there is much more than I know and that I can see. And I am here. I want to do something here on Earth.
What do you feel and think about the future of our planet and civilization for the next 30 or 100 years, or any other horizon you want?
Anne-Maria: Well, that's not really my scope. I don't look that far ahead. I try to look at what we have now. When I imagine looking at the beauty around us, at nature, and I listen to cosmologists and other people about where we've come from, I think there's such beauty and potential and mystery possible with life.
I do have, of course, this longing for where we can go towards—that there is a balance, that there is a place for everybody, every living being, everything, and that we treat that with respect, and that each finds its own way to grow and show its spark into the world.
That's kind of what I hope we can come towards, because I see and feel that we do not do that as humanity now. I think most parts of nature are finding their own way, but as humanity—and that's where there's a responsibility that I feel within me—we are not really respecting all life forms, not humans, not other life forms.
So if I look at the future, I hope that we can really come into a balance with that, with respectful, loving care and joy of being here together and finding co-creative ways to spend our time, to play together, to develop things, because we have this innate wanting to co-create something.
How can we do that where we are respecting all life forms? That's kind of the vision I would say I hold. And I somehow feel that it must be possible. I don't know how, but it must be possible. I've always felt that, even as a young child—I felt it must be possible to do it differently.
I see us as a little speck on this planet in the larger cosmic reality. And somehow that's there too, being respectful for that as well. I am here. I want to see how I can do something on this Earth, even though I have also, as a kid, imagined a lot about being out everywhere into the larger context. I love to listen to people like Jude Currivan and others who are sharing about all these other realities. I am assuming there is much more than I know and that I can see. And I am here. I want to do something here on Earth.
Think cosmic. Feel global. Act local.
Peter: Wow, you say that you've felt this from your childhood. How was it? Maybe tell a little about your path. Was it some shared experience with your friends in childhood, or do you see or feel something that other people feel less or don't feel? Maybe some first experience, if you remember.
Annе-Maria: I was born abroad. My parents met each other in Iraq. They went separately there and met each other there in Baghdad in the '50s. That's where my older sister and I were born. Then we moved when I was quite small to Singapore and Malaysia. I've been in airplanes from a very young age and have very positive memories of that. I always feel the excitement of seeing the Earth below us in all kinds of ways.
I've never really said this and I've never thought about this, but your question brings it up—I guess I have had that reality of flying, and through that I have seen things very differently than when you're on the ground, and also living in all kinds of different contexts. I can remember very clearly the excitement when we were in Malaysia, when the first people landed on the moon. I can remember the excitement of my parents.
So that was the context. And also I had a fantasy. I created a whole fantasy world with a friend that we were traveling from Jupiter here. It was not real, but we were playing like that and having a whole imagination around it. So that was a fun time when I was about 11. We also created a language and animals, a whole imaginative world that was there, and we really tried to embody it. We came here and we played with that.
Now, when I'm working with Erwin Lazlo and with Jude whom I already mentioned, and them speaking more about the reality of the whole universe and the cosmology around us. It comes from a very different container, context, background. But it's fun, and I'm still curious about what that all means. I just say, "What if it's all like that?"
We have developed a whole worldview framework to help us to be in this sense of interconnectedness and interrelatedness, and that we are all consciousness, not only here on Earth, but in the whole galaxy. We've created this framework to help us stay in that kind of field by speaking "think cosmic, feel global, act local."
When we developed that framework, when we were practicing "The Cosmic Hologram" — the book of Jude Currivan that came out in 2017 — we thought about how we could make that understandable for people, not for scientists, but for us, I felt that was a huge support. I had been always speaking about "think global, act local," but the shift to "think cosmic, feel global," which immediately opens the heart to the whole Earth around us, and then "act local" gives a different kind of sense, a different kind of consciousness for me, which makes it easier actually to feel that we're all part of this whole reality.
Annе-Maria: I was born abroad. My parents met each other in Iraq. They went separately there and met each other there in Baghdad in the '50s. That's where my older sister and I were born. Then we moved when I was quite small to Singapore and Malaysia. I've been in airplanes from a very young age and have very positive memories of that. I always feel the excitement of seeing the Earth below us in all kinds of ways.
I've never really said this and I've never thought about this, but your question brings it up—I guess I have had that reality of flying, and through that I have seen things very differently than when you're on the ground, and also living in all kinds of different contexts. I can remember very clearly the excitement when we were in Malaysia, when the first people landed on the moon. I can remember the excitement of my parents.
So that was the context. And also I had a fantasy. I created a whole fantasy world with a friend that we were traveling from Jupiter here. It was not real, but we were playing like that and having a whole imagination around it. So that was a fun time when I was about 11. We also created a language and animals, a whole imaginative world that was there, and we really tried to embody it. We came here and we played with that.
Now, when I'm working with Erwin Lazlo and with Jude whom I already mentioned, and them speaking more about the reality of the whole universe and the cosmology around us. It comes from a very different container, context, background. But it's fun, and I'm still curious about what that all means. I just say, "What if it's all like that?"
We have developed a whole worldview framework to help us to be in this sense of interconnectedness and interrelatedness, and that we are all consciousness, not only here on Earth, but in the whole galaxy. We've created this framework to help us stay in that kind of field by speaking "think cosmic, feel global, act local."
When we developed that framework, when we were practicing "The Cosmic Hologram" — the book of Jude Currivan that came out in 2017 — we thought about how we could make that understandable for people, not for scientists, but for us, I felt that was a huge support. I had been always speaking about "think global, act local," but the shift to "think cosmic, feel global," which immediately opens the heart to the whole Earth around us, and then "act local" gives a different kind of sense, a different kind of consciousness for me, which makes it easier actually to feel that we're all part of this whole reality.
Earth Looking at the Universe
Peter: I feel very strongly what you bring through the body, also with your body language, and how you found this feeling of resonation with the universe. Maybe there are some practices which we can do personally on a day-to-day basis for people who maybe don't work in NGOs or global projects, but are feeling resonance with what you tell us. How to start, how to have a trial version of this universal feeling?
Anne-Maria: One of the meditations that I do sometimes is starting with aligning myself. I can go into the earth. I can imagine that if I'm putting all the chakras—the energy centers in my body —in a line, I can then feel my feet on the ground, the soles of your feet, and also sensing at the back that you're all grounded. Then you can do as if you were having, like trees, roots into the earth, and you can go deeper and deeper and deeper.
The deeper you go, just like a tree, the deeper the roots are, the higher often the trees are as well. Just by looking at a tree and imagining what you're seeing with the tree going down and then going up already gives a different perspective than we as humans usually have.
What I sometimes do is imagine that I'm going down into the earth, following that path of the roots, and then looking up, imagining that I'm seeing the soil with all the little animals and everything that's in there and the roots, and then the part of what we humans are doing. We're also in the soil with all our pipes and lines. But then looking up and seeing the stars beyond it.
If I do that, that really gives me a much better sense of "I am Earth. I am part of that reality. We are all part of Mother Earth, or Gaia, however you want to call that." If I bring it like that, instead of sitting on the earth and looking up—then I can still dissociate myself—but if I go into it and then look up, it's fun just to try it. It's just the imagination of trying it and feeling it.
You can also go out into the stars, then imagine that you're seeing the whole around it. We have such creative fantasy if we can tap into that, because we all have it. But of course, our systems and structures and our life conditions don't always allow us to really play in that field. I think I've been lucky that I've never been told that I was not allowed to have that imagination.
If we stay connected and grounded—because you can also have an imagination that you kind of fly away, that you don't belong here on Earth, that you're somewhere else, and of course our science fiction movies give us a lot of examples of how that could be—but if you stay connected somehow here and then let that play, it can be so expansive and joyful and beautiful.
Anne-Maria: One of the meditations that I do sometimes is starting with aligning myself. I can go into the earth. I can imagine that if I'm putting all the chakras—the energy centers in my body —in a line, I can then feel my feet on the ground, the soles of your feet, and also sensing at the back that you're all grounded. Then you can do as if you were having, like trees, roots into the earth, and you can go deeper and deeper and deeper.
The deeper you go, just like a tree, the deeper the roots are, the higher often the trees are as well. Just by looking at a tree and imagining what you're seeing with the tree going down and then going up already gives a different perspective than we as humans usually have.
What I sometimes do is imagine that I'm going down into the earth, following that path of the roots, and then looking up, imagining that I'm seeing the soil with all the little animals and everything that's in there and the roots, and then the part of what we humans are doing. We're also in the soil with all our pipes and lines. But then looking up and seeing the stars beyond it.
If I do that, that really gives me a much better sense of "I am Earth. I am part of that reality. We are all part of Mother Earth, or Gaia, however you want to call that." If I bring it like that, instead of sitting on the earth and looking up—then I can still dissociate myself—but if I go into it and then look up, it's fun just to try it. It's just the imagination of trying it and feeling it.
You can also go out into the stars, then imagine that you're seeing the whole around it. We have such creative fantasy if we can tap into that, because we all have it. But of course, our systems and structures and our life conditions don't always allow us to really play in that field. I think I've been lucky that I've never been told that I was not allowed to have that imagination.
If we stay connected and grounded—because you can also have an imagination that you kind of fly away, that you don't belong here on Earth, that you're somewhere else, and of course our science fiction movies give us a lot of examples of how that could be—but if you stay connected somehow here and then let that play, it can be so expansive and joyful and beautiful.
We are relational beings
Peter: On a more global level, do you feel that we have a situation of a great mistake? There are some forces in the world which are maybe not opposite to what we are talking about, but who lead us to a future not connected with Earth, maybe a more technological-based future, like singularity. And these people—I think, I believe that they also act from the heart, from what they feel would be better for all of us. But as a result, we have like a concurrency between images of the future, and different people have different intentions and take power, energy, money, and other types of resources toward the future.
How can we make a common decision? How can we have this circle when everybody has a place? Or maybe for some images of the future there is no place in our circle of life because they destroy the planet. What can we do with these forces?
Anne-Maria: What we try to do with the team in the Hague Center is really trying to come up with ways that can be helpful for us to stay in a place of an open heart and with respect for life and all life, from the ground of our being, knowing that there are so many forms.
Diversity is the key of evolution. If you look at your garden, there are so many different plants and forms. If it's all one plant, it's very different life force. Diversity is so important, and that's also being taught more and more by scientists—that in that unity of all of us here interconnected and interdependent, diversity is crucial.
To acknowledge that there are so many different ways that we can look and experience reality, and that each of us—I believe each and every one of us have our own experiences to go through in life. It's part of our journey. It's part of our growth. I can't really judge what your life is about. I can only speak about myself.
And because I can see how I can impact and influence others, I can work on trying to be a loving person in every moment that I am awake.
What is mine to do in that? And what is ours to do? And what is the larger context? Knowing it's nested—I am part of another group and another group and another group. And also knowing that it's fractal, it's fractally organized. In the smallest and in the largest, there are the same kind of principles that are underlying—sacred geometry principles.
From that, how can I, how can we design together systems and structures in our context that serve that, that serve me to be in that loving space, to feel the wholeness and to be able to be grounded enough so that I can open up that creativity and open up the relationship? Because we are relational beings. What are the things that help us to stay in a relationship?
That doesn't mean that everything should always be related. There are certain ways of expressing life that don't serve me or that don't align with me. So the discernment—making a decision between "do I want to be there or there?"—yes, that's what I need to practice, but not by judging so much the other, but by making clear it's not my path. My path is through the heart. If your path is through technology, and if your path is working that way, then can we meet each other somewhere that we can be inspiring each other? And if not, then that's not the case.
Now, there are, of course, practices and ways of working that are destroying life, that are not respectful, that are purposefully creating pain and those kind of things that I feel are not respectful and not fair. I don't want to be part of that. But again, I'm looking for: is there some way that I can invite another approach to happen? And if not, if a system is totally or a person is totally closed and so convinced of their own ways, then probably I'm not the one to find an opening. Probably it's somebody else.
We know that if somebody wants to push and I push back, you only get more power pushing. So then maybe it's my action to move out of the way and let it be and let somebody else deal with that. I can't—I'm not the right connector for everything. So how can I make a conscious choice for that? And also take responsibility if it's clear that I am either triggering or not contributing or pushing or doing something that is not at all serving my life purpose, and then to step back and take the humility and the conscious choice to go another direction.
The things that I give attention to are as much as I can coming from that perspective of life- affirming. And there are so many ways that we can enhance that capacity for the heart to be open and life-affirming possibilities to show up. There's enough to be done. So that already is a huge amount of potential and possibilities.
We're also doing more and more research into how resonance plays a role. Knowing that if I can really be fully present and with an open heart and with curiosity and expanding, that if you're open to that, that can be an invitation for you to do that as well. And for us to come into some kind of coherence together in which we can then come into an even greater potential for co- creative capacity to emerge.
How can we do that on a personal scale, on a community scale, on a city scale, on a bioregional scale, on a larger scale? Because science shows us that resonance affects each other. The butterfly effect. So if we focus on these kind of things, how can those ripples of love and light perhaps touch other people to be inspired, to have hope, to see an opening so that they can also do that? I don't know where that happens. I just hope that it serves somehow, somewhere, in some kind of way.
How can we make a common decision? How can we have this circle when everybody has a place? Or maybe for some images of the future there is no place in our circle of life because they destroy the planet. What can we do with these forces?
Anne-Maria: What we try to do with the team in the Hague Center is really trying to come up with ways that can be helpful for us to stay in a place of an open heart and with respect for life and all life, from the ground of our being, knowing that there are so many forms.
Diversity is the key of evolution. If you look at your garden, there are so many different plants and forms. If it's all one plant, it's very different life force. Diversity is so important, and that's also being taught more and more by scientists—that in that unity of all of us here interconnected and interdependent, diversity is crucial.
To acknowledge that there are so many different ways that we can look and experience reality, and that each of us—I believe each and every one of us have our own experiences to go through in life. It's part of our journey. It's part of our growth. I can't really judge what your life is about. I can only speak about myself.
And because I can see how I can impact and influence others, I can work on trying to be a loving person in every moment that I am awake.
What is mine to do in that? And what is ours to do? And what is the larger context? Knowing it's nested—I am part of another group and another group and another group. And also knowing that it's fractal, it's fractally organized. In the smallest and in the largest, there are the same kind of principles that are underlying—sacred geometry principles.
From that, how can I, how can we design together systems and structures in our context that serve that, that serve me to be in that loving space, to feel the wholeness and to be able to be grounded enough so that I can open up that creativity and open up the relationship? Because we are relational beings. What are the things that help us to stay in a relationship?
That doesn't mean that everything should always be related. There are certain ways of expressing life that don't serve me or that don't align with me. So the discernment—making a decision between "do I want to be there or there?"—yes, that's what I need to practice, but not by judging so much the other, but by making clear it's not my path. My path is through the heart. If your path is through technology, and if your path is working that way, then can we meet each other somewhere that we can be inspiring each other? And if not, then that's not the case.
Now, there are, of course, practices and ways of working that are destroying life, that are not respectful, that are purposefully creating pain and those kind of things that I feel are not respectful and not fair. I don't want to be part of that. But again, I'm looking for: is there some way that I can invite another approach to happen? And if not, if a system is totally or a person is totally closed and so convinced of their own ways, then probably I'm not the one to find an opening. Probably it's somebody else.
We know that if somebody wants to push and I push back, you only get more power pushing. So then maybe it's my action to move out of the way and let it be and let somebody else deal with that. I can't—I'm not the right connector for everything. So how can I make a conscious choice for that? And also take responsibility if it's clear that I am either triggering or not contributing or pushing or doing something that is not at all serving my life purpose, and then to step back and take the humility and the conscious choice to go another direction.
The things that I give attention to are as much as I can coming from that perspective of life- affirming. And there are so many ways that we can enhance that capacity for the heart to be open and life-affirming possibilities to show up. There's enough to be done. So that already is a huge amount of potential and possibilities.
We're also doing more and more research into how resonance plays a role. Knowing that if I can really be fully present and with an open heart and with curiosity and expanding, that if you're open to that, that can be an invitation for you to do that as well. And for us to come into some kind of coherence together in which we can then come into an even greater potential for co- creative capacity to emerge.
How can we do that on a personal scale, on a community scale, on a city scale, on a bioregional scale, on a larger scale? Because science shows us that resonance affects each other. The butterfly effect. So if we focus on these kind of things, how can those ripples of love and light perhaps touch other people to be inspired, to have hope, to see an opening so that they can also do that? I don't know where that happens. I just hope that it serves somehow, somewhere, in some kind of way.
We always have our breath with us
Peter: I think there can be maybe two types of people who will see and hear us. The first type is people who work in offices or other places and feel this call—maybe like you from childhood, maybe from some other practices, communities, or maybe from our interview—this call for some healing action, for something very deep, something which is bigger than us. These people maybe want to act somehow. Maybe they have meditation in the morning, for example your meditation with trees, maybe some other practices, but they need money for life. They need to go to work from eight to six or other professions. What actions can we propose or recommend? How can there be this path from working very deep in our civilization to some transformation actions?
Anne-Maria: In whatever condition we are, having an awareness of our breath is the most profound and easiest way, because we always have our breath with us—otherwise we die. So becoming aware of that and how you are breathing and if you can breathe deeper. In mindfulness we say just be aware of what's happening, don't try and change it, and through that learn and recognize your own patterns and then see how you can deepen your breath and how you can work with that and play and see how it goes differently. And then try and come up with little tricks for yourself to help you.
For example, if you put your hand on your stomach, your breath already goes deeper. And when your breath is deeper, it's easier in your body. If you're putting your hand on your body, your breath goes deeper. And if your breath goes deeper, other parts of your brain get more possibility to help you guide your life. This is my way of saying it—that's not the official way, of course. But this is how I imagine that for myself.
While if I'm breathing very high and fast, that is more associated with danger—fight, flight, freeze—that kind of bodily signals. And so it's then also other parts of your brain that light up and guide you. So just having that already in whatever place you are and practice that, even if you are in the worst life conditions, if that's possible, it can help you support yourself to be able to respond in a different way.
That sounds like, "Okay, we can do that easily." And that's not true, of course—it requires some practice. And it is something that you can always do while you're in the car, while you're sitting waiting for a bus, while you're walking outside, whatever way. Your breath is always there, just as the soles of your feet, if you still have your feet, of course.
Feeling your soles of your feet on the earth brings your system down onto the earth and also helps us to be more fully present. And that just has all kinds of responses in your body.
These are two things that you don't need any technologies or anything with. You just need to remember yourself, remind yourself of it, that that's something that you can be doing.
And through that, it can help perhaps to make a different choice in a response or in an action that you're taking that might not always be the best one for yourself or for the context that you're in. Because that's what often happens. We often unconsciously respond immediately to some kind of things that really saved us in the past as children. But is that still the response you need to give now?
A third thing that really helps me is to focus on nature. If you're working in an office, see if you can get a small plant, even if it's just a tiny plant on your desk. Looking at that and just seeing the amazing capacity of a plant and how it's growing and just bringing that attention to that can already make a difference. And also, if there is any other animal, any other way—if we're stuck in our minds, stuck in some kind of energy or emotions or whatever—going out into nature, touch a tree, touch a plant, it really makes a difference. Just try it out. What if it does really help? And it's so easy.
Anne-Maria: In whatever condition we are, having an awareness of our breath is the most profound and easiest way, because we always have our breath with us—otherwise we die. So becoming aware of that and how you are breathing and if you can breathe deeper. In mindfulness we say just be aware of what's happening, don't try and change it, and through that learn and recognize your own patterns and then see how you can deepen your breath and how you can work with that and play and see how it goes differently. And then try and come up with little tricks for yourself to help you.
For example, if you put your hand on your stomach, your breath already goes deeper. And when your breath is deeper, it's easier in your body. If you're putting your hand on your body, your breath goes deeper. And if your breath goes deeper, other parts of your brain get more possibility to help you guide your life. This is my way of saying it—that's not the official way, of course. But this is how I imagine that for myself.
While if I'm breathing very high and fast, that is more associated with danger—fight, flight, freeze—that kind of bodily signals. And so it's then also other parts of your brain that light up and guide you. So just having that already in whatever place you are and practice that, even if you are in the worst life conditions, if that's possible, it can help you support yourself to be able to respond in a different way.
That sounds like, "Okay, we can do that easily." And that's not true, of course—it requires some practice. And it is something that you can always do while you're in the car, while you're sitting waiting for a bus, while you're walking outside, whatever way. Your breath is always there, just as the soles of your feet, if you still have your feet, of course.
Feeling your soles of your feet on the earth brings your system down onto the earth and also helps us to be more fully present. And that just has all kinds of responses in your body.
These are two things that you don't need any technologies or anything with. You just need to remember yourself, remind yourself of it, that that's something that you can be doing.
And through that, it can help perhaps to make a different choice in a response or in an action that you're taking that might not always be the best one for yourself or for the context that you're in. Because that's what often happens. We often unconsciously respond immediately to some kind of things that really saved us in the past as children. But is that still the response you need to give now?
A third thing that really helps me is to focus on nature. If you're working in an office, see if you can get a small plant, even if it's just a tiny plant on your desk. Looking at that and just seeing the amazing capacity of a plant and how it's growing and just bringing that attention to that can already make a difference. And also, if there is any other animal, any other way—if we're stuck in our minds, stuck in some kind of energy or emotions or whatever—going out into nature, touch a tree, touch a plant, it really makes a difference. Just try it out. What if it does really help? And it's so easy.
Feeling gratitude for life
Peter: And the other type of our potential listeners, I think, can be people who already do some actions, maybe with their projects, communities, maybe eco-projects, volunteering projects, NGOs and intentional communities. There are a lot of these people in the world now who feel this call. But sometimes the images of the future of these communities and projects are not very different. It's not as a situation of singularity scenario versus connection scenario, but it is one direction for some next steps, but in some future it can be different. For example, it can be different spiritual schools or approaches. How can we make this resonance action between projects and forces who already transform the world intentionally, see this context and try to act, but act maybe in a little different directions? How can we synchronize this? What may be a common action?
Anne-Maria: I think you're asking about ways to connect more to each other—conscious communities—and what ways can we find each other or others that might resonate with us? Of course, there are social media and all kinds of other ways, ways to look for certain groups and initiatives. There's also the Living Cities Earth Network that some people are part of. Those websites and networks give opportunities to reach out and to find each other.
We now have a Future Leadership Quest program for young people that we're offering for free. It's a way to look into and be inspired and listen to people like me, but also all kinds of others that are city builders or are working in different contexts, but all coming from this perspective of respect for life and coming from the notion that we are all interconnected and interdependent and that life deserves that respect that we were speaking about earlier.
Then we have One World in Mighty Networks, which is another large group of people that are all acting in very different sectors of society, different activities, and come together online, and in some cases also in different places. But primarily, I'm now naming online contexts because that's the easiest to speak about. There are links also on our website toward these communities.
We have World Unity Week—that's always in June. And then Peace Week is around September. So we do events for free, online events, with every changing of the season. In the week of the 21st of June, we do World Unity Week. In the week of September, we do Peace Week. In December, we do Enlightening Our Way Together. And in the beginning of the year, we do Being Beloved Community. Everybody's welcome. Everybody is welcome to join when you're coming from that perspective of respect for life, if I can use that as a shortcut. There you will find people that are very resonant with this way of looking at the world and trying to contribute in whatever way.
Because there are big things—we're looking at governance structures. How do we organize ourselves? How do we build peace? These are big topics, but they all start with the small things that we do at home. They all start with me and how I am approaching life and how I am showing up with my partner, with my children, with my neighbors. The smallest act is just as important as the big scale acts. I just happen to have that global context, but if I don't practice it at home, that global context means nothing and it won't have that resonance.
Feeling gratitude for life — gratitude is another very powerful energy. Having gratitude for something, anything — that can be the cup of tea that you drink, the food that you eat, the land that you walk on — sensing, feeling gratitude for that, and for that moment of being alive, also can really bring some peace of mind and also resonance. And with that kind of resonance, there's also an opening up to who are you actually meeting? Where are you? Because sometimes we just don't realize that maybe it is already in our own neighborhood, village, town, where we are finding other people with whom we can be doing beautiful things and making and doing and having beautiful time, being together in that kind of place is already making a difference, is already vibrating love and light into the world, which will be helpful somehow, somewhere.
Anne-Maria: I think you're asking about ways to connect more to each other—conscious communities—and what ways can we find each other or others that might resonate with us? Of course, there are social media and all kinds of other ways, ways to look for certain groups and initiatives. There's also the Living Cities Earth Network that some people are part of. Those websites and networks give opportunities to reach out and to find each other.
We now have a Future Leadership Quest program for young people that we're offering for free. It's a way to look into and be inspired and listen to people like me, but also all kinds of others that are city builders or are working in different contexts, but all coming from this perspective of respect for life and coming from the notion that we are all interconnected and interdependent and that life deserves that respect that we were speaking about earlier.
Then we have One World in Mighty Networks, which is another large group of people that are all acting in very different sectors of society, different activities, and come together online, and in some cases also in different places. But primarily, I'm now naming online contexts because that's the easiest to speak about. There are links also on our website toward these communities.
We have World Unity Week—that's always in June. And then Peace Week is around September. So we do events for free, online events, with every changing of the season. In the week of the 21st of June, we do World Unity Week. In the week of September, we do Peace Week. In December, we do Enlightening Our Way Together. And in the beginning of the year, we do Being Beloved Community. Everybody's welcome. Everybody is welcome to join when you're coming from that perspective of respect for life, if I can use that as a shortcut. There you will find people that are very resonant with this way of looking at the world and trying to contribute in whatever way.
Because there are big things—we're looking at governance structures. How do we organize ourselves? How do we build peace? These are big topics, but they all start with the small things that we do at home. They all start with me and how I am approaching life and how I am showing up with my partner, with my children, with my neighbors. The smallest act is just as important as the big scale acts. I just happen to have that global context, but if I don't practice it at home, that global context means nothing and it won't have that resonance.
Feeling gratitude for life — gratitude is another very powerful energy. Having gratitude for something, anything — that can be the cup of tea that you drink, the food that you eat, the land that you walk on — sensing, feeling gratitude for that, and for that moment of being alive, also can really bring some peace of mind and also resonance. And with that kind of resonance, there's also an opening up to who are you actually meeting? Where are you? Because sometimes we just don't realize that maybe it is already in our own neighborhood, village, town, where we are finding other people with whom we can be doing beautiful things and making and doing and having beautiful time, being together in that kind of place is already making a difference, is already vibrating love and light into the world, which will be helpful somehow, somewhere.
Love yourself
Peter: The next question may feel a little strange. If you have an opportunity to come to people's dreams—I mean night dreams—for billions of people simultaneously, for example, in the next night, and you can come to the dream or construct, create some dream with yourself or without yourself, what will be this dream? What will be this message?
Anne-Maria: Love yourself. Love and respect yourself. I think that's where it starts. Every time again, it starts with that. Can we really truly be present with who I am and the mystery and the beauty of life in that? Even if you might be in a difficult situation or whatever, that's where it starts. Can we love ourselves?
So I guess that would be the practice that I would be wishing that we can all be doing.
And out of that, then seeing how that opens up to other things, but starts with ourselves. And that's really about the intrinsic love. So not about how much money I have made and all the other things.
And knowing that none of us are perfect. We're not perfect. That's part of life. So loving ourselves means also loving the parts that we don't like and that we might want to change. But can we acknowledge that they are there too and that they are somehow forming us and challenging us and probably making some things difficult? And it's also part of us. I think that's part of the practice, because if we can bring that more fully into our hearts, I think we can also have more compassion for all the other things that we're seeing outside of us. And also compassion for the people very near to us. Through that, then of course it resonates and it builds up.
Anne-Maria: Love yourself. Love and respect yourself. I think that's where it starts. Every time again, it starts with that. Can we really truly be present with who I am and the mystery and the beauty of life in that? Even if you might be in a difficult situation or whatever, that's where it starts. Can we love ourselves?
So I guess that would be the practice that I would be wishing that we can all be doing.
And out of that, then seeing how that opens up to other things, but starts with ourselves. And that's really about the intrinsic love. So not about how much money I have made and all the other things.
And knowing that none of us are perfect. We're not perfect. That's part of life. So loving ourselves means also loving the parts that we don't like and that we might want to change. But can we acknowledge that they are there too and that they are somehow forming us and challenging us and probably making some things difficult? And it's also part of us. I think that's part of the practice, because if we can bring that more fully into our hearts, I think we can also have more compassion for all the other things that we're seeing outside of us. And also compassion for the people very near to us. Through that, then of course it resonates and it builds up.
I am, I feel, I want
Peter: So this dream will be like a mood, an impression of self-love. Maybe there will be some plot in this dream, some environment. How would this message be implemented to the unconsciousness of people?
Anne-Maria: Probably an invitation first, because of course I don't know what you need in order for you to love yourself more. I have no idea. Every day—I don't know how you experience that, but every day again, it's kind of like figuring it out, even for myself. There are always things that show up that I thought, "Oh, okay, I thought I'd already changed that," but then it comes up again.
So I think it would be an invitation. It would be an invitation to come into that kind of space and to share. Because in the sharing, there is an ability to help ourselves understand ourselves better, because the other is mirroring parts of yourself. So that helps. And also speaking it, speaking the words, speaking it out, helps yourself to believe it as well, because you're then hearing yourself say those words. And if you're speaking in the "I"—"I am, I feel, I want, I am"— that helps to integrate it within yourself.
So I think in the dream, it would be an invitation. And for some, I presume I would show up as a fairy. And for others, I would show up as a dragon. And for others, I would show up as a bird or as a person. That, I think, is the joyfulness of our fantasies in which we can shift and shape. In a dream, we can change all the time, can't we? So we could be different colors, different forms, whatever, depending on what the invitation for yourself is and needs and helps to be in that kind of way. It's quite a nice exercise, actually. Thank you for that question.
Anne-Maria: Probably an invitation first, because of course I don't know what you need in order for you to love yourself more. I have no idea. Every day—I don't know how you experience that, but every day again, it's kind of like figuring it out, even for myself. There are always things that show up that I thought, "Oh, okay, I thought I'd already changed that," but then it comes up again.
So I think it would be an invitation. It would be an invitation to come into that kind of space and to share. Because in the sharing, there is an ability to help ourselves understand ourselves better, because the other is mirroring parts of yourself. So that helps. And also speaking it, speaking the words, speaking it out, helps yourself to believe it as well, because you're then hearing yourself say those words. And if you're speaking in the "I"—"I am, I feel, I want, I am"— that helps to integrate it within yourself.
So I think in the dream, it would be an invitation. And for some, I presume I would show up as a fairy. And for others, I would show up as a dragon. And for others, I would show up as a bird or as a person. That, I think, is the joyfulness of our fantasies in which we can shift and shape. In a dream, we can change all the time, can't we? So we could be different colors, different forms, whatever, depending on what the invitation for yourself is and needs and helps to be in that kind of way. It's quite a nice exercise, actually. Thank you for that question.
Can I love even more?
Peter: Thank you. Сan you tell some of your dreams which maybe have some influence on your work, your mission? Maybe some moment in your life, a long time ago, or yesterday?
Anne-Maria: Are you asking about a dream or asking something that I'm longing for? Because I don't really remember so many of my dreams.
Peter: I'm asking about night dreams, in the context of what we're talking about.
Anne-Maria: Some of the things that I was just sharing come very much from within myself. If I feel just before I sleep, falling asleep, that I'm in this state of making a list of things that I didn't do, I try to change that immediately. I try to shift that—and that doesn't always work. But I try to do that because I have a sense that if I go to sleep like that, I rest differently than when I can go to sleep by dreaming about "can my heart even be larger? Can I love even more? Can I feel parts of my—I don't know if you could feel your organs, I can't really, but I do try. I imagine that I can do that."
So that's an exercise—a deep breath or opening up or thinking of something or imagining something loving. That's kind of the things that I do before I fall into sleep. If I wake up with a dream that is not so nice, I again try and bring myself back into sleep to change it. Because there are ways that we can visualize, also when we are having nightmares, how we can change that. That's a practice that we can be doing.
My dreams are not always beautiful either. This is what I'm sharing is my own journey. I have a cat and a dog and they're very dear to me. And so there's also always that I can shift my attention to.
Anne-Maria: Are you asking about a dream or asking something that I'm longing for? Because I don't really remember so many of my dreams.
Peter: I'm asking about night dreams, in the context of what we're talking about.
Anne-Maria: Some of the things that I was just sharing come very much from within myself. If I feel just before I sleep, falling asleep, that I'm in this state of making a list of things that I didn't do, I try to change that immediately. I try to shift that—and that doesn't always work. But I try to do that because I have a sense that if I go to sleep like that, I rest differently than when I can go to sleep by dreaming about "can my heart even be larger? Can I love even more? Can I feel parts of my—I don't know if you could feel your organs, I can't really, but I do try. I imagine that I can do that."
So that's an exercise—a deep breath or opening up or thinking of something or imagining something loving. That's kind of the things that I do before I fall into sleep. If I wake up with a dream that is not so nice, I again try and bring myself back into sleep to change it. Because there are ways that we can visualize, also when we are having nightmares, how we can change that. That's a practice that we can be doing.
My dreams are not always beautiful either. This is what I'm sharing is my own journey. I have a cat and a dog and they're very dear to me. And so there's also always that I can shift my attention to.
How to work with complicated energies
Peter: And in continuation of falling to sleep and waking up, I have a question about your daily life. How is it to be Anne-Maria, the founder of Hague Center? You work with very big energies and a whole world, and you provide this energy, maybe pain, maybe collective unconsciousness. How do you grow your daily life to have this power to host this, to provide this, to be in contact with such big things?
Anne-Maria: I have some energetic practices. I always go outside before I go to bed, no matter what time. When I'm at home, I do that with the cat and the dog. They go with me and we go for a little walk and I look at the stars or the clouds or whatever and imagine the stars. So I'm always connecting to that and grounding myself.
Then there are some very pragmatic practices to imagine that I'm cleansing my energy field. When I'm walking there, I can stand under the stars in the sky. Yesterday, we had this beautiful moon here across the water. I can just imagine that there's a shower of energy going over and past me and also under me that actually helps cleanse me. And after that, I go for a shower. So I can do that with real water. So I do that regularly, also during the day, but specifically before I go to bed. I make it not only for one side, it's also the front and the back and under my feet. Those are energy practices that I've learned and use.
When I'm in complicated contexts, or when I'm speaking with or working with complicated energies, I can again imagine — like when you put on your coat, you can also put an energetic coat on. And I use either beautiful roses or stones or something with beauty, really with beauty all around me, to keep my energy with myself, to keep out the energies that don't really serve me. So there is still a way to connect, but there's also a protection. And especially roses and beautiful stones have shown again and again that they are good for that. But anything that you can feel is beautiful — the more beautiful you make it for yourself, the more it helps you to be able to tend your own energy and not let yourself get pulled into all kinds of other energies, of other practices, entities, ideas, whatever.
I pay attention to the news and what's happening, of course, but I don't read it all the time. I don't need to know all details. I only need to know what is important for us, and I am very lucky that I have a few people that help me to be informed about what is really important. In the team, we have people who do that, and my husband also does that, and some other people also, so that I am not all the time immersing myself in all kinds of topics, contexts, people, energies that are not serving. Because I really do believe that what I pay attention has an impact and influence, at least on myself, but also on the larger context.
Connecting to the water and the land are practices that really help me to stay grounded and centered within myself to be able to be of service and be present. And if I come into some kind of spiral of going down or sad or difficult or whatever, I connect with nature, I connect with animals, and I ask for help. I know that I don't need to do it on my own. Nobody needs to live on their own. So I ask for help. And I'm lucky that I have quite a few people that also are willing to listen if I do need that. And they hold my back if I'm working on big issues and questions.
In our way of working, we have the practice of starting our meetings with “check-in” — how are we doing? And online also. And if I'm in a bad state, I share that. I share in order to be able to get support.
And then one more thing that I can share — I have the bowl. So I sounding the bowl and then coming into kind of attunement, alignment. Again, the breath, the grounding — that also really helps me, and to do that regularly. When I shift from one conversation to the other, I first do that. I want to be here fully present for you. And it helps me. It helps me to be fully present in myself because then I don't get so scattered. It helps me to come aligned again. And then we can have a meaningful, beautiful conversation or not. And if not, then we say, "Hey, maybe we should stop," trying to be truthful, really looking out for beauty and appreciating the goodness that is around us.
Anne-Maria: I have some energetic practices. I always go outside before I go to bed, no matter what time. When I'm at home, I do that with the cat and the dog. They go with me and we go for a little walk and I look at the stars or the clouds or whatever and imagine the stars. So I'm always connecting to that and grounding myself.
Then there are some very pragmatic practices to imagine that I'm cleansing my energy field. When I'm walking there, I can stand under the stars in the sky. Yesterday, we had this beautiful moon here across the water. I can just imagine that there's a shower of energy going over and past me and also under me that actually helps cleanse me. And after that, I go for a shower. So I can do that with real water. So I do that regularly, also during the day, but specifically before I go to bed. I make it not only for one side, it's also the front and the back and under my feet. Those are energy practices that I've learned and use.
When I'm in complicated contexts, or when I'm speaking with or working with complicated energies, I can again imagine — like when you put on your coat, you can also put an energetic coat on. And I use either beautiful roses or stones or something with beauty, really with beauty all around me, to keep my energy with myself, to keep out the energies that don't really serve me. So there is still a way to connect, but there's also a protection. And especially roses and beautiful stones have shown again and again that they are good for that. But anything that you can feel is beautiful — the more beautiful you make it for yourself, the more it helps you to be able to tend your own energy and not let yourself get pulled into all kinds of other energies, of other practices, entities, ideas, whatever.
I pay attention to the news and what's happening, of course, but I don't read it all the time. I don't need to know all details. I only need to know what is important for us, and I am very lucky that I have a few people that help me to be informed about what is really important. In the team, we have people who do that, and my husband also does that, and some other people also, so that I am not all the time immersing myself in all kinds of topics, contexts, people, energies that are not serving. Because I really do believe that what I pay attention has an impact and influence, at least on myself, but also on the larger context.
Connecting to the water and the land are practices that really help me to stay grounded and centered within myself to be able to be of service and be present. And if I come into some kind of spiral of going down or sad or difficult or whatever, I connect with nature, I connect with animals, and I ask for help. I know that I don't need to do it on my own. Nobody needs to live on their own. So I ask for help. And I'm lucky that I have quite a few people that also are willing to listen if I do need that. And they hold my back if I'm working on big issues and questions.
In our way of working, we have the practice of starting our meetings with “check-in” — how are we doing? And online also. And if I'm in a bad state, I share that. I share in order to be able to get support.
And then one more thing that I can share — I have the bowl. So I sounding the bowl and then coming into kind of attunement, alignment. Again, the breath, the grounding — that also really helps me, and to do that regularly. When I shift from one conversation to the other, I first do that. I want to be here fully present for you. And it helps me. It helps me to be fully present in myself because then I don't get so scattered. It helps me to come aligned again. And then we can have a meaningful, beautiful conversation or not. And if not, then we say, "Hey, maybe we should stop," trying to be truthful, really looking out for beauty and appreciating the goodness that is around us.
A little child can teach me... an elder... my cat and my dog.
Peter: It's wonderful. I wish for everybody to have such a group of people who can support. It's really important. I see a lot of very interesting objects behind you, which guide me to question what you can name as your teachers. Maybe teachers who are alive now and who you work with, or some teachers from ancient times.
Anne-Maria: I think my first teachers are really in my family context. My sister and brother when I was younger, my parents and everybody in our household, and then my partner. My partner and I met each other when we were very young, so we've been together for a long time. And I think that's a huge gift for me and for us to really have our journey together and practice so much of our ways of trying to live a loving life. And also our children, our daughters and their partners. We can practice so many things of how to be in a loving life. So those are very important.
The world actually is part of my source of inspiration. There are so many things that can help us learn and open up to different things. I've had a life of travels, as I already shared. So traveling and seeing and being in different cultures and figuring out how things work and how it is and curiosity around that, of course, has been a very important guidance. And in the Hague Center, in the context of the team, they are, of course, also a great source of inspiration and guidance. And around that, all my connections.
I don't think I have one teacher or anything like that. I had teachers in different parts of my life who had a huge impact. I had teachers that I've really worked with a lot to figure out certain things in certain periods of time. I guess, for me, the most important thing is to see that there is, in every step I take, a learning opportunity. And that feeling of richness and joy for life, also when it's really difficult and painful, is helping me, as a compass, to stay on track. And my body tells me when I am on track, because if I'm not, my body stops me. I have a body that just closes if I'm not on track. And I take that seriously. And that helps as well.
If I look at the people I’m working with now, it’s a real joy to learn from them—whether it’s a child, an elder, or someone in between. For me, in this sense, there’s no difference. A little child can teach me a very important lesson. And an elder too. And my closest friend, and my neighbor can also teach me the most important lesson. And so can my cat and my dog.
Anne-Maria: I think my first teachers are really in my family context. My sister and brother when I was younger, my parents and everybody in our household, and then my partner. My partner and I met each other when we were very young, so we've been together for a long time. And I think that's a huge gift for me and for us to really have our journey together and practice so much of our ways of trying to live a loving life. And also our children, our daughters and their partners. We can practice so many things of how to be in a loving life. So those are very important.
The world actually is part of my source of inspiration. There are so many things that can help us learn and open up to different things. I've had a life of travels, as I already shared. So traveling and seeing and being in different cultures and figuring out how things work and how it is and curiosity around that, of course, has been a very important guidance. And in the Hague Center, in the context of the team, they are, of course, also a great source of inspiration and guidance. And around that, all my connections.
I don't think I have one teacher or anything like that. I had teachers in different parts of my life who had a huge impact. I had teachers that I've really worked with a lot to figure out certain things in certain periods of time. I guess, for me, the most important thing is to see that there is, in every step I take, a learning opportunity. And that feeling of richness and joy for life, also when it's really difficult and painful, is helping me, as a compass, to stay on track. And my body tells me when I am on track, because if I'm not, my body stops me. I have a body that just closes if I'm not on track. And I take that seriously. And that helps as well.
If I look at the people I’m working with now, it’s a real joy to learn from them—whether it’s a child, an elder, or someone in between. For me, in this sense, there’s no difference. A little child can teach me a very important lesson. And an elder too. And my closest friend, and my neighbor can also teach me the most important lesson. And so can my cat and my dog.
Connecting the World
Peter: You say that you have traveled a lot through your life. Maybe there are some places like tribes, communities, spiritual places in the world which you really recommend to visit, to learn from. Maybe it can be relevant for those who are on a journey now — and there are a lot of people now who live in a journey, which is also some new thing of our time, or maybe want to start a journey. Of course, everybody has their own path and needs to go to the places that call themselves. But maybe your experience can be helpful for somebody now.
Anne-Maria: Like you said, that's kind of a complex question. I can speak for what inspires me, but I have no idea if those are also the places for you to go to. But for me, for example, Africa has a very strong pull, as you could also see behind me. I don't really know why that has been from the start when I was there the first time, but I feel a very great groundedness there. I feel for myself that there are just many places that I've been that I can really strongly connect with parts of myself that I don't connect with when I'm here, for example, in the Netherlands. So there are different parts of me that light up when I'm there. And I also feel there is, of course, a lot of things that I can learn from. And in certain ways, I'm invited also to co-create with and share.
Now we're working in South Africa on organizing a World Peace Forum in November. And we're seeing that in every conversation that we have, we are trying to do that from a space of learning how to do peace differently. And through that, I'm really meeting beautiful people, beautiful countryside, great energy. So Africa as part of our important continent in our whole civilization, but also a lot of pain and healing and pain that we have brought to that as Western nations, and specifically also the Dutch. So a lot of healing to be done there as well. And that can help us to balance and learn more.
I've been invited by Chief Phil Lane and by other elders to work more with indigenous people in the Americas. And for me, that request came in 2022, I think. That was a new area and domain and a new group of people for me. And it's really a beautiful, again, learning place, a beautiful journey, very inspiring to listen to the wisdom of indigenous people, of how they are relating to all kinds of contexts and the world and seeing reality. Really, such a huge amount of love for life and resilience and wise ways of approaching all kinds of challenges that I'm learning there.
And I was just in Romania. It was also beautiful to be there in a very different context and to learn and listen to stories. So it's not so easy to just say one or two things.
One of the things that the indigenous people do share with me is that it's so important for us to be aware of our own roots and where we come from and where we belong. So we are exploring that in a way, and sometimes you need to go away to really appreciate what you left behind. And sometimes you need to come home in order to really appreciate where you belong. So that of course depends on your own trajectory.
I was born outside of the Netherlands and with this I really do feel myself Dutch. I was brought up in primarily British context, but also with people in our households from different cultures and backgrounds — Chinese, Malay, Arabic. I really feel at home here in the place where I'm living now. And that's a place below sea level between lakes, between water. I don't know why I feel so at home here, but I do. So when I'm here, I really have this sense of belonging to this place. And I cherish that. And it actually feeds — it helps me when I'm tired.
Even though I have been in many places, everywhere where I am, I connect to the place with deep respect. And I can feel a sense of at-homeness then as well, but not the same when I come here. And so when I come here, then I really feel nourished by the land, by the water, by the place, and I just breathe that in and let myself be fed by that nourishment.
Anne-Maria: Like you said, that's kind of a complex question. I can speak for what inspires me, but I have no idea if those are also the places for you to go to. But for me, for example, Africa has a very strong pull, as you could also see behind me. I don't really know why that has been from the start when I was there the first time, but I feel a very great groundedness there. I feel for myself that there are just many places that I've been that I can really strongly connect with parts of myself that I don't connect with when I'm here, for example, in the Netherlands. So there are different parts of me that light up when I'm there. And I also feel there is, of course, a lot of things that I can learn from. And in certain ways, I'm invited also to co-create with and share.
Now we're working in South Africa on organizing a World Peace Forum in November. And we're seeing that in every conversation that we have, we are trying to do that from a space of learning how to do peace differently. And through that, I'm really meeting beautiful people, beautiful countryside, great energy. So Africa as part of our important continent in our whole civilization, but also a lot of pain and healing and pain that we have brought to that as Western nations, and specifically also the Dutch. So a lot of healing to be done there as well. And that can help us to balance and learn more.
I've been invited by Chief Phil Lane and by other elders to work more with indigenous people in the Americas. And for me, that request came in 2022, I think. That was a new area and domain and a new group of people for me. And it's really a beautiful, again, learning place, a beautiful journey, very inspiring to listen to the wisdom of indigenous people, of how they are relating to all kinds of contexts and the world and seeing reality. Really, such a huge amount of love for life and resilience and wise ways of approaching all kinds of challenges that I'm learning there.
And I was just in Romania. It was also beautiful to be there in a very different context and to learn and listen to stories. So it's not so easy to just say one or two things.
One of the things that the indigenous people do share with me is that it's so important for us to be aware of our own roots and where we come from and where we belong. So we are exploring that in a way, and sometimes you need to go away to really appreciate what you left behind. And sometimes you need to come home in order to really appreciate where you belong. So that of course depends on your own trajectory.
I was born outside of the Netherlands and with this I really do feel myself Dutch. I was brought up in primarily British context, but also with people in our households from different cultures and backgrounds — Chinese, Malay, Arabic. I really feel at home here in the place where I'm living now. And that's a place below sea level between lakes, between water. I don't know why I feel so at home here, but I do. So when I'm here, I really have this sense of belonging to this place. And I cherish that. And it actually feeds — it helps me when I'm tired.
Even though I have been in many places, everywhere where I am, I connect to the place with deep respect. And I can feel a sense of at-homeness then as well, but not the same when I come here. And so when I come here, then I really feel nourished by the land, by the water, by the place, and I just breathe that in and let myself be fed by that nourishment.
Connecting the World
Peter: Thank you. I feel a big interconnected world through your words. I think we can slowly move to finish, and the last question maybe is: for our project, with interviews of people who heal the world, as you do, what people can you recommend to have interviews with also— people who heal the world in different meanings?
Annе-Maria: Well, I spoke quite a bit about Jude Currivan because of her cosmic context that she offers me in a different way. So I can imagine that could be beautiful. And we've been working on also this—how to translate the science and spirituality that comes out of that into a short movie. So I can also give you the link to that, that can be shared. But Jude could be somebody that could give a larger context to that, and also a very grounded way of sharing.
I can imagine also that perhaps you would like to speak with one of the Indigenous leaders, like Esna Fleury, for example. She could also share very beautifully from her perspective and her wisdom, and also some others.
Another woman that's more from the Middle East context could be our colleague, Mona Rabi. She's in Egypt. And she loves the alchemical journey that you referenced, so that's why I was thinking of her. That might be interesting.
I mentioned Romania — that could be Adrian Jacobus.
And others—I can explore that a little bit more because there are, of course, many people that we can speak with. So maybe I should hear a little bit more from you where you already have some connections and ideas so that I can look at what can add to that. And also, I can imagine that we could look at intergenerationally—what age groups, because they give a different approach. So I can also suggest some very young people, some elders. If you share a little bit more about where you're at, and what your ideas are, I can name more people that I think would enjoy a conversation like this, because it's a beautiful process. Thank you for your beautiful questions.
Peter: Thank you, Anne-Maria. Thank you very much for your time. Do you want to wish something to all of us, to our listeners and readers?
Annе-Maria: Well, I would like to invite everybody to pioneer for life and love and light and to see how we can contribute in the smallest and in the largest way that we're doing. And that it really helps ourselves to open up our hearts even more.
Peter: Thank you.
Annе-Maria: Well, I spoke quite a bit about Jude Currivan because of her cosmic context that she offers me in a different way. So I can imagine that could be beautiful. And we've been working on also this—how to translate the science and spirituality that comes out of that into a short movie. So I can also give you the link to that, that can be shared. But Jude could be somebody that could give a larger context to that, and also a very grounded way of sharing.
I can imagine also that perhaps you would like to speak with one of the Indigenous leaders, like Esna Fleury, for example. She could also share very beautifully from her perspective and her wisdom, and also some others.
Another woman that's more from the Middle East context could be our colleague, Mona Rabi. She's in Egypt. And she loves the alchemical journey that you referenced, so that's why I was thinking of her. That might be interesting.
I mentioned Romania — that could be Adrian Jacobus.
And others—I can explore that a little bit more because there are, of course, many people that we can speak with. So maybe I should hear a little bit more from you where you already have some connections and ideas so that I can look at what can add to that. And also, I can imagine that we could look at intergenerationally—what age groups, because they give a different approach. So I can also suggest some very young people, some elders. If you share a little bit more about where you're at, and what your ideas are, I can name more people that I think would enjoy a conversation like this, because it's a beautiful process. Thank you for your beautiful questions.
Peter: Thank you, Anne-Maria. Thank you very much for your time. Do you want to wish something to all of us, to our listeners and readers?
Annе-Maria: Well, I would like to invite everybody to pioneer for life and love and light and to see how we can contribute in the smallest and in the largest way that we're doing. And that it really helps ourselves to open up our hearts even more.
Peter: Thank you.