Day One: The Dutch Intruder and the Baby Turtles
7/17/20242 min read
Stepping out of your comfort zone can be challenging. Escaping bad habits that have been accrued over years is nearly impossible.
But once in a blue moon, all the stars align and change becomes effortless, natural, and frankly joyful.
The facilitator who helped me take the first steps into my new state of being was a person. For me, that shooting star was The Dutch Intruder Girl.
I first met The Dutch Intruder Girl when she was between apartments, and a friend asked me if she could crash at mine. I agreed, and she would intrude into my own four walls and capture the couch. We spent a couple of days together drinking wine, wondering about mysterious light sequences on my neighbor's terrace, and questioning whether aliens are already amongst us. Though we shared some good laughs, I believed that our paths would never cross again.
Well, I was wrong. I woke up to the sound of my doorbell, and when I managed to answer, I heard her voice on the other side of the intercom. Her voice seemed excited, and when she made her way up to my apartment, The Intruder carried a large, red piece of luggage with her. For a fraction of second, I wondered if she would try to crash at my place again. She wasn’t. Dutchie quickly raised a big PC monitor out of her bag, smiled, and said that she was ready to work.
The Dutch Intruder had fallen a bit behind in her work and appreciated big, square desks as opposed to the round tables in her new apartment. Knowing her from our previous encounter, I wasn’t surprised, and after we adjusted the background music to her liking, I would sit next to her doing some work of my own.
The two of us would spent the day bantering, later fetching a cool drink at a nearby cafe, and time passed much more rapidly. Eventually, when we waved goodbye, I was left with the realization that I had started the first day of my fast with ease.
My imagination led me to a picture of a freshly hatched turtle. Not one that fights off predators to reach the ocean but rather one that gets carried by strong backwinds to a brand new adventure.
The baby turtle has touched water. I am ready for this adventure.