Gezellig is the third piece in the Wanderloots Genesis Collection: Begin, Again.
Almost one year to the day after I took the Two Jack Lake timelapse, I found myself visiting one of the iconic places of my childhood: Camp 335 at an Ontario Provincial Park. This timelapse was taken in a place that has great importance for three generations of my family, beginning when they moved to Canada from the Netherlands. If ever there was an opportunity to begin again at the beginning, this was it.
To me, Camp 335 is Gezellig. Gezellig does not have a direct English translation. It is a Dutch adjective for cozy, nice atmosphere, or a general sense of belonging and togetherness. I associate it with sitting around a campfire with my family, discussing the curiosities of the day and hoping towards the wonders of tomorrow. A time before cell phones and social media, when each of us stayed completely present, paying full attention to our shared existence.
Camping here each year was of the most immersive periods I had in nature while growing up, and I spent it surrounded by my family. You might be wondering what makes this site so special? Well, at the back of the site, there is a path down to a private section of the lake, extending from cliffs down to the water’s edge. We would spend our days swimming, hiking, canoeing, and reading down by the water, staying to watch the sunset before heading back to camp for dinner. At night, we would bring blankets and lay on the rocks, looking up at the dark sky for shooting stars or into the woods for fireflies. Here, we could be away from the light pollution and sounds of other campsites, making for a gezellig place to stargaze and wonder at nature.
Returning to Camp 335 as an adult for the first time brought back many memories of both a safe place and adventure. These memories deepened with the darkness of the setting sun as I walked the wooded path to the cliffs I explored as a child, in search of a place to set up my timelapse. Suddenly, a flash lit up the path to my left. And then another to my right. Soon, the entire path was flickering with the light of hundreds of fireflies, lighting my way along the cliffs’ edge. It felt as though the fireflies were illuminating a passage back through time to when I walked these cliffs as a child, guiding me to an understanding of the dream I once had; the dream that had begun again in Africa.
As the trail of fireflies came to an end, I felt they had guided me to the right place to begin the timelapse. The clouds passing through the night sky hinted at a low chance of seeing the Milky Way, so I decided to compose a shot that included the woods, the reflective waters, and the night sky, with the hope that fireflies might return. It appeared that the fireflies were not done with me yet, as they spiraled in and out of the frame over the course of the timelapse, adding a magical element to nature I often felt existed as a child.
As I recalled the magic of my childhood dreams, I realized that this dream is not of the past, present, or future, but is rather a part of me at every instant, tying together the moments that make up my life. Each moment is an opportunity to begin again, enabling me to become a deeper version of who I already am.
The impermanence of time is recognizable when we look to the past to view what has changed, to the future for hope on what may come, and to the present to truly experience each instant of this precious commodity. Time does not only move forwards; at any instant, we can look back through time to remind us of why we move forward. Each moment is an opportunity to look back at the awes of our life and reflect on how to bring that wonder to our present and future. Each moment is an opportunity to begin, again.
About the Collection
Begin, Again is a story of rediscovery that transcends time. A story that ties a half-remembered dream to one of the most incredible moments of my life in a way that has forever changed the exploration of my future.
Begin, Again is a story of hope in a better future, of becoming a better version of ourselves by taking the time to pay attention to our lives in a way that promotes positive mental health and acceptance of who we were, are, and can be.
To begin again, we need only take a deep breath, exhale, and try.
I mean that literally. We have begun to lose the ability to breathe properly. Not just me, almost everyone. Through email apnea, sedentary lifestyles, and an inability to regulate our attention and stop scrolling, we breathe too quickly or not at all. This poor breathing turns into a habit, leading to increased time spent in stress states, making it harder and harder to deliberately pay attention.
I have set the pulse of this story to be tied to the breath, acting as a guide to slow your breathing while focusing on the emotion I have described in each video. By breathing out several times, ideally 5, you may have taken the first true pause of your day. The frequency of pulse is 5.5 breaths per minute (BPM). Each video is 11 seconds long, enough time for one inhale and one exhale. This rate has been shown to help reduce anxiety and relax people. I hope this experience can add a measure of calm to your day, allowing you to begin again on whatever it is you would like to do.