Let’s Explore Magazine as a project is pretty much a reflection of who I am and what makes me tick. Over the course of making the Perseverance issue, contributions evolved into
For a couple of years now, I have known that something had to change in my (creative) life and I was frantically trying to make a change happen. Pushing this pursuit worked well in terms of convincing myself I was actively trying to change things but I still felt restless. The search felt forced with too much focus on making things happen as soon as possible, instead of going with the flow and letting things find their way organically.
Being in this pressure cooker also provided me with a very solid foundation: I have created 3 issues of which I’m incredibly proud, surrounded myself with inspiring storytellers and am connecting with new makers every single day. There is an abundance of beautiful stories out there and by taking more time to explore these, I am slowly but surely finding a pace of creating and sharing in which I feel comfortable and not pressured or rushed. I feel I am able to channel my intentions better, connect with new ventures in a mindful way and by doing so, bringing the best out of myself. In hindsight, the past couple of years felt like I hit my creative puberty and I am now slowly moving into adulthood. Finding and embracing the why of my creative endeavours.
The themes of the previous three issues were subjects I was dealing with in my own life. Exploring these themes by working closely with others, learning from them and then applying that new found knowledge is a liberating experience. It has brought me insight into who I am in my core. I already know the theme for the upcoming issue, but I am still wrapping my head around how to best put it into words so that storytellers from across the globe can again submit their take on it. But, I do have an announcement to make which could become an important part of how I will create the next issue.
Last year’s travels and yoga retreat had a profound impact on me — a dedicated feature is still in the making. Through writing exercises, amongst others, I was able to connect some dots regarding the why of Let’s Explore Magazine and my own personal growth. This feeling of empowerment (…!) stayed with me and together with the urge of wanting to provide food for thought with LEM, I opened myself up to finding an opportunity to do just that. And that is exactly what is going to happen coming July.
I am volunteering with the Dutch organization Because We Carry to help them with their humanitarian work in a refugee camp on Lesvos, Greece. I will be staying there for a week as part of a team of 7. We’ll be working according to the idea of ‘less talk, more action’. We’ll be helping those arriving, on feeble boats, on the inhospitable shore by handing out dry clothes, supply the often exhausted people with food and build safe environments for people who have been forced to leave their homes behind.
I am very excited to be able to do this and to be honest, I am also scared shitless. I can’t begin to imagine how this will impact me as a human being and how this will affect how I approach the world around me after this week. Like I said earlier, my volunteer work might become an integral part of the next issue but that is definitely not a goal in and of itself.
I will try my best to keep you up to date with how my preparations for this week are going and how you can help me if you wish to do so.
Cheers,
Kilian
