Favorite places

Favorite places. What makes these places of creativity, concentration, focus, and inspiration. Feelings of satisfaction, happiness, security, and gratitude. It is easy to just be here. Perceiving each moment as it is and letting thoughts flow. Emotions are awakened. Comfortable places that tempt you to pour your heart out on paper. Asking and answering the big and small questions of life. Each letter brings more ease.

Always aware of how much easier it is to put deep emotions on paper than to speak them out loud. Despite my self-diagnosed dyslexia. Therapy rooms. Favorite place. Paper. Pen. Pure honesty. If everyone had such a place, psychologists would probably be unemployed. Although self-therapy is really not suitable for everyone.

Back to the characteristics. A bit higher up. Observer position. Following events from a distance. Not involved. This can also be seen as a personality reference. Happy to be everywhere. Always recognizing connections between things. Not necessarily eager to always be in the spotlight. There are exceptions, of course. Security and the feeling of being tolerated and liked. Then it's fun to get attention. Especially from people who appreciate authenticity. Those who accept and appreciate a person's essence. Also, these kinds of people, feel-good people, can turn places into favorite places.

In recent years, the number of these special places for me has increased. Everything seems possible there. The number of situations in which I truly enjoy being myself also grew. Moments of uncertainty, discomfort, and feeling like wanting to be someone else became rarer and rarer. It is no longer about trying to prove something to others, at most to myself. Not only the places I am talking about here contributed to that. Also the people I spend my time with. More about that in another blog entry. They are mentioned here only because these people also contribute to turning places into favorite places.

Next to the elevated places, there is also a second category. Places that are in the midst of something. In the midst of buildings. In the midst of trees. In the midst of people. Background noise. Voices. Cars. Music. Sometimes quiet. Sometimes loud. Occasionally: silence. Music is the preferred background. That is because it later helps to return to places. As soon as the same melody is heard. Positive emotions can always be relived through it. Option for distraction, to then be able to arrive deeply in concentration and focus again.

That makes it clear what these places are all about. What is associated with them. It is now time to start the list of top feel-good places. In the coming months, this list will continue to grow with the changing countries. It starts with those in Santorini as it marks the beginning of my "just do it" journey.

No. 1: Structure in front of the window of my room in Fira. The room has a window. It is not very big. Blue shutters. Open, you can hear the city pulsing day and night. Closed: the end of the noise clutter. If you stand in the room and look out, at the white buildings that snuggle up to the cliffside, you wouldn't immediately think of climbing out. It seems a bit high for that. If you stand right in front of it and look down, you can see it. A wooden structure. White. A bit worn. Dark wood emerges under the paint. The function - an open puzzle. Now it definitely has a function. Favorite place. Retreat. Viewpoint. A smile on the face, with every glance up. View of the caldera. Spectacular sunsets. Pure satisfaction.