The days become increasingly hectic. The little house where we live while waiting for the move to the community home becomes more and more a multifunctional building. And we are still managing to fit everything into our 72 m2!
Not long ago this was just our home. Now it is also the office of the Ruach Foundation, and the place where the club for the intellectually disabled operates in the afternoons. Because this house is conveniently only a 3 minute walk from the community home we want to keep this house and use it as a place to provide accommodation for interns or for visitors who would want to use it for bed and breakfast (for a small fee).
Internal moves and rearrangements
Today we have been moving equipment and furniture around. New items, for example a desk, filing cabinet, computer and printer have found a home in the sitting room. The club have got their own space in the garage.
My son and I are getting somewhat squeezed out. Our dining room table is being used by the club, so we eat at the new office desk. There is no place anymore for the beloved rocking chairs in the sitting room. I love space and want to keep it that way. New purchases for the community home are temporarily piled up in the garage, out of harm’s way,, while waiting for someone with a vehicle who can move them to the community home. We will have to make the most of the available space for the time being.
Dovecote
It all feels like living in a dovecote! Colleagues arrive at 9:30 a.m to start their day’s work. They would have loved to start at 8 a.m, but I value my quiet start to the day. And depending on the day’s activities Jonathan and I normally have the house to ourselves again at 5 pm.
What is this like for Jonathan? As a young adult who needs structure and regularity it causes some disquiet. There are more people in the house, each with their own agenda. It all happens to him and he may sometimes block emotionally. Fortunately he really gets on very well with Eva (who is a club member) and he can now spend every afternoon at the club . We hope he will gradually find a stimulating daily rhythm that will suit him.
Peace…
Because everything is new and about to start there is a need for regular team consultation. Fortunately we complement each other well. Shopping for big items is done by two people so that two brains link up to think through practicalities and to pay more attention to detail. The experience of working in a team is very valuable. But it also makes time fly and days disappear just like that, and days are tiring. And in the evening there are pending tasks that require more focus and concentration.
The art is to stay internally peaceful. ;Finding your own core is a prerequisite to emanating outer peace!
“Once you jump in the stream, there is no way back. The only way to reach your goal is, in the last analysis, to finally surrender to the current. “. J. Noorloos
Astrid Delleman, in collaboration with Stichting Vivir Juntos