Human connection; that’s what life is all about❤️
A few months ago I visited the Best Kept Secret: a music festival in the month of June in the south of the Netherlands. A weekend getaway with my childhood best friends. Last year the four of us realised that we had all been to festivals across the country, but that we had never ever been to a festival together; we know each other from our schooldays! What better way to celebrate our 30 years of friendship by going to a festival together :-). Best Kept Secret, a secret no more, here we come!
BKS is a music filled festival situated in a forested area around a lake. Not only does BKS cater to a wide range of musical genres, they also host talks and debates. What I loved about the festival is that it welcomed a huge variety of people, and allowed us to stop, think and reflect on life. Of course not everyone did, but still the questions raised by a pro-active audience, me included, warmed by soul. De Correspondent (an online platform for independent journalism) organised a number of these thought-provoking talks including ‘How do we survive a world in which truth has become a lie?’ & ‘The desire for neutrality always works in favor of the perpetrator of violence’.
I regained my faith in humanity though when I saw the long line outside the booth of the Humanists.
The Humanists organised a very fun activity of ‘hide & seek’. This activity definitely sparked the joy of finding human connection ❤️. We had to stand in line and have our photos taken, after which each was given a random picture of someone else who had stood in line before. So everyone was given a picture of someone else. Armed with only a photograph and the desire to connect with others we set out to join the celebratory mood of the festival and if we were lucky maybe we would find our picture buddies, but let’s be realistic: What’s the chance of finding someone in a sea of 25000 people…!
It was an amazing sensation to spot the little fishing net (that was a fantastic clue for mine) and then noticing the propeller on the hat of the person holding on to it! I had FOUND my buddy. What a JOY!
‘My buddy’ had been to BKS the previous years, and had come well prepared. They carried a very original certificate😍 ‘this certificate proudly certifies that…
I was declared a BUZZER🥰!
‘The one who brings energy, chaos & enthusiasm’
WOW !!! That is exactly who I am ; or at least who I’d like to be & who I think I am 😊
It was fun to connect with this multicultural group of lively women (from Ireland, Wales, UK, Netherlands…). After a chit chat of course our paths diverged again, which was fine. We weren’t there to find our new best friends, but it was a perfect way of connecting with others and feeling a shared sense of humanity.
Shakti Hannie 