Quality time

Do you recognise the feeling that you have when you're doing or experiencing something, and you wish that moment would last forever? Somehow, these moments are rather scarce in my life, but I try to cherish and enjoy each and every one of them. What's more, I've discovered that it's impossible to experience these moments when I'm alone. There always has to be someone around, and that one can be a person, but it can also be an animal, like my sweet, little bird. Come to think about it, it can also be a special thing, like my 5.9 inch telescope. I can truly say that my telescope is a good and loyal friend to me, giving me joy every once in a while, like when I saw the planet Saturn for the very first time. It looked more or less like this:

But let's return to the "living things". Last weekend, I went to Belgium to see my family. It was quite a long time ago, and sometimes these moments I share with my family are the ideal moments to have some quality time. I saw my parents and grandparents, my sister and... my two precious nieces. They're the best that could ever have happened to me. I had some quality time with them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So that should keep me going for a while :) I actually think they love me. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is priceless, believe me. They mean the world to me. It's hard to imagine life without them, although I only see them once a month.

Indra, 7 years old

Kyana, 4 years old

If I had to make a list of the top 5 special moments of my life, I'd certainly start with the birth of these two sweethearts. When it comes to quality time, their visit to Leiden a couple of weeks ago would certainly appear in the top 5. I had the day of my life, and I am sure they did so too. We spent hours and hours in toy shops, but I didn't mind. It was indescribable to see them enjoying themselves and to have them walking hand in hand with me, and to receive so many hugs and kisses. Of course, I spoiled them a little bit with too many presents, but I'm not for nothing their aunt, right? In fact, almost all the moments I've spent with my nieces can be classified as quality time. Other people I've spent quality time with are my parents and grandparents, but especially some of the people whose job it is to support me when it comes to my psychiatric problems (psychiatrists and therapists) and some of my teachers - as well from my secondary school in Belgium as from Leiden university - because I could have useful and intelligent conversations with them, conversations that made me think about life, love and the world. It went much further than the stuff they were supposed to teach me, and I think that's good, because I believe that teachers not only have to teach compulsory things to their students, but that they also have to function as an example for all those young people that still have to learn a lot about life and stuff like that.

To enjoy or to find quality time doesn't necessarily involve special requirements. For example, enjoying a drink or ice-cream and having a chat with my former psychiatrist is truly quality time and is not that big or difficult to achieve. She probably cares about me, otherwise she wouldn't want to meet me every now and then, even though we don't have a professional relationship anymore. Another example are the precious moments I share a few times a week with Chico. Let me share this video with you, made last week. I'm trying to teach Chico his own address, and it turns out that he really enjoys listening to it. Next step is repeating after me, but that'll cost time :D

Quality time is not just being together with somebody (person or animal), there also has to be something extra, something I cannot describe but which renders the atmospere very special. Every time this happens, I realise that I'm having quality time. Needless to say, I don't forget to enjoy those moments. However, as I already wrote, real quality time is scarce in my life, and I think it's getting scarce overall. Look at this cartoon:

It's a fact that people have become more solitary, even when they're living in the same house. People live next to each other, but do not really spend time together anymore, so there will probably be less persons who can say that they have quality time every once in a while, be it with their family or with their friends or with their pet. I have to plead guilty though, because I've done it a few times myself already. For example, I once spoke via Skype with one of my housemates who was actually in her room a few metres away. Furthermore, I'm convinced that you can't really have quality time on your own. Everyone needs other people, how difficult this may be to accept, especially for people like me who'd like to be completely independent. Still, we can't live without other persons, that much I've learnt already. 

Now, I'd like to give you, dear reader, something to think about: have you ever shared a moment of quality time with me? I'm anxious to know, so please let me know! In the meantime, I hope you can cherish those beautiful quality time moments in your life. I'll try to do the same...