"That the seemingly insignificant things that most of us spend our days noticing are really significant, have meaning, and tell us something."
Joan Didion - The Paris Review 2006
A
few times I have started writing about the time we spent in Holland at
the start of the year. It has remained the part of our trip with the
least amount of photos and least words spoken, but for me, it was the
part with the most sentiment felt. Wandering again beside these canals
and through these streets I found courage to speak a little dutch to the
shop keepers and strangers whom we encountered on the street. When I
was here in 2009 I had been afraid of sounding silly, so chose to act in
ignorance expressing words only in English, hiding behind the full
bodied dutch spoken by my family, only camouflaged by my appearance, I
was still their Australian relative.
There is so much more to say from the week we spent in Holland. And over time I will say more. But it always takes me longer to find the words to retell those stories that were so full of everything I love most. The moments where you forget your camera, or only have a blurry phone photo because you were more concerned with the conversation and the limited time you have with those that you are with. That is when the everyday insignificant becomes the most significant of all.
hey
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