Geke Keuter – Page 4 – Grow in Spirit

About Geke Keuter

Posts by Geke Keuter:

The power of crying

Tears are a sign of weakness.
Crying is for over emotional people and baby’s.
Real men don’t cry.
…
…

Ehm, what??

Do you cry? Often?
What are your reasons or don’t you need one?
At what point isn’t it possible anymore for you to hold the stream of tears down?
Are you going all in with the crying or.. suppress it?

As long as I can remember I loved it to have a good cry and I cry really fast.
It might be because I’m highly sensitive, but the fact is that I can cry about nothing
and everything. When I was in high school and got into a fight I always started crying
and the others laughed, because it made them feel like they won the fight ot got to me.
It was just because of all the adrenaline and different kinds of emotions rushing through me.

For some reason crying is seen as a sign of weakness.
It’s linked to sadness and pain.
When it’s something that can just happen without reason at all.

Thanks to these judgements it’s easy to feel shame when you’re crying,
especially for men.
I don’t know about you, but as time went on the amount of me crying
started to decrease.
I started to ignore the urges and even ignore certain emotions and feelings
that could cause it. Is this healthy? I don’t think it is..
We should express everything that is felt!
Suppressing all of this is like trapping your soul and with it we also use up a
great amount of life energy.

Deeply felt tears can be profoundly healing.
Do you remember the feeling after a good cry or the day after?
For me it was like feeling..enlightened almost!
While crying we accept every emotion that comes to us and we hurt less.
Unless we keep on fighting the tears..stop this!!
Cry, weep, sop, scream, yell. Drop all the shame!
Keep your mind out of it and just go with it.
And let the flowing tears heal you..
It’s your soul calling out, wanting to be released from imprisonment by the mind.

The who – Cry if you want

What is loneliness really?

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Loneliness, as I did my research I came to the conclusion that there are 2 kinds.
I looked into both of them and will talk about both of them in this post!

From birth on we are being who like to be around people.
We have to be taken care off and we like to be entertained.
Some people like to take care of others and some like it to be taken care of.
Same goes for entertaining, talking and what not.
Not being alone is something we are used to so we continue to have this feeling
of wanting people around us.

What happens that when we spend too much time alone is that we feel a certain,
unwanted feeling. A feeling of loneliness is what we call it(or is it just..boredom?).
This can awaken a sad and/or bored mood.
For some this is very strong and I think that goes for extroverted people.
It’s less strong for introverted people, but it’s still there even when some try to ignore it
or push it away. Are we supposed to be that way?
Wanting to be around people even when you’re introverted or don’t like people that much?
Or is it because we’re not used to being alone and so used to sharing everything with others.

So the second feeling of loneliness is the one I tend to experience,
especially on this solo trip.

“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you,
it’s not because they enjoy solitude.
It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before,
and people continue to disappoint them.”
― Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

Loneliness awakened by not being able to share your deepest thoughts, experiences
or just anything else with someone who cares, listens and understands.
Or even just someone who listens.
Sometimes I arrive in a place and I really like it, but I can’t seem to blend in with the people.
I feel uncomfortable, not at place and unwanted even.
I know it is a unhealthy feeling, which is awakened by feeling lonely.
When you experience this too you’ll probably know that it’s something that you have
from young age. You were probably misunderstood a lot, an over thinking child with a
complicated mind. I feel like this often. So when I’m somewhere I feel at home I actually
don’t want to leave.

Before going on this trip, and in the beginning, I was always seeking approval or opinions in
others by everything I did.

Always wanting to share everything, small and big. From what I ate too, for example, an
accident I had. This is the same as wanting to do everything with others otherwise you’ll feel
lonely or even that the experience wasn’t worth it.

This is such a weird way of thinking and doing things, but how to get rid of it?
Reflecting on thoughts and actions is so important and it’s how we grow.
Growing goes in steps and for me a big first step was going on this trip alone.
As I was reflecting on it more I decided to stop vlogging from here.
To learn how to be truly independent, judge free, free in choosing and judging situations.
What do we get out of sharing everything?
Nothing really..
It causes us to not truly live in the moment, enjoy our alone time, the meal you’re having
and seeing your surroundings.
We’re also letting the feeling of..feeling strong after the independent decisions
we made pass by. We have to feel it, embrace it and grow from it.

I don’t think we’re always supposed to be around people.
For that our own independent minds are too strong.
Especially always staying in the same place with the same people doesn’t seem healthy
to me at all. We’ll never learn what else is out there, we miss out on certain experiences
that make us grow as a person.
And how beautiful would it be if you get out there and bump into people that align with you
perfectly?

Go out, explore, get to know yourself and get to know others along the way!

So the song I chose with this post is:
John Lennon – Isolation

I stopped being a hypocrite and I hope you will do the same

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A video went viral in Europe, especially in the Netherlands and Belgium.
This video showed what went on in a slaughter house in Belgium.
I didn’t watch it, because I’ve seen everything when it comes to animal
abuse/the animal industry..
The reactions on the video said enough. The pigs were treated horrible
and everyone was shocked by this news. I’m not.
I’m vegan because I KNOW that this is happening. Not only in that specific
slaughterhouse, but in almost ALL of them. And not only slaughterhouses,
but every place where they use animals pure for food production.

I was more ‘shocked’ by the fact that everyone was so sad about this,
signing a petition to close the slaughterhouse, but.. still continue to eat
their animal products. That piece of bacon from an abused pig is so jummy!
Well I think it’s not and there are so many products way better which are
vegan. Oh and let’s not forget that there is vegan bacon also!

I want to make clear that I’m not calling these people bad,
I’m not saying I am any better then anyone else. I know it’s hard
to stand up against something which we always thought is very normal.
With that I mean eating dead animals and stuff that is theirs,
like milk and eggs.
What I CAN say is that I’m not a hypocrite. I’m truly doing something and
making a difference when it comes to animal wellbeing.

I felt connected to animals and nature since I was a little girl.
Always wanted to help make the earth cleaner place and make sure
all animals were being loved and taken care of.
I always took sad looking animals home, never threw wrappers outside
on the ground, never wanted to use hair products and so on to avoid harming
the planet with this.. I wanted to become vegetarian at a young age,
but I got told that it was very unhealthy and dangerous to stop eating meat.
I was young so I believed it.
Years went on and at one point I looked into veganism again.
This was because I was into eating healthy.
I started watching documentaries and I went vegan immediately without ever
thinking twice. This was about 13 months ago!
Protein deficiency? There’s no such thing!
Iron is easy to get from plants.
Calcium as easy, the calcium in cow’s milk is not even being absorbed by the
human body. Calcium in plants(oats are a good source)
and plant milk is absorbed by our body.

I have to get things like this of my chest and try to reach people.
I will never force or judge anyone, all I’m doing is informing you
about things that are kept from us. Things that happen behind closed
doors and sometimes a video like this shows up and hopefully..
make people think!

Thank you for taking your time to read this, I appreciate every step
you’re taking towards a better world for animals.
It starts with informing ourselves!

Living as a being who is born to reason, hope create and love

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‘’If living is to end in pain, incompleteness and nothingness,
it seems a cruel and futile experience for beings who are
born to reason, hope, create and love.’’

This.
Exactly this.
I was born as such a being.
Maybe you too and that´s why you´re reading this.
We will, most probably, have lots of things in common.

Life isn´t an easy path when you´re always looking for
answers and reason behind something.
When you´re always hoping for the best thing to happen
and try to see the best in other people.
When you´re trying to find the right path for yourself to
follow. Your life purpose maybe.
Highly sensitive for everything around you.
With every emotion it´s all or nothing
When I´m happy I´m on top of the world, but when I´m
down I feel like.. life isn´t worth it anymore.

I´ve found something that makes living ´like this´ easier.
So.. I know I am like this.
I know what my mind tends to do in certain situations.
For a while I was really busy in my head working on all of
these faults. Changing it.
And yes that’s how I saw it, as faults.
I can tell you that paying too much attention to it is something
that definitely doesn´t work, because it´s ignoring who you are.
It will come back even stronger and will hit you in the face.
We can’t change who we are.

What does work is: let it flow.
Let it all flow, let it happen without thinking about it.
Without forming an opinion about why your head is
thinking a certain way or why you’re feeling a certain way.
Eventually we will also be ready to accept the way we are.
Sometimes I still get angry about why I’m like this.
Why can’t I just let things be?
Living my life without being on a quest to find my life purpose
and my true self.
It comes down to the quote in the beginning. If I would try to
live like that it would indeed be a cruel experience.
I could fool myself for a while, but it would break me down.
I know it will.

Writing this makes me realize I came a long way when it comes
to this subject.
Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this and sharing it with you right?
There’s still a lot of ‘work’ to do, as in: no work, because I just have
to let it flow. Just letting it all go.

Another thing. When I was in my teen years I was always looking
up songs to fit my state of mind at the moment. I loved doing so
and I think It would be fun to find a fitting song for every blog post
I write and share it with you!
For this post I found the following song:
Audioslave – Be yourself
‘’To be yourself is all that you can do’’

The best truffles in Pai, Thailand

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I found the best truffles in Pai and I ate them everyday!
With that I mean chocolate truffles ofcourse. Vegan chocolate truffles.
And they were amazing!
A very friendly local man sells them at the night market till’ midnight!
The ‘leftovers’ are sold at a cafe called Art in chai where I had my favorite truffle flavor with a
delicious and refreshing iced caramel chai.

There are 7 different flavors(from most favorite to least):
1. Chocolate covered in cacao powder with a few peanuts inside
2. Chocolate covered in oreo pieces
3. Chocolate covered in chocolate sprinkles
4. Chocolate covered in shredded coconut
5. Chocolate with peanuts in- and outside (haven’t tried this one)
6. Chocolate with a strawberry inside (I don’t like chocolate with fruit)
7. Chocolate with some sort of coffee beans (I don’t like coffee)

They cost 30 baht for 1 truffle and it’s impossible to just buy one..
Some might think it’s expensive (it’s really not if you think about it), but
I had a talk with him and he said that it’s expensive to make them.

Don’t think these are only delicious for vegans, because ‘normally vegans can’t eat anything’.
I told everyone I met about these truffles. Everyone bought them and every single time I watched
their face fall in love while trying a bite.

This post is not sponsored at all, but I don’t want anyone to miss out on these amazing treats!

Working towards my first long term trip

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Who would’ve taught that we need so much time to prepare for a trip.
Well, your first trip. Next time you´ll know what to do and take care of.

As time passed by more was thrown on my path which I had to take care off before leaving.
Like finding out I wanted to buy a more compact, high quality camera for vlogging and taking pictures. For that I had to sell my old, but still new one.
When I started to feel positive about this process a friend had send me a message telling me she wanted to buy my camera. Happy me!
Finding a new one was a whole other story. Day after day I did camera research on my laptop.
Making myself crazy in this process.

Last minute I figured out that the best way to keep my stuff safe was a flight bag with a cable lock.
Now a days most of the web shops have a quick delivery, but nothing was less true.
I ordered several locks, but every order got delayed or they couldn’t deliver it anymore.
My father and boyfriend were making me anxious by telling me I would get robbed so I’m taking
every possible precaution. I did find some locks and thankfully the flight bag got delivered after a call to the company.

Next to materialistic problems we have the mental aspect when working up towards a long term (solo) trip.
especially when you have/had certain anxieties..
And boy, did I go through some different mental states, but that’s nothing new.
I went from over excited to doubting everything. From wanting to go immediately to not wanting to go anymore.
The difference NOW from when my anxieties were still strong and my depression present,
is that in these different state of minds I now know what my true intentions are and what I truly want.

I’m not listening to the venomous, overpowering mind, but to my whispering soul and spirit.

I was telling myself it’s not such a big of a deal, because lots of other people are doing this solo traveling thing.
Still, I am my own person and this is a big step for me.
From a social anxious, insecure human being to one exploring a big country on her own.
Talking to people and laughing as much as possible.

Another important thing.. say goodbye to your loved ones.
Because of my ‘depressed, eating disorder period’ I had to rebuild the relationships with my family.
I’m trying hard to let them know I love them.
I thought my mother would just drop me off at the airport and that was all, but nothing was less true.
Lots of hugs, kisses, curious questions and best wishes was what I got.

So say goodbye, you never know what might happen to you or them.
You shouldn’t expect something to happen, but just give them a last loving word or a big smile.
On the morning of leaving I told my dogs goodbye. This was really hard, because I love them immensely and I can’t tell them I’ll be back in 2 months. They might think I’m gone forever.

I am so grateful for my parents and sister taking me to the airport, where my boyfriend was also waiting on me.
What did I do to deserve all of this love?

At the airport the last goodbye kisses, hugs and off I go.

The journey begins..

The danger of humans having animals for pets

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So this morning I went to the forest with one of our dogs (Kayla) and my camera.
We played around and I took some pictures of her and nature, but also a certain thought
came to mind. I didn’t allow myself to go deep into this thought, because I wanted to enjoy the
walk and just be in the moment. When I got home I edited the pictures and decided to make a
blog post about that thought+some of the pictures I took of course!

”Danger? What danger could there be besides people mistreading their pets?”
I know that this is what some might be thinking.

Yes there definitely is danger in having pets, and that is that humans are tend to treat their animals
like a fellow human. And no that’s not a good thing.. Animals aren’t like humans and need a different
approach. Think about the way people treat eachother.. when someone mistreads you, you want to do it back.
Right? People also do this with animals. They do something wrong and the human wants to punish them.
It really doesn’t work like that. The animal won’t understand why you do that to him and what you’re exactly
doing to him.. You need to lead an animal, because that is what you are.. you’re the leader of your pets.
They see you like that, treat you like that and they will take you for example for their actions.
Use body language and the sound of your voice. Also trust is really important!
I have a personal example:

After years and years of begging for my own horse I finally had permission to buy one.
I was so excited and I wanted to do everything right away, so that’s the first step where I went wrong.
My way of treating horses was: so natural as possible, but little I knew about the behaviour between
horses and horses.. My approach to my horse was like I was to a human being.
When she did something wrong or didn’t do something right away when I wanted her too,
I became angry or inpatient. And what do you do when your state of mind is like that?
Yeah you’re going to act to those thoughts. I get sad writing this, but that is what I did..
sometimes I hit her, yelled at her and I remember a time when I was so done with her that I kicked her.
When I came to my senses I immediatly would regret it, apoligized, hugged her and gave her treats.

Ofcourse the horse doesn’t know what the hell you’re doing, it’s like that with every animal!
And I’m not only talking about the punishing part, but also how you pet them or reward them.
Even letting a dog lick you when you didn’t ask for it is wrong.
When you let the dog do this he will see you as his property and becomes dominant of you.

Be a leader for your pets people, treating them like a fellow human being isn’t a good thing!
It’s not natural for the animal.
What I will always do now before I get a pet is learning as much as I can about their natural
behaviour and how they do and learn things.
Watch documentaries or watch the animals how they act in groups of their own kind.

Animals are so wonderfull and amazing so we should treat them like that.
It’s really not in their natural behaviour to mistreat us or do things wrong.

I hope this gives some of you fresh new insights about having pets, have a wonderfull day
and give your pets some extra love for me! 🙂

Raindrops

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Tip: put on this song while reading and keep this song in mind for whenever you need
a ‘pick me up’

As I was walking through the rain I thought about how I never mind doing so.
I never despise the rain. I think it’s because I know so deeply that it feeds everything
we need and love. The soil, trees, plants.. and ofcourse it makes farmers very happy,
especially after a dry period.

‘I wonder where these drops came from?’ was my next thought.
‘Did they travel far?’
‘Or not?’
Wish I was a raindrop.
Travelling without thought, just being.

When a cloud gets to heavy, it starts raining.
He let will let everything go.
Like some people do, when everything becomes too much.
They let everything go and disappear. Yes their physical body is still here,
but not their spiritual body.

They gotta start from the beginning, start collecting raindrops again and forming a cloud.
That’s where we have to stop.
Stop collecting emotions and tasks before it’s too late, because the mind will take over
and awakens your pain body.

When I was a kid I loved running through the rain in my bathing suit.
Wish I could do that again while being fully present.
Without any forcing or thoughts.
Just happiness and feeling free..

I’m on a journey to have that feeling back and I’ll tell you some things that really help me,
maybe they will help you to..
-meditation
-reflecting on certain thoughts and actions, without forming an opinion
-only doing what you truly want, not what is expected
-alone time
-not letting the mind wander
-don’t force anything
-yoga
-walking (through the forest, the shore..just a place you feel like)
-picking up lost, but loved hobby’s
-writing
-do spontaneous and fun things. Keep surprising yourself with your own actions..

Walking through the rain is so refreshing and the smell after a rain shower..
so wonderful.
It smells like pure nature, don’t you think?

Healthy cinnamon waffles + chocolate nicecream

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This recipe is too easy and delicious not to share!
In my opinion waffles are like pancakes, but for lazy people or lazy moments
You make the batter, put it in a waffle maker or a waffle mold (like me) and wait.
I made it less lazy and decided to make some nicecream to go with the waffles.

Don’t feel like making nicecream or you don’t have the tools? Don’t worry, I thought of something
just as good! Scroll down and you´ll see.
Being lazy? Top them with a nut butter or strawberry jelly! Also delicious if you ask me.

For the waffles you’ll need:
– 55gr (1/2 cup?) of flour (I used oat flour)
– As much cinnamon as you like, I used a lot!
– About 1/2 a tbsp of coconut sugar (depends on how sweet you want them to be)
– About a tsp of baking powder
– 1/2 a frozen ripe banana
– 1/2 cup plant milk (use any kind you like)
x Optional: vanilla, I used stevia vanilla drops
x Optional: raisins or anything else you want in your waffles.
Cacao nibs, chocolate, nuts?

For the nicecream you’ll need:
– As much as frozen ripe bananas you like
– Cacao, I used a heaping tsp. For a rich cacao taste add a lot, otherwise add less
(leave out the cacao if you want a neutral taste and maybe add another flavouring like cinnamon, vanilla, strawberries or other fruit)

For the optional chocolate sauce you’ll need:
– Agave syrup
– Cacao
– Water

How to make the waffles and nicecream:
1. Put the flour, baking powder and coconut sugar in a bowl. Whisk together.
2. Mash the banana in a bowl
3. Add the plant milk(optional: vanilla drops) and mix the milk and banana together
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
(The batter shouldn’t be too runny and not too thick.)
5. Grab your mold (or waffle maker) and pour the batter in!
In the airfryer: 180 degrees, 11 min
In the oven: 180 degrees, about 20 min6. For the nicecream you can use as much frozen bananas as you like, put them in a mixing bowl(or food processor, high speed blender..)
7. Mix the nicecream with whatever you’re using. I used my immersion blender!
8. Add a heaping tsp (or more or less) to the nicecream and mix again
9. Put the nicecream in the freezer until you’re ready to use it
10. Time to plate up! Put you’re waffles on a plate, grab your nicecram and
scoop it on top.
I topped it off with some homemade cinnamon granola

How to make the chocolate sauce:
1. Put some cacao in a small bowl, the amount depends on how thick or thin
you want the sauce to be
2. Add about 1/2 a tbsp agave syrup and a little bit of water
3. Mix together. First it will look like the cacao won’t ‘blend in’, but eventually it will
4. Now add some more water, until you have the concistency you want

Enjoy people, enjoy..because you definitely will!

Naked

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Naked..

This word has a different meaning to every human being.
And I mean a bigger meaning then, well.. what the word means ofcourse.

Naked without your earrings
Naked without your long hair
Naked without your friends
Naked without alcohol when going out..

It means that you feel uncomfortable, or not yourself even, without a certain factor.
Why? Why would we feel that way without it?

Aren’t we enough for ourselves as we are?
If we believe we are, others will feel that way too,
And if not.. we attract how we act!
So other, better, people will come in your life who accept everything about you.

I feel most naked when I wipe my eyebrows off..

It sounds weird when I say it like that.
My eyebrows are a big struggle point for me, because I don’t have them.
(there is some hair, but you can’t see it)
I’ve even been bullied because of it.
I ‘draw’ them every morning again and again with powder on my face.
Always afraid they will disappear when it rains, when I go swimming and so on.
When did it start? When did I start feeling naked without my eyebrows?
I was born like that and up until one point I couldn’t care less.
Well it started when people noticed it. People noticed it so I noticed it.
It went from only noticing to feeling bad about it, hiding it and eventually learning to draw them.

It’s the mind playing tricks. It starts with one thought which you put in your head yourself or it is
put there by others. The thought sits there and the mind loves to manipulate it and awaken the,
so called, ‘pain body’ inside of us. We also feel like we are supposed to act to those thoughts.
We are not our minds so why listen to it?

I’m feeling less and less naked lately without drawing them.
The reason why I keep drawing them is because my face speaks more with eyebrows,
but I don’t depend on them being there anymore!

Be yourself, feel yourself, listen to yourself and not to your mind!

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