2006 in a nutshell

A year of meeting many new people, of whom some became great friends. A year in which we were more than ever confronted with the effects that the changing climate is bringing us. A year in which I attempted to start working out on my body again. A year in which leaders of democratic societies suddenly spoke positive about death sentence. A year of hard working, sometimes leading to great results, sometimes leading to big frustrations. A year in which gay rights globally were more and more recognised as fundamental human rights. A year of visiting new countries and meeting new cultures. A year of loosing trust in Dutch politics. A year of falling in love and sometimes loosing hope.

xmas & flu

I have been spending over two weeks in Amsterdam now, first finishing work before holidays, then enjoying days off... Christmas I partly spent with my family in Amersfoort, and partly with friends. Yesterday, on second Christmas day I got a cold developing into a flue, hence I've spent today at home.... A bit frustrating as I had been looking forward to be doing things during these holidays. So it's time to go to bed... and I hope to feel much better tomorrow!

Positive mental health

And it's already the third day of our conference in Riga! I've learned a lot in these days, e.g. to understand what Positive mental health means, and we also see how bit the differences in mental health care providers in different countries actually are. It is a really nice week with great participants.
People start getting very tired already, as the many discussions continue during the evenings and nights and there's, a now, obvious lack of sleep amongst many of us. Hence the participants have introduced something new to IGLYO's history: an alcohol evening... As alcohol is an important form of self-harm amongst LGBT people I think it is good that we are considering that this tonight.