✍️ Authors Note
Originally written on the eve of my Autumn retreat in 2024, the post “Zen Time in the Twilight Zone” reflected on the strange mood of our times — when the surreal and the serious blend indistinguishably, and the soul yearns for silence amid the noise.
🔗 Read the original post here
🧘 Afterthought (2025)
One year later, the world still feels as if it’s spinning inside a Rod Serling script. The absurd has become familiar: political theatre echoes louder than thoughtful dialogue, and the language of revenge, supremacy, and permanent war continues to shape headlines. The storm hasn’t passed — it has simply grown more normalized.
And so, the need for deliberate withdrawal remains.
Not to abandon the world, but to meet it on clearer terms.
Not to retreat in fear, but to step back in order to return with steadier feet.
The practices I wrote about — walking, sailing, writing, listening to music, playing chess — remain my compass. They ground me not as escape, but as quiet rebellion against the frantic pace of modern life.
As Rumi reminds us:
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.”
In these times, we must be intentional about both.
Netherlands, William J J Houtzager, Aka WJJH, August, 2025
📌 Blog Excerpt
A reflective return to the post “Zen Time in the Twilight Zone”, exploring how even a year later, the world remains noisy, surreal, and in need of retreat. Sometimes, clarity begins with stepping back.
In what kind of world do we wish to live 