Be the Delft jug in the Bols window

Look at this shop window. Bottles and bottles, all identical, all perfectly lined up. And in the middle, almost hidden, a Delft jug that has nothing to do with anything but it's the only one that makes you stop.

A Bols bottle display in a little Amsterdam street, with a Delft jug sneaking in among them all.

Here's the thing: that's the post.

There are moments when you plug into something and the world shifts into color. Suddenly you're absorbing stimuli with intention, living with your eyes wide open, and everything you see sparks an idea. You're taking photos of everything on your phone, photographing whatever you find on the street, pinning things like mad. Your brain is running at full speed because something you dared to think resonated, knocked you off your routine axis and you just can't stop.

That's living in a state of permanent creativity. And it feels good when it happens. You can feel it in your body: dopamine right at the surface, every mundane task takes on a different color. The sun comes out.

But it's not about being demanding with yourself. It's not about reinventing the wheel. It's about daring to do it, full stop. Inside your head you're John Malkovich, do you want to be John Malkovich? You can go wild, think outside the box, imagine without prejudice or blocks. Nobody judges you: in your own jurisdiction, everything is allowed.

Look, listen, take a walk, create whatever atmosphere you need. Stop walking for a second and look up. Brainstorming is nothing more than playing pretend that there are no rules for a good long while.

Watch out for your dark side: dressed up as a little lamb, self-sabotage will show up. The one that reminds you, right when you're about to fly, that you don't have little wings. That you should get off your high horse. That your place is right there, with all the other identical little bottles: the safest, most correct thing you'll ever do in your life.

Yeah, no. Go away.

Self-sabotage is just a finger, and a finger can't block out the sun.

The key is to bring some of that madness into your reality. Not all of it, not at once. But something. Transform your everyday with notes of personal magic. Be the Delft jug in the Bols window. From the inside out, little by little, toward something bigger.

Believe in yourself. Let it out.

J.