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Realitychecks. They occur every now and then and every now and then I feel the need to share my realitychecks with you. After my not-so-serious ode to the here and now, it’s time to get serious.

This ode has to do with a story that I’ve read in a Dutch newspaper. It’s about a woman who wrote a very open article about the past with a clear (tragic) link to the here and now. In a nutshell: the article is written by a woman whose mother unfortunately took her life in 1983. The most important question after such an event is always: Why? After years her daughter was ready to find an answer to this question. And it was answered alright. Her mother had kept a diary in the past. This diary was an important source which helped the daughter understand the thoughts and feelings of her mother and how that led to her radical decision.

Rewind to the 1970s and early 1980s.
You’re a woman. Just like the decades before, your career perspective after marriage is usually: becoming a housewife and in your career perspective horizon  staying a perfect housewife is priority number 1. Do you want more? The Housewife police (society and your environment) will try to bring you to the housewife pad. Are you ambitious and would you like to have your own career? What’s wrong with you? It is unthinkable.
This state of mind actually reminds me to some “vintage humor” pictures which are literally made to mock the vintage times a little bit, but… in every  joke there is a serious amount of truth.

Flashforward to the present.

What are we?
Woman, writer/doctor/whatever you want, daughter, girlfriend, mother, wife etcetera.
What can we become?
Anything we like.
What do we want after that?
More.
When do we want it?
As soon as possible.
When can we start?
Right now

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For some things one blogpost just isn’t enough. A while ago I explained to you where my vintage fascination came from. One fine day in my personal history (2 weeks ago), I was half-awake and scrolling through my facebook timeline with one eye open. (People who are smiling right now will understand). That morning, one picture about the 1950s gave me a wake-up call. The picture was taken from and old movie scene and had a caption like: “Why didn’t I grew up in the 1950s”. The discussion below the picture was actually quite interesting. Some people resented the statement and pointed out issues like racism, discrimination and the disadvantaged position of women. Although I obviously know how much these issues (unfortunately) were alive and kicking back in the day, I don’t agree with the comments. But…it got me thinking and led to this sequel of the origin of my vintage fascination v.s. the present.

If you think we are living in “The Best Era”, think again (or just watch the news). Just like there are no perfect people, I believe there is also no perfect era to live in. Every era has its darkside and its charm. The 1950s had it and we also have it right now. Right now we are living in an era with a lot of possibilities, remarkable technological innovations (hello Apple smartwatch, drones and Google glass) and other luxuries. We have so many choices and possibilities that 24 hours in a day are not enough. However, while you are reading this post, someone else may be neglected, bullied or worse or and another person just feels unhappy with his/her life. Racism may be gone (officially in most countries), but bullying is not. We have a lot of communication channels, but sometimes we forget to really talk to each other. Most of us (in the West) have a lot of opportunities to educate ourself and earn more. However, sooner or later we all find out that money is handy and needed (to pay the rent, your house, plane ticket and walk-in-closet…), but you can’t buy happiness.

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