Are you rich?
A simple question.
But what is wealth anyway?
Is it money?
Success?
Freedom?
Health?
Or maybe something else entirely.
Here in Amsterdam, everything seems to revolve around speed. Agendas are full, targets have to be met, everyone runs from appointment to appointment. Money is often the most important indicator of success.
In Suriname it feels completely different.
Tranquilo.
Maybe it’s because my wife is Brazilian and I know that culture well by now, but I enjoy it immensely. People take their time. For each other. For a conversation. For life.
The special thing?
Many people there dream of the Netherlands. Of more opportunities, more income and more success.
And then we came to the Saramaka people, deep in the jungle.
There my image of wealth changed again.
They don’t live against nature.
They live with nature.
They know how to build a boat out of a tree. How to grow food. How you hunt. How to read the river. How to live together with animals, rain and the seasons.
That is not primitive.
That is knowledge that has been built up over generations.
That is a form of wealth that we sometimes completely ignore.
Maybe we are rich in stuff.
And they are rich in skills, peace, connection and freedom.
I don’t know if I would want to live like this permanently.
But I do know that I have taken a piece of that way of life back with me.
Less rush.
More wonder.
And every now and then realize that wealth has many more forms than just a bank account.
What does wealth mean to you?
Watch the video here
