I have a motto – Live It Up! We only get one life and we have limited time, so we better live up every minute and choose to do what creates happiness for ourselves, our friends, our family and our community. Right now. Every damn day!

Some of my daily sayings include:

Let it go.

Do you want to create a connection or conflict?

It’s all good.

Yes.

Life is good.

What made you happy today?

No worries.

So what?

I love you.

Can I have a do-over?

God bless you.

I’m sorry.

I made a mistake. Can I try again?

Do the right thing. Choose the harder right.

In 20 years, this won’t matter.

But I digress… One of the best things I’ve learned so far is to live in the moment and to enjoy what you have and where you are. Right now. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Be in the moment and live it up. And I do. And I do my work and take care of my responsibilities and I have fun, every day in some way. If the mama’s happy, everyone is happy. Am I right??

Today I rode my bike for the first time from Amstelveen into Amsterdam with my friends, and i was so proud of myself. I’ve been a little intimidated and finally faced my stupid fears and went, like all the other Dutch people! We met up with Cami at the Rijksmuseum and hired a tour guide for five euros each to give us the highlights of the museum. I highly recommend this option for your first visit. We also all had museum cards, which get you into the museum for free and avoids the queues. The museum just reopened after ten years of renovations. There were lots of problems and bureaucracy that postponed the reopening, but finally last week it reopened again and it is marvelous. The architecture is amazing, and was almost as entertaining as the art.

The arrangement of the collections are now organized by combining paintings, sculpture, crafts, and historical objects chronologically. Together, they tell the story of Dutch art and history Ina more contextual iced and meaningful way.

This was the first piece that was highlighted. It is from the Middle Ages and depicts the Virgin Mary expressing sorrow. The majority of the art produced in Europe during the Middle Ages was of a religious nature.

This painting is from the 19th century and was created by George Hendrik Breitner. Its interest comes from the use of photography to structure the painting. The veiled woman in the front is significantly larger than the other figures and was originally a maid, but was transformed into a well to do lady as requested by the art dealer. In this time,maids and the wealthy folks were not seen on the street at the same time of day. So this was cutting edge!

Van Gogh’s self portrait and a few of his pieces were displayed. Most of his art is in his own museum, and is temporarily at the Hermitage while the VG museum is being renovated.

We climbed up several flights of stairs to see a 20th century airplane that was designed by the Dutch.

We were all fascinated by how they got the airplane onto and into the building on the highest floor. They took it apart and rebuilt it over several months to get it to fit indoors.

The best part of sightseeing with a tour guide, is that they highlight details that you might otherwise overlook. I’ve seen Vermeer’s The Milkmaid before, but this time I noticed the broken window and the light coming through the cracks, and the Delft tiles on the floor. I loved the woman’s hands and the stillness and simplicity of her pouring milk.

This scene by Jan Steen is awesome and provided my lesson for the day. This painting is called the Merry Family. I love that everyone is being silly and jovial and playing together. The paper hanging from the mantel tells the moral of the story: “as the old sing, so shall the young twitter.” The young will copy and mimic their elders. What will become of our youth if we set the wrong example?

The masterpiece of the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt’s Nightwatch painting. The room where it is hung is where it was originally showcased. The entire room is dedicated to Rembrandt, the master of capturing light and darkness. You could sit in this room and stare for hours and see something different every time.

Speaking of light, the sun was shining so warmly today and brightly that we had to go outside for lunch and soak up the sun. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from this glorious day. Namaste and I hope you get a chance to see the newly reopened Rijksmuseum.

And after the beauty of the Rijksmuseum, nature finished the day with her beautiful, final curtain.

Life is good.