When You Need the Sea and the Wind to Think Clearly

Steemfest² begins in exactly 1 month!!

In the past weeks I've been on a mission to engage with the Steemit Community with a specific short-term goal: getting two tickets for Steemfest². I entered a contest from @blueorgy to win an entry, but hey, with so many amazing contestants in there, who have contributed so much to Steemit already, I felt like if I would be winning that one, it'd be an insult to those who deserved far more to win.

So I didn't win. But, the effort didn't go unnoticed, the upvotes on my posts and comments got a significant boost from several dolphins and whales. It's like they were saying, ok kid, what you're doing isn't yet on the quality level we would like, but keep trying, we appreciate your efforts..

So I kept trying and kept going at it. With some success on some days, and on other days not so much. Since Steemfest is already here in 1 month, I needed to make some decisions about it. First, of course, I read the latest update from @roelandp, who wrote his latest blog from the Island of Crete in Greece.

Time to think it over. We jumped in the car for a two hour drive and went for a walk on the beach at Kijkduin:

It was kinda rainy and windy for a little while, so we found some shelter in one of the beach bars. Where I tried out some filters on my smart phone. Looks cosy, right?

After that, the weather cleared and we took a nice long walk, talking about life, kids, work and Steemfest. At some point we came across this monument in the dunes:

It reads (freely translated):

return to the Silent Beach
where only the things that truly matter remain
the waves of the sea roll through the dunes
the surf through its crowns
you find the place
to love

Well, I don't think it could be any clearer. Steemfest here we come!!