Kristin Verellen, founder of We have the choice, in Le Soir. “Ca demande une vigilance de tous les instants, d’être présent dans sa propre vie. Si on ne fait pas attention, nos pensées nous emmènent rapidement vers le passé, vers ce qui est arrivé et pourrait se reproduire et voilà nos angoisses projetées dans le futur ! Il n’y a que le présent qui compte, le reste est une construction de notre imagination. La bonne nouvelle, c’est que finalement tout part de nous-même. « We have the choice ». Quoi qu’il nous arrive, nous avons toujours le choix de comment y répondre.  Et quand nous laissons notre coeur choisir, nous rencontrons les autres.  Nous sommes moins seuls qu’on ne pense. Il suffit d’une, deux, trois étincelles pour allumer un feu.”

Welcome in the french speaking circle of We have the choice on Thusrday March 24th. Participation is free. Subscribe at communications@lesoir.be

Sunday 22 March 2020

2 pm – 4 pm
ONLINE Eye Gazing Experiment
You can participate via this link: www.human.online
You can easily create an account.

4:30 pm – 6 pm
ONLINE Circle ritual of We have the choice
You can participate via this link: https://zoom.us/j/519436079
You can login online from 16h15 so you can test the connection.
Start Circle at 16h30.

Make sure you have a good wifi connection, preferably via a computer or laptop with camera.

Welcome between 14h and 16h to participate in the ONLINE Eye Contact Experiment.
Where is the connection between people?
Look 1 minute into the eyes of a stranger to find out. One minute eye contact means making real contact with someone else. Without (preliminary) judgements and expectations. Beyond the words.
By being in silence with each other in this way, we can experience our shared humanity.
Every year people in more than 300 cities worldwide participate in The Eye Gazing Experiment. Bond Zonder Naam joins this international movement as a statement for the importance of deeper human connection in times of polarization.

Afterwards you can participate in an ONLINE circle ritual from 16h30 to 18h. The Circle offers you a ritual space to find and share words on your personal experience. The circle helps to stand still, connect with others, become conscious about what is important for you, and to find the force to make authentic choices. Whatever happens, we always have the choice to choose love instead of falling into fear and hardening. The Circle is not
 a usual dialogue, it is about sharing and listening from heart to heart. Everyone can speak, but there is no need to speak. The quality of your presence is enough.
The Circles of the voluntary initiative We have the choice create since the attacks of 2016 spaces for standing still and connecting in various intercultural contexts, to promote a sense of community and to prevent further radicalization and violence.

As part of the ‘Encounters’ project, Kristin Verellen will tell her personal story in the Beersel Library on Thursday 5 March, using photos by Johan Van Steen that were published posthumously, combined with poems by herself. March 22, 2016: a day that many will not soon forget. 31 dead, many wounded and a country in mourning. Kristin lost her partner Johan Van Steen in the attacks and experienced how sitting together in vulnerability and trust after a shocking event leads to new resilience. Tickets (8€ + 1 drink) can be bought in Bib Beersel. More info can be found here.

On the 7th of June, Kristin Verellen was a guest at the 20 year celebration of Moderator, forum for restorative justice and mediation, in Leuven. She did an interesting ‘blind-date’ double interview on stage with Anniek Gavriilakis of Bond zonder Naam.

Kristin Verellen testified at the international conference for ‘Restorative Practices’ in Kortrijk on Wednesday 15 May. An inspired story that touched many people can be deduced from the high attendance at the circle that took place at the conference in the afternoon. More info about the conference: https://pheedloop.com/belgium2019/site/home/

Our Corporate Circle, which took place on Monday 13 May at Colruyt Group in Halle, was a great success. A full circle of business leaders who could experience a circle of We have the choice and were invited to become ambassadors for our social aim. Silence and connection in the business world that goes faster and faster. The next Corporate Circle is planned for Thursday 28 November.

On 2 May, We have the choice accompanied a circle of first-year students from Odisee, Department of Family Sciences. It was a powerful and moving circle around the theme ‘I have the choice’. In the coming weeks, various circles with young people will be on the programme.