NYC 2026 - Week 10
Trees in the bayou - showing the soft power of changing winds
BORN ON THE BAYOU
This week, my adventure relocated to a whole new setting. Since I had only been in the state and city of New York, I wanted to explore more of this majestic country. A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to book a trip to New Orleans, or as the locals call it: NOLA, and so, a bit impulsively, I did. But come on, it’s the place of jazz and blues, of voodoo and hoodoo; I could not let this pass. New Orleans is located in the state of Louisiana, in the south of ‘Murica.
Stepping onto the airplane made me feel like a little kid again: squealing on the inside, full of excitement to discover yet another beautiful spot on this planet we call Earth. It’s honestly one of my favorite things to do: immerse myself fully in uncharted territory and absorb the energy a place and its community holds. So, after a three-hour flight, the absorbing could commence.
Traveling here in June is ideal if you wish to avoid all the tourists but on the other hand, the heat is so humid, you could cut it with a saw. Luckily, the people are very warm too, and I loved indulging my ears in their juicy Southern accents. The daily pace slowed down again, and this was very welcome after two and a half months in the busy city. In a way, the food felt more real again, leaving me feeling nourished and wholesome.
Most of the hotels were situated in the French Quarter, the most famous and busiest part of the city, but wanting to experience a bit more of the real New Orleans, I found a place about a 15-minute walk from there. And I was not let down: the houses were GORGEOUS! Instead of seeing all the tall buildings of Brooklyn and Manhattan, these houses had a maximum of two floors. They were tiny, built to fit one family, most of the time. And the colors. Ouf! It was like every house was a piece of art on its own. Built from wood, given a bright, joyful color, and mostly surrounded by a beautiful selection of trees, plants, and bushes. I could literally walk around for hours and still be amazed and in awe of what I saw.
The fresh cut grass smelled amazing, in contrast to the chemical and decaying smells of the city. The lawns were often trimmed as if done with a ruler, yet nature still felt wild in a powerful, and at the same time incredibly soft way. It was like Mother Nature was allowing the people to live there, but she would still let us know that she is far more powerful than we give her credit for. I saw tree roots that filled up a full square meter, like someone left the tap open and the bathtub just overflowed. I witnessed a log of wood caught in an electrical wire. At first, it looked like a bird had made a nest, but when I looked closer, it was a piece of a branch that had grown into the wire but had been cut off from the tree.
I love to be surprised with the forces of nature. It is so majestic; we, as humans, can never create something as beautiful in the full spectrum of the word as Mother Nature does. And maybe we try hard, but the spirit she embodies and the life force that she puts into it are things we could never fully figure out.
I sat next to the Tree of Life, a beautiful piece of nature’s art—an entity that has already stood there for two centuries. Still growing, still waving her beautiful leaves in the soft wind, and exuding a peace for all her admirers to absorb. It is a sense of calm that nourishes the soul; one that hushes the sometimes crazy monkey mind. I’m grateful to have witnessed her, to have stroked her roots with my hands, sensing her energy, and becoming one with her for just a split second.
The power of Nature
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
While New York, to me, is already a place where freedom is ‘queen’, NOLA takes this to a whole new level. The city of New York can feel like a competitive area where everybody wants to be seen, wants to earn their place, and wants to be the next best thing. In NOLA, on the other hand, nobody seems to give a flying f*ck. They’re living their best life and don’t care too much about how cool they look (one might say it has a ‘tacky’ side, but they make up for it by having real fun).
There is no goal to reach, no dream to chase—because this kind of artistic freedom is the dream already. You might come here to leave behind old ghosts that haunted you in a previous life. And you do so by dancing in the middle of the street with a big group of talented musicians, stomping your feet hard on the ground, and shaking your hips from front to back and side to side. It also helps to sing heartfelt songs in a bar full of strangers while connecting to the performing artist on stage. I can highly recommend it, because when I did, I felt my Soul spark up, is there anything better then absorbing live music and living it out with your body? It’s transcending, I promise you. When was the last time that ‘music made you loose control’?
NOLA’s brightly colored houses
THE POWER OF CLOTHES
I’m not sure if it was just me, or if being away from Belgium for ten weeks is slowly changing me, or maybe simply because it was a mini-holiday within my big ‘holiday,’ but I felt so great in my own skin. And that feeling was revealed to me through the clothes I wore. Arriving with just a small suitcase, I could only bring a few things, and usually, I get a bit stressed while packing and deciding what to take. This time, I felt amazing in every single piece of clothing I brought. It seems like, at 35, I’m finally able to give myself credit for the outfits I’m wearing, without caring what other people think. Not caring whether I fit into a certain subculture or not. Or if I would get approval for the way I looked. And that realization was quite liberating.
Our clothes have a certain power, don’t they? And right now, they’re telling me that, slowly but steadily, I’m making choices that suit me and my future self. Although from time to time, I can still hear my inner saboteur whispering in my ear, lately, I’ve been getting so much help and support—even from people who have only known me for a few weeks—allowing me to pivot faster when that voice shows up again. These amazing people reflect my hopes and dreams back to me, helping me to keep the vision alive, giving me the power to bend reality to my desires.
I’m beyond grateful for the people close to me here and for this short getaway. It truly touches my heart. It’s a slow process of letting this kind of kindness in. Radical acceptance is on the menu, and I’m all in for savoring the sweet taste it leaves behind.
With love,
Naomi/Numi
