MUNISA ELEPHANTI = LIFE

In my early twenties a doctor told me it was likely I wouldn’t become older than 30 years. It was a smack in the face at the time. I can still get angry when I think about that moment and how unnecessary it was. In the end it also gave me the opportunity to take a good look at my life, my body, and my mind. It gave me many therapy sessions, retreats, mindfulness, meditation, singing bowl sessions and many more experiences that I did because of that horrifying news. There is a thin line between accepting your disability and the decline that comes with it. It’s also about the possibility of finding new resource to feel a bit better than I do now.

A great therapeutic method is to creatively express myself in multiple ways. People that know me for a long time have seen some of the things I create. However, for a lot of years I destroyed my creations at a full moon to set myself free. Until an artist friend said to me: “you’re free. You’re allowed to keep it. It’s yours to keep or even share”. Now, I believe to create a space where everything comes together. A space where you can go to from anywhere as long as you have internet (LOL). A space to find a bit of peace, happiness but also a deeper story. A space called MUNISA ELEPHANTI.

I was blessed to experience over a decade of extra time on this planet. I wanted to make most of this extra time. Creating MUNISA ELEPHANTI was one thing, but my health keeps surprising me. I went to see a doctor that really understood Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I contacted family and friends if they knew anyone that could help me by looking into my case. Unfortunately, in The Netherlands it wasn’t possible. A few weeks later I’m watching a young girl on YouTube called Bucketkris. She is traveling by herself in a wheelchair and having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She visited a doctor in Barcelona (Spain). I’ve heard of him before but on the video, I could see the streets and I knew I had to go to Barcelona to meet this doctor!

It's a really weird feeling to go abroad for medical help. Partly because it’s an expensive trip. So, if I’m going to spend so much on research on my body, I must also spend time on my mental health during this trip. What better way to do so than to create MUNISA ELEPHANTI? Barcelona was a beautiful week. A week of questions to answer, and answers to question. It was the moment to set the path for MUNISA ELEPHANTI!