How Friends and Paint Cans Made Our House a Masterpiece.
We landed in Amsterdam in 1995 with dreams bigger than our bank accounts. In fact, our bank accounts were more like bottomless pits – $800,000 in debt, to be exact!
The company I worked for offered a lifeline – rent and some basic startup cash to fix up our new place.
Our home was in the only neighbourhood we could afford, on the outskirts of Amsterdam. To us, it seemed ideal and picturesque, with canals, open fields, cows, and windmills—a classic Dutch postcard.
However, mentioning “Amsterdam Zuid-Oost” to locals elicited horrified reactions. It was considered a dangerous slum, although we never experienced any issues.
For the first five years, decorating was out of the question. Our budget stretched to white wallpaper slapped on the cement walls and carpets softening the cold, hard floors. Furniture? Mattresses doubling as sofas, rescued from a flea market and adorned with colourful fabrics from India. Fancy? Not quite. Functional? Absolutely.
By 2000, we craved a change. A splash of colour, some energy that reflected who we were. But neither of us was a DIY enthusiast. Enter fate (and one of Yoni’s workshops!). A participant overheard our woes and offered a solution: “Why not ask for help? Lots of people love this stuff!”
Now, Yoni wasn’t big on asking for favours back then. But before he could protest, the guy continued, “Heck, I’d love to do it! And I bet others would join.” And join they did! A whole crew signed up to spend New Year’s Eve – the millennium’s New Year’s Eve, no less! – painting our home. All Yoni had to do was provide food (and maybe overcome his fear of asking for help!).
Oh, and did I mention I was on a 10-day meditation retreat during all this? Yoni recruited his mom to handle the food. Before I left, he warned me of a possible “surprise” upon my return. Little did he know, six adults and two kids were about to descend on our place, armed not with brushes, but with sponges! In a whirlwind of colour, they transformed our blank walls into a sunrise symphony – vibrant hues that danced across the surface. The sponges added a unique touch, turning the paint into a textured masterpiece.
Needless to say, I was speechless when I returned. Our walls were no longer just walls; they were art. We never even hung a single picture – the sunrise magic was enough.
