“What are you doing tomorrow?”
– Taking a banana for a walk with you.

Plain and honest, just like the Dutch culture requires and expects.
When you send a message like that, you’re likely to cause bewilderment.
Confusion comes before excitement.

Why is that?

It is certainly not a regular idea among humans. You can easily spend a lifetime without ever coming across such a sentence, let alone actually do it the next day. I get that.

But Life won’t magically turn into an exciting adventure by itself. You won’t be able to tell great stories to your children from spending another dry Tuesday afternoon without tapping into the world of remarkable silliness.
It’s that simple. White bread routines seldom lead to thrilling experiences.

Luckily, you can always spice up the dull days with novelty and boldness.
Going out, getting shitfaced, eating at a fancy plek¹ – you’ve already done all of them.
It’s time to realize that the world has so much more to offer.

Starting from Scratch

You can easily forge fresh experiences, especially if they are unprecedented.

Creativity does play a role in it, but it’s not the only ingredient.
Like most great events, these blissful moments begin in the form of an idea, your imagination conjures them out of the ether, only to transform them into a seemingly ridiculous plan.

With diligent preparation of the details, you can create wonders. As long as you believe in the ideas you have. As for the backup plan, you can always give spontaneity a chance.

Let’s take taking a banana for a walk as an example.
The requirements of flawlessly executing such a silliness are simple and easy to get.

The fundamentals include:
A Banana – Not too soft, neither too sturdy. Not yellow yet, though neither fully green. The answer lies somewhere in-between
A Rope – Preferably thin, a strong string that can be tied effortlessly
A Marker – Mainly for naming and re-naming if the ground scratches off the ink
Scissors – For adjusting the length of the rope or the string

And last but not least, a slightly outstanding outfit.
This one is optional, though I highly recommend it if you intend to get the most fun out of this journey.

Luckily I already had a marker for this exact purpose, but it took more than an hour of hunting to find appropriate strings. Afterwards, it was just a question of proper bananas and using a pair of scissors the size of my pinkie.

While digging through my wardrobe to pick something neat, I stumbled upon a warm blue sweater depicting Rudolf with actual bells sewn into it. A sudden inspiration took over me to bring a touch of Christmas spirit into the heart of the city. After all, what’s the point of Christmas sweaters if you only get to wear them once a year?

The final step was the store where I carefully picked 2 seemingly flawless Chiquita beauties, and everything was ready.

In the end, the full set looked like this:

Walk your Talk

She didn’t even try to protest when I explained it.

Although she admitted to saying yes without knowing exactly what it means, she wasn’t particularly surprised by the idea and all the absurdity behind it.
“Sure, let’s do it” – the attitude of a free spirit
“I can’t say how long I’m going to do it, but I’m going to try” – she added sincerely.

On the way toward the place where we would begin, we were catching up and chatting about the events passed since our last meeting. I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the story of how the attitude that brought her here today, led her into changing her hair color at a moment’s notice. The hairdresser simply said: “By the way, the dyes are on a korting²” and so did the color of hair turn from cinnamon brown to a blend of deep crimson and burgundy.

Adventurous souls never lack the opportunity to experience great things in a blink.

As we’ve arrived at the outer edge of the city, I could finally prepare our fruits for the trip.
The sky was bright & clear, a rare condition lately. There was a court next to us, full of tall guys eagerly shooting their ball at the ring. You could see each and every forehead gleaming, as the beads of sweat slowly rolled down on their cheeks, making their chins drip.
That’s the way it goes in a country that’s naturally gloomy. People value – and utilize – every drop of sunlight before the clouds gain back their seemingly eternal reign.

I began to measure out the rope and carefully explained the science behind it.
You see, it does matter where you tie the knot and how you hold it while you’re walking.
Put the knot too high or too low and the banana will continuously turn around and stumble.
Hold it too tight or too loose, and it’ll start wobbling instead of smoothly sliding through the street’s floor.
Can you follow? Wonderful.
You’re almost a professional – I’m inclined to give you a degree, but the real test comes when you put it down on the ground and start walking smiling as you do.

After a brief minute of messing around, I eventually managed to tie the knot in the right angle and handed it to her to do the honors. Crazy as it sounds, there is a world of difference between walking with a banana and walking with a banana that has a name.
In the latter, you’re bold and funny, while the former simply makes you look like a lunatic.
She chose “Steeeve” with a couple of e’s and a subtle smile face.
These moments make me question whether coincidences actually exist, since the only other Dutch friend I ever did this with was also called Stevie.

At this point, I was utterly baffled by her ability to stay casual, almost nonchalant at this. It didn’t catch her off-guard, absolutely none of this did.
I quickly finished making my own piece and we were ready to conquer the city.

It was a deliberate decision to start slow, in a place not too busy for overwhelming attention.
Not like it would’ve mattered to her, but it’s better to be sure.
She simply placed it on the ground and started to walk – without a single moment of hesitation or doubt.

The very first Lady I know who dares to do so – in the city? For sure.
In the country? Maybe, who knows.
She might very well be the only woman who has ever done this in the history of the Netherlands.
That’s quite an accomplishment; a hallmark of sincerity and boldness.

It took her a little less than 3 minutes to brush off the name, since it’s not easy to converse meaningfully without losing track of the fruit’s side that faces the bricks.
“Noooo, Steeeeve!” – she cries out with a degree of compassion one could only muster for a puppy with a broken limb. I handed her the marker, and we were on the road again in a blink.

The looks we received were confused, and the laughs were genuine.
Every once in a while her laugh was louder than the person’s whose reaction triggered it.

By now we were well within the busier parts of the city, enough to get a grasp on the feeling, so I asked:
– How would you describe it?
“Amazingly weird!” – she said after a moment of thinking
Capturing the very essence of the idea behind this.

We were dragging the bananas around for a good 30 minutes in a park when a Shaman-looking man expressed his curiosity with an accent thicker than the wallet of a fresh lottery winner. That was the first and last conversation of the day, since her rope snapped not a minute after the thought exchange.
That marked the end of the journey of Bobo and Steeeve.

It was still early, so she offered to roll a J, both to chill and to celebrate, but it was my 30th day of a 30-day break. Saying yes would’ve been great, but it would’ve cost me my integrity.
After all, how could I aspire to achieve anything if I can’t keep my own promise?
“Word is bond” as they say, and keeping your word can only lead to a healthier sense of self-esteem.

There are only a handful of qualities in Life that keep us on track toward our dreams, and self-esteem is one that we simply cannot afford to lose or miss.

To our greatest delight, we’ve found an empty and quiet place on top of a bastion with a brilliant view over the city and the park beneath it, without the usual army of drunkards and junkies. The wind didn’t make it easier for her to roll her J, but the sun was bright and the sky was clear – that made up for the breeze.
Her pale silver eyes were relaxed, content and at ease, as if the definition of stress was missing from her vocabulary.

You could almost smell the openness she approached the world with. It was fresh, like the scent of grass after a light rainfall in the spring. Such is the wonder of organic curiosity.

Both the mood and the scenery – sunbathing on top of a tower in the heart of the city – were perfectly suited for a discussion with 0 superficiality. Those who’ve met me know that small talks feel like knives in my brain, murdering each and every brain cell. Individually. The amount of empty how are you? -s being thrown around without any interest or meaning behind them is painfully depressing.
That’s why striving to grow into a sparkling conversationalist is always worth it.
In a world of empty words and dry personalities, you’ll become an abundant Oasis.

She took the first hit, stared in the distance thoughtfully, exhaled, and drew the conclusion of the day:
“I think it was around 50-50 of the people who liked it, that’s really good actually”

Though the tiny miracles of today made an excellent mix to turn an afternoon into an evening, the full scale of wonders you can create by taking a banana for a walk in the city was hard to reach. The streets were still quite leeg³, making the world hard to entertain.

Having done this a couple of times, I’m quite certain that almost everybody likes it, but not all of them dare to admit it. Some people can perfectly function within the confinements of society, and doing something out of ordinary (or even agreeing to it) would put their image at risk.
The question we can ask in this case is: What’s worth more, the image itself, or the freedom that comes with not being too attached to it?

When we comfortably settled on the warm bricks at the edge of the building, I asked her the same question, but in a different way:

– What makes you feel alive?

It’s something we rarely – if ever – ask ourselves during our lifelong journey.
Though, if you don’t know the answer, how are you supposed to be fulfilled?
I asked her not to rush it, this isn’t one of those questions where speed matters more than accuracy.
Curiosity wasn’t the only reason behind it, I love this question because it also gives you the opportunity to pirate ideas if you hear something exciting.

We’re all looking for tips and ways to spend our time on Earth more vividly, it would be pointless to deny it.

With little to no surprise, she didn’t point out anything materialistic as the source of happiness and fulfillment that’s lasting. Wealthy people know that spending money seldom remains anything more than a fleeting high you constantly have to replenish.

No, she knew the value of quality connections with other human beings, rich in depth and meaning.
The magic of self-expression in any form, let it be dancing with your whole body, singing out your feelings, or putting your creative thoughts out through art; translating them into reality.

On the way back we passed the city’s red-light district, witnessing a few hookers preying on horny tourists to lure them in. As we reached the last intersection, ready to part ways, I said goodbye and skipped through the zebra crossing like a child with no shame, my sweater happily ringing, and cycled home under the setting sun with the favor of the wind behind me.

May you have the chance, I highly encourage you to spark up a conversation like this with your friends or family – with or without a joint – as it immensely helps you to get a clearer picture of who they are and what makes them feel truly alive or happy.

Have a wonderful day,
Erik

2021.05.18 – Day 848

Bucket List Progress:
– Take a Banana for a Walk with 100 people (#164) [100/3]

Writer’s Notes:
[NL] Plek¹ – Spot, Place
[NL] Korting² – Discount
[NL] Leeg³ – Empty