Hi, I am Anke Maertens.

All my life, I have been fascinated by existence and humanity but I also struggled to find my place. From a young age, I saw clearly that people are born into a body and eventually everyone will die. It was not easy to know this and be just fine. Weirdly enough, many people seemed to label this kind of thinking – and the anxiety and the sadness that came with it – as dark or heavy or even disordered. Society seems to push us to ignore our own truth and to focus on random things that in the greater scheme of things just aren’t all that relevant (such as trying to fit into all sorts of boxes that we didn’t really want to fit into in the first place). For a long time, I tried to fit in. My smile and my laughter was real, but it was only one half of me. The rest, I needed to hide, not only from others, but also from myself.

I am convinced that accepting our truth, zooming in and out on life, and listening to our gut should not have to be so dark or heavy. It has the potential to be freeing and uplifting, especially if more of us would let it in and if we would support each other through the more difficult phases in our journey. Because when we can see ourselves for what we truly are, then we can slowly but surely let go of the shoulds and shouldn’ts and decide for ourselves what we find important in our “limited edition” appearance on Earth.

At first, I didn’t feel like I could have a voice. The world already has so many loud opinions about everything. Therefore, I kept philosophical art and sensitivity on the sideline and became a biomedical engineer.

I still find all things “health technology” quite interesting but it’s time to let another part of myself come to life as well. So I recently left the Big 4 and am moving towards researching meaning and existence and towards writing and art, towards feeling everything, not just the commonly accepted half.

Maybe the world could in fact use an additional voice and advocate for humanity. So on this website, I share my journey. The journey of a human being, a mom, a stepmom, a wife, processing, searching and exploring. And yes there is quite some darkness, but through sharing how I work through everything, I already feel like I am also finding some light. And perhaps, maybe, hopefully, this journey can inspire others to find their own unique path to value life and love to its core.

Welcome!