Eline D.
Today is the first part of my interview with Eline. At the time of the portraits, Eline had only recently heard that she has breast cancer and had her first round of chemotherapy just a few days before the shoot.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
Lorem ipsum
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet.
Integer nec odio.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
Lorem ipsum
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet.
Integer nec odio.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
Lorem ipsum
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet.
Integer nec odio.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
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Tell us about yourself?
I'm a highly sensitive person who, in the past years, has become more and more myself. Unapologetically so.
I live fully and intensely; I don’t want to miss or shy away from any of it, the light and darkness that life brings. My intention is to live as purely and authentically as I may, staying close to myself. I’ve struggled with insecurity, body image, and not feeling good enough; this is a challenge. I guess I’ve always felt a bit out of place and (socially) awkward. I grew up in quite an unsafe environment with domestic violence and an unstable family unit. I took on roles at a very young age that were detrimental and not suitable for a child.
Much in my life has been about unlearning and healing through introspection, therapy, meditation, and studies. I’m on the journey to myself. It’s a healing journey that has slowly and not always as steadily created self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion. Learning to trust the universe… It’s been a beautiful and fantastic ride, and I feel so much freer and in tune with myself and the universe than I’ve ever felt before. This led me to make a radical career change a few years ago. I became a life coach, left the company I had worked for ages, and started my own practice.
I’m versatile and multi-passionate. I lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. I became a professional model for a few years, then stopped at university to study Cultural Anthropology and Environment & Development. I finished my master’s degree with a thesis on the research I conducted in the Canadian arctic, where I lived for three months. While completing my studies, I started working for a company where I held various positions in 12 years, finishing as a business consultant and coach. In addition, I’ve been making (predominately) black and white analog photographs since my teenage years…
How did an American woman end up in the Netherlands?
I graduated college in NY in 1990 and went to Europe that summer for a short vacation before I was supposed to start work as a therapist in NY that September. I never came back. I’m still on vacation! I was on a train in Prague that July and someone heard me speaking English. They asked me if I wanted a job at the very first English school there. Of course, I said YES! I put my job on hold in NY, and taught English in Prague for a year in 1990. I was the first person from Western Europe to do so. I got 70 cents an hour and had total freedom to create my own program to teach adults who had to speak English for work. It was a huge challenge, as I didn’t speak Czech and English was forbidden until just a few months before I started working there.
People were arrested for playing a Beatles record in their own homes. I had to really use my creativity to create a program that was effective yet fun. But then there was a huge plot twist. Just before I was supposed to start, I was using the last few days of my Interrail pass, and on August 2, I was in Barcelona for a weekend. There, I met a fabulous Dutchman in the middle of the night. It was a totally random encounter. We fell in love, but I had to go and work in Prague a few days later, as I had already signed a contract (in Russian, actually, I didn’t understand a word, but I completely trusted the woman who hired me). So I tried to get that man off my mind, and off I went to start an exciting new adventure in Prague. That hot Dutchman and I wrote letters for a year.
He asked me to come and live with him in the Netherlands. I said, ‘You are amazing, but you are all I know about the Netherlands. That’s not enough. I will need a job if we will have a future together.’ So, he arranged an interview for me at the most prestigious language institute of the Netherlands. I worked there for 11 years but left in 2001 to follow my dream – to become the First Personal English Coach in the Netherlands.
