The Collector

Janne's talk about Seize Your Moments during #sui32 (in Dutch) from Stand-up Inspiration on Vimeo.


“Have you had a beautiful experience in the last few days, and please could you draw it for me?” My name is Janne Willems, and that is what I ask people. 

You see, I'm searching for those little moments that make you smile such as beautiful colours at the textile market, a nice snatch of conversation or beautiful flute music. I find these beautiful moments wherever I meet people: at (street) parties, workshops and in café's, but especially on the train. 

I ask anyone I meet if they have experienced a beautiful moment in the last few days and if they could illustrate that moment by drawing, making a collage or in some other way. It's cool to see how positively people react to this sort of request. Wonderful things start to happen: conversations start up, train carriages full of happily chatting people or somebody hastily presses a moving card into my hands before they reach their station.

I collect beautiful moments because it makes me happy, the reactions give me energy and I'm interested in what other people see as beautiful moments. 

I got the idea to do this because I've been collecting my own beautiful moments for several years. This made me curious to find out about other people's beautiful moments. I have also discovered the power of collecting these moments and I would like to share them with other people.