Our Story
Some years ago, a small group of friends recognized our need to slow down. Like many people, we felt overwhelmed by the speed of life and found little space for reflection. We tried to create a space where we could explore an important question we all shared: How are we going to be in the world? We found a rhythm for reading books, watching films, eating meals and taking walks together. We discovered stories, songs, poems, paintings and nature that helped us open our own personal stories with one another. Our shared encounters evolved into this movement we call Nexus.
Today Nexus is spread across more than fifteen countries in Europe, North America, The Middle East and Asia. On this site you will find articles inspired by encounters with books, films, music, poems and life events. Each article serves as a stimulus, either for a conversation with others or your own personal consideration. Some invite you to participate in a first-hand encounter with a specific creative work (watch a film, listen to a song, read a poem, study a flower, etc). We hope you find these resources helpful. Our contribution is to share generous ways of being together that people can practice with their friends.
We also provide coaching and resources to local groups such as book and film clubs that may or may not be formally related to the Nexus organisation and help people create local events in their own contexts. Please feel free to Contact Us, read more About Us and explore our online Resources.
Image by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
🇨🇳 中文简体
🇩🇪 Deutsch
🇪🇸 Español
🇫🇷 Français
🇮🇹 Italiano
🇭🇺 Magyarul
Podcast
We’re excited to invite you to our podcast Opening Life!
Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for updates and info. In 2024, our new Season 3 episodes will be dropping on the first weekend of each month, from March to December. This season we’ll be exploring what NYC-born and Spanish poets, feminist author bel hooks, favorite life-changing songs of Chinese friends, timeless children’s stories, and more, have to say to our lives.
All episodes can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or check out the latest episode below:
Our Five Key Words
Space
Our lives are crowded, both inside ourselves and in the world. We all need space to listen, reflect and speak, without fear of judgement.
Story
Like a mirror, stories provide reflections of our human experience from different perspectives. Stories can be told not only with words, but also with sounds, images and movements.
Conversation
Life-opening conversations happen when each person is invited to show up as they truly are. Wisdom can emerge from listening to many voices, each one beautiful in its particularity.
Connection
Human beings long for connection, to our deepest selves, to one another and to the transcendent. We flourish when we stay connected to sources of life and love.
Practice
Life asks us to grow inner and relational habits that form us as individuals and communities. We need the help of one another’s experience and encouragement to meet this challenge.
More on Key Words
Our Story
Some years ago, a small group of friends recognized our need to slow down. Like many people, we felt overwhelmed by the speed of life and found little space for reflection. We tried to create a space where we could explore an important question we all shared: How are we going to be in the world? We found a rhythm for reading books, watching films, eating meals and taking walks together. We discovered stories, songs, poems, paintings and nature that helped us open our own personal stories with one another. Our shared encounters evolved into this movement we call Nexus.
Today Nexus is spread across more than fifteen countries in Europe, North America, The Middle East and Asia. On this site you will find articles inspired by encounters with books, films, music, poems and life events. Each article serves as a stimulus, either for a conversation with others or your own personal consideration. Some invite you to participate in a first-hand encounter with a specific creative work (watch a film, listen to a song, read a poem, study a flower, etc). We hope you find these resources helpful. Our contribution is to share generous ways of being together that people can practice with their friends.
We also provide coaching and resources to local groups such as book and film clubs that may or may not be formally related to the Nexus organisation and help people create local events in their own contexts. Please feel free to Contact Us, read more About Us and explore our online Resources.
Image by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
🇨🇳 中文简体 🇩🇪 Deutsch 🇪🇸 Español 🇫🇷 Français 🇮🇹 Italiano 🇭🇺 Magyarul
Podcast
We’re excited to invite you to our podcast Opening Life!
Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for updates and info. In 2024, our new Season 3 episodes will be dropping on the first weekend of each month, from March to December. This season we’ll be exploring what NYC-born and Spanish poets, feminist author bel hooks, favorite life-changing songs of Chinese friends, timeless children’s stories, and more, have to say to our lives.
All episodes can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or check out the latest episode below:
Our Five Key Words
Space
Our lives are crowded, both inside ourselves and in the world. We all need space to listen, reflect and speak, without fear of judgement.
Story
Like a mirror, stories provide reflections of human experience from different perspectives. Stories can be told not only with words, but also with sounds, images and movements.
Conversation
Life-opening conversations happen when each person is invited to show up as they truly are. Wisdom can emerge from listening to many voices, each one beautiful in its particularity.
Connection
Human beings long for connection, to our deepest selves, to one another, to the natural world and to the transcendent. We flourish when we stay connected to sources of life and love.
Practice
Life asks us to grow inner and relational habits that form us as individuals and communities. We need the help of one another’s experience and encouragement to meet this challenge.
More on Key Words
Recent Posts
When Fall Is Coming directed by François Ozon
The French director François Ozon is a prolific filmmaker, who since his feature debut film Sitcom from 1988 has delivered one new film after another, almost one every year. And you can never be sure what topic or in which genre he will deal with in his next film. The ones I have liked most so far have been Frantz from 2016, Everything Went Fine from 2021 and Swimming Pool from 2003. Now I add another one to this shortlist: When Fall Is Coming from 2023.
Gathering in the hills
This particular fall Saturday afternoon was fortunately sunny and warm. The green hills in this countryside setting were alive with music coming from cowbells dangling around the necks of these docile animals scattered across the hillside where they happily grazed. One by one cars started angling down the winding gravel road into this country hamlet and found their way to a temporary home in a nearby field. People showed up with two items, a folding chair and a dish prepared at home to share afterwards with everyone who would come. What is happening in the hills at an altitude of 1100 meters, 45 minutes above Verona?
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn tells the story of seven women who live in the Briarwood Boarding House in Washington D.C. in the 1950’s. The book takes place during the Cold War and the McCarthy Era, when fear of being turned over to the government for having “communist leanings”exists and causes mistrust and secrecy. The book begins with a murder taking place in the house on Thanksgiving night. Each of the women and their guests are potential suspects and in the pages that follow, we learn about their individual stories.
Sentimental Value directed by Joachim Trier
Having followed the career of the Norwegian director Joachim Trier since his debut feature film Reprise from 2007, I was excited to get the opportunity last week to see his latest film Sentimental Value. This film had its debut at Cannes in May this year, receiving a 19-minutes standing ovation. And it is truly a masterpiece! With his 2022 film The Worst Person in the World Trier got his breakthrough as an international filmmaker, but with Sentimental Value he writes himself into film history. There were moments in the film that reminded me of Bergman and/or Fellini.