This beautiful passage from Paul Mercier’s book serves as a perfect starting point to outline the vision of Het Gedachtegoed. For we are not who we are; we become, day after day. Het Gedachtegoed, as a project, has grown over the years, nurtured by many dormant dreams, countless passionate conversations, and at times, bordering on madness, sheer enthusiasm. Could it ever be possible? Do we dare to fall… or rather, to dance? Can we let go?

Het Gedachtegoed is more than just a project: it is a radical choice for another way of life. Away from what is safe and familiar: a steady job, a house with—naturally—a mortgage; in short, a quiet, predictable existence. Het Gedachtegoed is not about what or who we are; it is part of a story. A story that has been written for years, without anyone necessarily holding the pen. And yet, in retrospect, the inception of Het Gedachtegoed is an inevitable point on the horizon, to which every decision made thus far has, in a certain sense, contributed.

A project like Het Gedachtegoed doesn’t come out of thin air. Dormant dreams are nurtured, just as passionate conversations are held and enthusiasm, bordering on madness, is both tempered and fueled. Tim and Eline are the inspiring driving forces behind Het Gedachtegoed. Tim, as a philosopher, and Eline, as a psychoanalytic therapist. In their training, both found a foundation to let the wonder of life, with all its many questions, exist.

After years of wandering through the works of Jacques Lacan, Eline finds in the creation of Het Gedachtegoed one of the many possible expressions of the psychoanalytic concept of ‘desire.’ The fear she experiences at times paralyzes her, but it is also a driving force. The psychoanalytic framework, characterized by a fundamental ethical stance, is one of the main pillars in Eline’s thinking. An ethics applicable in the most varied settings: from (mental) healthcare to politics, economics, ecology, and any domain that influences human thought and action. A guideline that will undeniably color the ethos of Het Gedachtegoed, alongside the creation of a space where questions can exist without the necessity of providing answers.

Tim, dedicated since his early teenage years to understanding the power inherent in everything that lives and grows, found in his philosophy studies a fertile ground to shape a life outside of convention, but instead, grounded in humility, silence, and contentment. The nature philosophy of Ton Lemaire is an exceptional source of inspiration, encouraging a life surrounded by the small, carried within the grandeur: nature.

After more then 20 years as life partners, Tim and Eline decided to combine their efforts toward a shared desire: the creation of the training center Het Gedachtegoed in the heart of the French Périgord Noir; an educational center for philosophy, psychoanalysis, culture, and society that welcomes all those who are passionate about critical thinking, reading, and meaningful dialogue.