"Terribilis est locus iste" (2)

How you want to be in a 'terrible' world...

Yesterday I wrote a blog starting with this title, and not knowing where it would lead me. I wasn’t satisfied with the example I gave you at the end, as it doesn’t convey what I truly mean to say. So Universe threw the correct example in my lap, which I gratefully accepted. Hence a sequel to my blog…

‘Terribilis est locus iste’, meaning ‘This is a terrible place’, meaning ‘This is not what you think it is…”

I can best explain this with an example. Yesterday this article went viral:

https://egyptianstreets.com/2025/04/11/dutch-expat-goes-viral-in-egypt-for-confronting-animal-abuser/

It’s about a Dutch lady, Joke van der Post, who decided to leave the Netherlands a couple of years ago in exchange for a ‘terrible place’, Egypt. Why? Because she saw so much animal suffering, that she decided to do something about that. Now she runs a free equine treatment center in Cairo. Her clinic, staffed by three full-time veterinarians, offers care to horses, donkeys, and mules, providing treatments for them.

This is a short video of her daily work:

A few days ago, she saw an Egyptian guy beat his donkey. Again and again, and even harder when she said something about it. People stopped to watch and the guy continued beating the donkey. Joke went straight to him and was so angry that she beat him to make him stop. The guy turned out to be weak and fearful and ran away. Joke chased him around, making him feel hunted like his own animals. Again, ‘Terribilis est locus iste’, for the guy, his animals and Joke alike.

Ofcourse bystanders filmed it, so here it is:

Joke is not proud for hitting the guy, but she felt it was necessary. She was arrested and put in jail for a few days. She will be trialed and might face up to a year in prison. That will definitely be ‘Terribilis est locus iste’… Having to survive in an Egyptian jail as a western woman…

But Joke sees it differently: “It will all be worth it, if this changes something for the well -being and ill-treatment of the animals…”

With these words, she showed that she completely understood the Universal laws of this ‘terribilis locus’.

It’s all about who you want to be and what you want to achieve.

This ‘terrible place’ with all its injustices and cruelty, defines you, as you live in the middle of it. It gives you the chance to define yourself, in a way that is not possible otherwise.

You are not a victim of this world. You are not a witness. You are a player!

You can join in and add your contribution to this place, making it more, or less ‘terrible’.

And you know what? This era of ‘terrible-ness’ is ending. Things are changing in a very rapid pace. If you want to leave your food print on this planet, you have to go out there and walk…

‘Terribilis est locus iste…’ gives you the opportunity to become the highest version of yourself. To truly give, help, support, make a difference.

How can an angel show its light, when it’s surrounded by an even brighter light? You need darkness to shine. You need a terrible place to make it better.

At the end of your life, you will look back. You better make sure you won’t have regrets.

An older man once told me: “In my experience I never regretted the things I did, even though I made mistakes. I regret the things I didn’t do. And that’s a terrible feeling…”

And there we are again. We closed the circle: ‘Terribilis est locus iste’. But now it’s not so scary anymore….

With love, Cyntha