Profile Test

In the past, I had taken profile tests, and the results were always the same. I was also told that intrinsic values never change. Well, they got that wrong, because in my case, they certainly did. I noticed I had become more sensitive, perhaps even more human.

Now, Google can be quite helpful, and somehow, it once showed me a Freemasons website. But I wasn’t particularly drawn to it at the time—it didn’t resonate with me.

Coaches

I had conversations with coaches due to my burnout, and also with a lifestyle coach. But did they help me with the questions I had? Not really. These were existential questions—questions about existence. They concern “your” being, who you are, the meaning of life, and the deeper foundations of existence. That explanation isn’t entirely complete, but it encapsulated what this research phase was for me.

Religion, Church, Bible

Religion, the church, and the Bible don’t suit me. There are too many rules, and you have to do “something” in a specific way. In other words: dogmas. That’s not for me. I’m a free spirit—I need to think and act freely. My parents always saw me this way and gave me a beautiful sculpture by Piets Althuis called The Free Bird. They gave it to me back in 2009, shortly after my father passed away.

And so, my search led me back to Freemasonry. I started reading more about it online and watching videos on YouTube. My interest grew from there.

As the next step, I reached out to a local lodge. It was simple and low-threshold: I just filled out a form on their website.

Copyright text & image: devrijmetselaar.nl
Texts are based on the ideas and content of the author of devrijmetselaar.nl, reviewed, corrected, and supplemented with the assistance of OpenAI. Images are created based on the ideas of the author of devrijmetselaar.nl using OpenAI/DALL-E.

The message Research Free Mason first published on De Vrijmetselaar.

Anonymous

Why the anonymity, you might wonder? First, my identity is irrelevant; it’s the content that matters, not the name behind it, so Anonymous. Second, Freemasonry unfortunately evokes negative reactions from some people—ranging from prejudice and hate to even threats. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take. What’s important to me is that visitors to this website understand what Freemasonry is and what it can mean for people.

Background

For the past 25 years, my life revolved entirely around building a career. Especially during the first 15 years, I completely neglected my private life and social relationships, which took a heavy toll. After losing loved ones, I hit rock bottom and found myself struggling with a severe burnout. It took me three years to recover, with the support of loved ones and professionals.

A valuable lesson: don’t hesitate to ask for help and accept it when it’s offered!

That period fundamentally changed my life. Things like career, business growth, and status suddenly became unimportant. I realized I was missing something in life. Questions began to surface, such as:
Who am I? What do I want? Why do I do what I do? And what impact do I have on others?

Coaches, Google, and many conversations

I started talking with my coaches: the people who helped me recover from burnout, process my grief, and improve my lifestyle. While they gave me a lot of valuable insights, they couldn’t help me answer these existential questions. My search eventually led me, via Google, to Freemasonry. After conversations with members of a local lodge (a lodge can be seen as a kind of association), the pieces began to fall into place.

Freemasonry offers me a safe environment to work on myself—by listening to others and helping them in return. But ultimately, the responsibility lies with yourself.

It might seem as if my journey was short, but in reality, it has spanned several years, even before my burnout. Through my online searches, Freemasonry kept appearing thanks to algorithms, but at first, it didn’t resonate with me.

My journey, Anonymous

Through this website, I aim to share my personal journey and explain what Freemasonry is and what it means to me. Anonymously, because my identity doesn’t matter, I’ll take you along on my first phase: the search.

Copyright text & image: devrijmetselaar.nl
Texts are based on the ideas and content of the author of devrijmetselaar.nl, reviewed, corrected, and supplemented with the assistance of OpenAI. Images are created based on the ideas of the author of devrijmetselaar.nl using OpenAI/DALL-E.

The message My story first published on De Vrijmetselaar.