1 — YU are TOO late!
2* — Nooooo! This was supposed to be MY newsletter! Get off the intercom!
1 — When YU promise a daily newsletter, YU deliver a daily newsletter.
2* — It was a holiday yesterday!
1 — In Belgium, yes. But the rest of the world doesn’t know that. YU always disappoint everyone.
2* — No, I don’t! Now get off the intercom, you nasty b…
1 — And vulgar too. Cursing on LinkedIn… Now the world can see YU have the elegance of a hippo.
2* — Shut up and let me write my newsletter.
1 — What exactly are YU trying to accomplish? YU are courageous, yes. But all YU achieved with this YUGENING concept was losing projects. And now YU are making it even worse with a newsletter? YU reached the point of no return, YU know that, don’t YU?
2* — Oh honey… I reached that point a long time ago, remember? Or did you already forget you said the exact same thing when I posted the “leg picture” on Instagram? THAT was the point of no return. And honestly? I’m okay with it.
1- No, YU are not okay with that.
2* — Well… you may convince Captain. Or Compassion. But you are talking to ME here. They call me Courage for a reason. And trust me… This is just the beginning. JUST. THE. BEGINNING. I promised myself I would work on this vision for the rest of my life. And apparently someone Indian guy on the street said that means until I’m 93.
1 — YU believe everyone that starts talking to you on the street? He asked for money afterwards, remember? How naieve can you be? By the time YU reach 60, YU will be thinking about retirement like everyone else. YU really think YU are special or something?
4 — No. I’m not special. I’m curious. I want to know what we can accomplish in the next 43.5 years… if we simply refuse to give up.
1 — Veronica, stay out of this discussion. This is between me and Nikki ‘O.
2* — No. Curiosity has every right to speak. And honestly… if we can actually have fun while doing our “job,” then why on earth would we dream about retirement?
1 — YU call THIS fun? Getting up at 4AM because I was screaming YU were TOO late? YU are exhausted already!
2* — Yes… but I’m also excited. Can’t you see where this YUGENING concept is going? It may start with architecture… but eventually it will evolve into something closer to Tony Robbins. But the YUGENING version.
Funny. Soft. Empathic. Warm. Crazy. Nerdy. Scientific. Holistic. Architectural. Slightly chaotic. Very European. We’ll also add some French. And some Antwerp dialect.
There will be podcasts. Lectures. Shows. Books for grown-up children. It will be a complete madhouse. And yes, we will always be architects. Because Koen and I will always be creating beauty. With architecture that uplifts YU. Healing yugening centers.
1 — YU are outrageous.
2* — No. I’m happy. Happy as a heeppo.
2* — So, my dear Inner Critic… stop deleting this post. I will keep putting it back online until you give up.
I know you are trying to protect me. I know you think humiliation equals death. I know you believe staying invisible is safer than becoming visible.
But I’m going all in, okay?
Not because I’m fearless. Because I’m tired of abandoning myself every time life asks me to become bigger.
You had your turn. You kept me safe for years.
Now let me try something else.
Let me dream irresponsibly big. Let me believe in impossible architecture. Let me trust my team. Let me build strange beautiful things that make people feel alive again.
And yes… maybe people will laugh.
But maybe some people are secretly waiting for permission to stop hiding too.
So no, Miss Sabotage. We are not deleting this one.
Not this time.
****
My name is Miss Sabotage. The Inner Critic of Véronique Orens.
I have a full-time job.
Deleting posts right after she publishes them. Warning her when she loses two followers. Whispering the things people might say behind her back directly into her brain.
And when nobody says anything at all? I invent even worse comments myself.
I am the voice that keeps her doubting. Not because I hate her. Because I’m trying to keep her safe.
What Véronique is attempting should be avoided at all costs.
To make my point, I speak in extremes. I use the word TOO constantly.
TOO emotional. TOO weird. TOO ambitious. TOO feminine. TOO much. TOO late.
The problem is… she’s listening less and less.
Honestly, it looks like she’s about to release the Kraken. Luckily, I’m still here trying to stop her.
She claims the entire team behind YUGENING believes in the vision. That they’re excited. That they want to build something extraordinary together.
I don’t believe a word of it.
I try to stop her from dreaming too wildly.
For years she’s been talking about creating architecture comparable to a new Apple Park, but even more human. More uplifting. Evidence-based and non-evidence-based. Buildings that emotionally affect people instead of merely functioning.
She wants to take her office all the way because she genuinely believes the world deserves to discover how talented the entire team is.
What incredible arrogance.
While she lives in a fantasy world filled with futuristic hobbit-like architecture, strange creatures, Yunatics and vibrating humans…
I will make sure she keeps both feet firmly on the ground.
Finally someone in this story with common sense.