Thought...

@MargieOrford: “To love without knowing how to love wounds the person we love.” Thich Nhat Hanh

All You Need...

"You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it"

Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo.

Are we really free...

“There is no greater pillar of stability than a strong, free and educated woman, and there is no more inspiring role model than a man who respects and cherishes women and champions their leadership” Angelina Jolie. 

After reading this article, I ask once again...are we really free as human beings and if not why?

http://time.com/3919872/angelina-jolie-pitt-african-union/

A Left Day

Coming soon...13 August 2015 

When We Shouldn't Sacrifice Our Essence

Liz Gilbert: "Hadn't I wanted this? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life. So why didn't I see myself in any of it? The only thing more impossible than staying... was leaving. I didn't want to hurt anybody, I wanted to slip quietly out the back door and not stop running until I reached Greenland" from Eat Pray Love the movie.

Sometimes we find ourselves doing something in life and then suddenly we wake up one day to the realisation that we don't want to be living like this. However, it isn't always that simply to follow what our heart tells us to do at any given moment. Other people are involved and depend on our participation. 

A moment such as this usually starts a journey of personal reflection and even self-discovery. The answers to some of the questions that we may begin to ask, are anything except straightforward. Yet, how much of our essence should we sacrifice to keep the people who expect our participation, happy? 

When White Roses Become Red...

"You're not the same as you were before," he said. You were much more... muchier... you've lost your muchness" Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass.

No matter how many times I watch Tim Burton's version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, I still enjoy it. There is so much we can learn from this seemingly kids' tale.

Not too far into the film, Alice tells Lady Ascot that she could always paint the white roses - which turned out not to be the right colour - red. This is one incident that shows Alice to be a young lady who does not let life knock her down. Humanity needs to adopt this type of thinking, that is to believe in the impossible, even if a plan of action is required. We are living in a world that is at times largely occupied by negative behaviours, negative attitudes, doubt and greed.   

Most children see the world through Alice's eyes. The older we get...we seem to lose our "muchness". Maybe what we should be trying to attain is - finding our "muchness" and making this world a "muchier" place. 

Diary of a Fat Woman

I have always wanted to write a novel titled Diary of a Fat Woman. I probably will. Since I can remember I have been chubby, plump, fat, big boned, round or whatever you want to call it. Of course I go through seven fat years and then followed by seven slightly less fat years.

This morning I chatted to my sister and we were having a good laugh about me eating a nut dark chocolate rocher at an hour of the nigh that most people are sleeping and the only activity is cockroaches scurrying around before households awake. Luckily for me, cockroaches are inactive during the winter months. On second thoughts - unluckily for me. Probably if cockroaches were active I would have not made it to the drawer where the chocolates are kept. 

Instead I would have hurried to my bed, jumped under my duvet, covered my head and closed my eyes. Ultimately it all comes down to one thing - scurrying cockroaches may just be our answer to that miracle diet we have been in search of.

A Slice of Magic...

Over the years I have come to realise that us humans all have some sort of battle we have to face. Sometimes being a parent is not all butterflies and roses. Our children don't always respond to our advice the way we would like them too. 

For example, I have two very active boys and after a long, busy day at work, fighting traffic to catch the end of a rugby or netball match and then getting home to cook dinner for a famished family - the last things I feel like having too much of is high-pitched shrills and kids throwing tantrums because bikes aren't allowed on the wooden floors and it's dark outside. 

I could just cut a large slice of chocolate ganache cake and hope the delight I am feeling from eating the cake will veil away the hypoventilation I feel as a result of being in the middle of a frightening kids stampede. Instead I reach for magnesium  oil. Magnesium oil has made me believe that magic does exist. A bit in the evening bath or rubbing some oil onto little tummies can make for a more tranquil environment. 

A Small Hollow Place...

Last night I was invited to a prescreening of Love Likes Coincidences which is one of the films showing at the 3rd Turkish Film Festival currently at Cinema Nouvea Gateway.

The term "niche market" was briefly mentioned during one conversation. One definition of "niche" in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary is: a small hollow place... Thinking of a niche market as a small hollow can be illuminating. It is after all a few number of people that fall into a "niche" market compared to the mainstream market. People who make up a niche market are most likely those that are thought to be uncultured by people who unquestioningly buy into and accept mainstream markets.  

The "niche-ans" are those that feel hollow, hollow from mainstream commodities. Instead they fill their space with materials that have aesthetic value. 

The film had many thought provoking moments and I will end with one of them. The father of the male protagonist said that what is most important in life is how you fill your space within your boundaries. 

Thief of Time...

Yesterday I received Michael Ondaatje's Coming through Slaughter. Although some days are jammed and reading is the activity that by default moves further down the "to do" list, I steal time to read. I do this by packing a book into my handbag. Yes, this is going in my handbag today and I am going to become a thief of time!

First Thoughts

A lot has been going on lately, probably for you as well. Humans, passion, reading and writing are those oddities that force me to keep searching. Searching for the "real." Maybe this is all to unclear to understand so let us just agree to understand it this way...I registered this blog a good few month back and left it dormant. In the midst of searching something peculiar crept into my life. But exited probably faster than entering. I am still dealing with the ramifications and one of the ramifications is, acceptance. Something I "really" felt so passionately about was for someone else meaningless and empty like used milk cartons ready for disposal.

These daily pains is what makes me write and my intention is for this blog to capture those daily pains and even daily happiness. This blog is about thoughts, chats, tenacity, guts, culture, feminism and loads more that should in all honesty make the news headlines, but in fact no one is even around for you to share it with or maybe someone is around and you just want to share it with as many people as possible.

Happy write talking!