The river of life

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The river of life is the journey that we take from birth to death, forever evolving, forever meandering with seasons and droughts.  At birth we are put on the path with no road map or guides, we are told no warnings of what to expect or of the dangers that lie in wait for us.

As we travel along that river of life we will often find ourselves covering all sorts of terrain, we go over hills of all sizes, sometimes we find ourselves climbing over big rocks and at other times walking over pebbles.

Sometimes we pause to take in the beauty and at others we run from wasps and creatures that smell a delicious dinner.  We pick up flowers and bring them to our noses inhaling their sweet scent, we get sad seeing a creature fallen before us or skeletons of past travellers along the road.

If we’re lucky we will bump into fellow travellers along the way and they guide us over the really difficult parts while at other’s there’s not another soul in sight.

Through it all though there are those precipices, the times when we pause and take a look at both sides of the river and notice that the one we are walking on is not as colourful as the one on the other side, the river is mostly dry where as towards the other side it flows with a steady pace. 

The precipice is what separates you from the other side of the river.  There is no bridge to quickly cross to the other side so you find yourself sitting with a decision that could change your whole journey. 

Option one is that you continue walking on the same path with no guarantees that you will find that desired bridge.  The word “Maybe” keeps one foot in front of the other as you walk along the barren land. 

Option two is that you cross the rocky danger infested river bed that has demonic creatures and monsters from the past, obstacles and challenges that you must face in order to get to the other brighter side.  The river could claim your life, you could break a few bones, old wounds will scratch open and bleed.

We all swing between these two options in all instances we come across in life.  The decision to cross the river might be sometimes easier than others, sometimes it can be so scary that we opt to walk a little longer on the drought barren path building up courage to take the first step over the edge.

Ultimately we have to cross to the other side or we allow our souls to become barren and dry, colourless and dead.  All change is necessary, no matter how long we take, no matter how far we try to run from it. 

Cross the river and face the demons that lurk, bleed through old wounds and keep going over the obstacles, slay the monsters and get to the other side… For once on the other side you emerge stronger, your spirit is lifted and you once again can smell the true sweet scent from the flowers, the scent of life you had forgotten existed.

Balance and the Threads of Life

There is another DNA secquence that isn’t as obvious as the one discovered by the scientists.  The one that I talk of is the undercurrent, unspoken, often unthought of, more mysterious one.  Our DNA is fixed, we all have a unique set that may be similar to others but not exactly the same unless by chance we are a pure bred identical twin and even then the chances are very very rare.

The one I talk of is not fixed, you stand in the centre and it swirls and twists around you, turns and changes colour, is multicoloured and adapts to our evolving truth. These individual strands swirl around us, our spirits, they may be similar to others but are unique to our set of circumstances and who we are.

Some of these strands move faster than others, some have brighter more vibrant colours, some wider, some thinner.  Each one  holds a different option, different task or lesson we either have to learn or can learn, our loves and our wants, our passions and our purpose.  As time progresses, as we evolve, each morphs into something else adapting to who we are, who we are meant to be and the situations we find ourselves in.

At any one time we can grab onto a strand and go along for a ride.  We can grab onto the passion strand, love, family, career,  humanity, compassion, hate, anger, hobbies, the list is long, and follow it for a while till it evolves and we release it back into the whirlwind of change.  Sometimes those strands, depending which we grab onto and hold close to us become strong and connected to our core being, they become umbelical cords to our soul.  Perhaps it is the other way round and those core strands exit our bodies and swirl around us mixing in with the other strands, it is different for each, that is my belief.

Sometimes though we can grab onto a strand in the whirlwind that we feel is the one we are meant to keep forever, we hold it so tight and focus so hard on it that we soon only see that one colour, the colour of that strand, we become blinded to all others, they pale in comparison.  When the other strands start to pale the balance within the whirlwind becomes unstable, all the “weight” is on just the one we are holding onto so tightly, we lose sight of the rainbow around us, the bigger picture because our vision is narrowed.

The make up of  the strands I talk of is much like a yarn of wool, the more threads you put into it the stronger it becomes, the longer it will last and the more “weight” it will be able to withstand, it will become more elastic and flexible, more resilient and perhaps even more colourful.  If not given the chance to gain all those extra threads it will become weak and fragile, it will start to fray quicker and soon snap in two.

More so, even if the strand you are holding so tightly onto is strong, one strand can only last so long.  Hold onto two strands and they will last longer, remain strong.  Hold onto 5 or more and they’ll hold your weight for longer still but go with the evolution of the strands, catch and release, learn and grow, find the umbelical cords attached to your core and use the others for balance and you will keep those strands healthy, keep them moving forwards in time with you, you prevent the possibility of fray and weak threads.

Balance.  Think of a musician sitting behind a piano playing a beautiful melody, there is always an under current, those few keys he always hits but the other ones that he brings into the melody make it beautiful, make it the symphony that is heaven to our ears.

Craving your Passions

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It has been over a year now since I last picked up a paintbrush, an ink jotter or  pencil, wire cutters or wood carving tools.  My only form of creativity this past year has been photography and the manipulation of the ones I take into something surreal and what I wish to paint.  I have painted with my eyes the landscapes that lie before me, of the people that have come and gone in my life and the little miracles along the way.

… but I crave the brush like nothing else, the smell of the oils and the feeling of it touch my fingertips, my skin.  I miss it more and more as the passing days fly by all made worse by seeing my art box lying in one of my 6 boxes originally packed up for my mishapped journey abroad back in October last year.  I realised in that split second that I am naked without it…

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When my eyes befell that beautiful wooden box and my easel’s I felt the pull in my gut.  It was almost as if someone had attached a giant magnet to my spirit and was pulling me in.  Not surprising that I still feel that magnet attached and the craving like the one I had for cigarettes when I was busy quitting.

Art is more addictive than any other drug in the world or stratosphere…

After Christmas I am going to head into London and I am going to go buy myself a present.  Just a travel pack easel, blank canvases, oil paints and brushes. Hopefully they fall in to the “After Christmas Specials” category but if not I’ll just do what I used to do…

Eat and sleep painting.

Creativity

Art

My sanity

Serenity

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Sometimes when the craving for your passion is so intense its not a good thing to ignore it. Sometimes its just best to obey and accept that it is what you need for that point in time.

I need art….

I crave it…

It’s the ladder to my soul

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What do you crave?

What are your passions?

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I may not be a pro, it may not be all that good with my intentional mistakes but…

Art is my valley, my landscape… what is yours?

Self tanning for life

image Yesterday while out walking I caught a glimpse of my newly tanned legs sporting shorts that I haven’t fitted in to for years and was so chuffed with myself! I can’t tell you how exciting it was the fact that the mere sight of my bare skin didn’t cause my eyes to get glare cramp. Yip, you know the one where you look at something really bright and you quickly shut your eyes and rub them hoping for the pain to go away? That’s the one I normally get when I look at my skin, I tend to go a tad on the ghost look during winter. Not my fault, I blame my position in the queue on the way down to earth, that and my parents.  Look it’s like this ok, in the shower I wear sunglasses, honest, am not joking here!

So self tan really works for me, I get to cover over the glare while the real tan slowly seeps through becoming the real deal.  I don’t bother in winter no, what is the point? I am fully covered and sunglasses are kind of fun um yeah.  Moving along swiftly…

The truth about self tan though is that it wears off after a while with the ideal that when it does there would be hardly any difference in skin tone.  While you wear it you take the glare away and allow the sun to tone your skin colour with out the risk of lovely red peeling skin. 

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In the past I’ve used self tan on my soul as well, sometimes it is easier for me to fake it till I make it.  When something really traumatic or big goes down in my world I absorb the news and then continue as if nothing has happened.  No, it is not that I am blocking it merely putting on a front for the outside world while I process.

If the process takes longer because of the depth of the “trauma/pain/circumstance” then I just keep on reapplying the self tan until I feel ready to let my own skin show again.

For me, being able to fake it till I have finished processing, works and I don’t feel an ounce of guilt about it either.  Perhaps it does for you as well or perhaps you are one of types of people who have no need for it. Either way if you do it or not there is nothing to feel bad about.

Always remember that sometimes the self tan is just a thin layer, sometimes it is a number of layers, it all depends on the glare on the soul.  The brighter the glare the more self tan that is applied but the one thing that is certain through it all is that there will come a time when the faking it becomes making it, the fake tan fades and the real true colour shows once more.

Faking always fades, it never lasts, and our true souls come out to play once more… you just have to be willing to allow it to happen and in its own time.

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… Smile on …

Weekly Fruit Salad ~ Numero ng labinsiyam

Filipino is the language for the week, nineteen is the number for the week… I refuse to actually believe it has been that long so have reverted to living in denial!  First up huge HUGE (bigger text huge) apologies, I have been slacking but I think it was the proteins or perhaps the Ebola virus attacking the fruit… yip def an Ebola or at the very least aerosolitusgravitarse virus (new breed just off the shelf).

imageThe Ubuntu Frosting ~ by Amber

This week, I am thrilled to offer an international blogger the opportunity to join our Ubuntu team and share our Ubuntu badge.  Robert from In Search of Meaning is filled with the spirit of Ubuntu not only on his blog, but in his real life.  He’s a mentor, teacher, therapist, and friend.  His often witty comments leave his readers with a smile.

Congratulations Robert.  Thank you for all of your wonderful blog posts about life and thoughts, and about reminding us about the little things people seem to take for granted in this world.

You can see some of Robert’s posts at:

SurfaceEarth wrote their post on what Ubuntu means to them, to have a read head over to  Ubuntu, in a can, if you will and Moments of Ubuntu

Vanessa has done an awesome profile series on a few of the Ubuntu tribe so far – if you want the low down head over to her blog VanessaLeigh

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 The Fruits

So how do you know you are a fan of a show? Ok, lets just say Oprah? Let me put it to you this way.  I call a friend say because I broke a toe nail and need to go to hospital and then I get told “I’m Sorry, I Can’t Take Your Call Right Now… Oprah is busy with her random act of kindness and just GAVE everyone EVERYONE in the audience a BRAND NEW CAR”.  Let me just say that I’m so “over” Oprah Winfrey…

I know can you believe it!  One thing is for sure (well I think it is) is that Dude and Holeycheese did not meet on the set.  The true relief comes when you realise that the CNN Pundits Don’t Know Who You Are (fact). Anything But Fiction becomes reality and soon we find ourselves trying to attain the answer to life?

Habits are interesting creatures, I personally try and avoid them like the dear Sasquatch Man. Ok suppose The truth of the matter is that It is easier just to procrastinate and go “bad habit? me? BAD HABIT? phah” but sometimes we can’t avoid it, sometimes it returns and bites us on the hand (I’m being polite!).

Looking BACK, moving FORWARD in the Absence of Confidence can be one of the scariest things one can experience.  Taking things for granted becomes a thing of the past and our mantra morphs into “Harden the F Up” … no this is not The story of a Souf Efrikan journey… even though Souf Efrikan woman are tough… (so tough most people turn into “Sleepless in Souf Efrika” when they are around)!

To some it is a Message to America, to others It’s all about Zimbabwe but the truth in the Genius of Awareness is our chance to make things right in the world.  Much like Using Politics for Personal Development.

Everything has a “cost” and as we all know nothing in life is for free much like A Spiritual Riddle – We can quench your thirst completely only to have our breath taken away! 

There is always ying and yang in life, the depth of the yang can often be put into balance by the ying and visa versa.  What comes around goes around, if you put out good you get good back…

Sorry for the lateness of this Salad, it couldn’t be helped.  I have stuck with the new format and admittedly have relied heavily on shared posts.  Apologies for not getting to all of yours just yet but from tomorrow I have the feeling things will start looking up… if all else fails I’ll slip mother a sleeping pill in her yummy tea I make and put her to bed real REAL early so that I too can get my share of vitamins.

* I blame the fact that there is a political element in this salad on the incredibleness of Hayden’s post, awesome piece on Zim by that Dude and AngryAfrican’s note to Americans… blame them not me *shrug*

** If there are any spellers let me know, my brain is in speed mode and does not compute in normal captonian (chilled) fashion

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