Thought this was an amazing piece and had to reblog it. Thanks Doctor Quack

Doctor Quack

When I turned twenty, I was under the impression that life was going to be a party for the next ten years. I was sorely mistaken. You see… I was warned about a couple things: my metabolism will decrease, I’ll get fatter, academic work will get harder, I’ll have to pay taxes; but there are a lot of things no one warned me about.

So I have written this list, projecting my personal experiences onto my fellow twenty-something friends and colleagues who are themselves possibly struggling with the same things I struggle with in this deeply confusing decade we call our twenties.

1. Twenties are the new teens.

People in their thirties often tell me that the thirties are the new twenties, so what does that make us? Well, unfortunately, as if we didn’t already suffer enough in the confusing and disorienting teenage years, we have to do it all…

View original post 2,949 more words

What if??

“What if” what kind of statement is this?? Who Invented it and why do we use it? It’s like an expectation that will most probably never happen, a false hope that may or may not cause unnecessary stress in life. It may even go as far as to stop you from moving forward onto something that could and maybe should change your life.

We all have our own comfort zones things we’d prefer to do, things we don’t want to change. The phrase “what if?” can almost be seen as our excuse. We won’t do something because “what if” something happens. Quite frankly i think it’s a fear, a fear of the unknown. Personally I try not to create comfort zones, I won’t lie to you and say I don’t have any but I seriously wish I didn’t and try find new ways of getting out of the comfort zones I am in, I also prevent myself from creating new ones by trying not to say no to harmless favours, tasks and questions. I like the message that came out of “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey in it, This is precisely what I am trying to do although he took it one step too far, sure their needs to be a balance on this.

I mean how boring would life be if we all lived in a box, People who live life without fear are more free. I was told never do things that can be seen as “dangerous” such as walking in the street at night, driving alone at night etc but seriously why not?? If something is going to happen to me it will happen one way or another, if it’s meant to happen it will. I am not saying be stupid about it as in “looking for trouble” be sensible about things like I said Balance. “Never let the fear of strikinng out keep you from playing the game” Cinderella Story

My new challenge in life after this realisation is to not be afraid and to just go with it.
There’s a quote that I am sure you’ve seen pop up everywhere “life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don’t & believe that everything happens for a reason. if you get a chance, take it. if it changes your life, then let it. nobody said it’d be easy they just promised that it’d be worth it.” – Harvey Mackay. I love this quote and it goes against the phrase “what if” which I now see as an excuse and a fear, so if you find yourself saying What if? Stop and think for a minute, ask yourself really “What is my excuse?” and “what am I afraid of?” and once you have the answer to this confront the issue and deal with it appropriately and you will find that when you realise there is nothing to be afraid of or that you stop making excuses you really will go with it.

This is my new challenge in life and it seems to be working out quite well for me, so if not why not??

Witch!

Inside she’s a witch, But only a few notice. She keeps me right where she wants, Like a venomous snake wrapped tightly around me. I don’t have a choice, It’s Impossible to climb out of the trap. When she calls my name, It’s as if iced cold water has been poured over me. I try […]

Experiencing African Traditions

Preface

This is an event that took place last year and it was a sad but very humbling experience. It Involves the death of my very close friend Thobile Jiyane who was my friend throughout highschool and beyond. This is all the experiences from the weekend that I spent in her home town attending the funeral.

Story

From the 5th of November 2010 to the 7th of November 2010 I had the delightful experience of visiting the North West – Ruigtesloot. Sadly I was going there for a funeral of a very dear friend, but in the process I sure learnt a lot. Here follows my experience in the North West.

Upon arrival all that could be seen was a very bumpy dirt road and tons of trees and bush, typical Highveld. The animals that were seen there were, cattle, donkeys, rabbits, chickens and dogs. The people were very welcoming and enjoyed having a white person visit their home town. I was told i was a white, mum, as in their culture they call everyone ma or sisi.

The traditions of a funeral then began, A cow was slaughtered as a sacrifice to Thobile, this cow was then cut up and cooked. The whole of friday night from 11pm till daylight there was singing, readings and speeches all in tribute to Thobile, as well as a type of mourning session before the funeral. A man stood up in this session and gave an english speech to me, thanking me for coming and for the trouble I had taken and that because I was there it showed that, the deceased (Thobile) had an impact on my life and that it was the first time in his life that he had seen a white person come to a service like that, he said a blessing and said that he hopes there will always be friendship between my family and theirs.

At about 5.30 am we washed our faces and got changed for the funeral, the funeral session started at about 7 am where everyone queued outside a room to go and see the body, as you entered the room you were supposed to kneel beside the open coffin and spend a last moment with her, this bought tears to most people. The coffin was then closed and bought into the tent where the church service was taking place, bible verses and songs and a speech from the mother and father’s side of the family. The coffin was then carried round the back of the house where there was an open grave. Men and Women had to be kept separate and therefore stood on different sides of the open grave. Prayers and a bible verse and songs were sung again, then the coffin was lowered into the grave and the men all took spades a completely covered the grave. Emma and Nora (Thobile’s two sisters) then revealed the tomb stone. Everyone then washed their hands (not too sure what the meaning behind it was). The meal was then served, this being the cow that was slaughtered the day before that had been cooked during the night, served with pap, vegetables and salad. People then started to leave to go back to Jhb but I stayed on till Sunday.

I Stayed with Emma at her gran’s place and learnt a new lifestyle. The toilet was placed over a big hole in the ground and that’s where you did your business, either there or in the bushes. There was limited water resources and sometimes had to fetch water from the water hole, but Emma’s gran’s place had a tap with filtered water that came from the North West water supply (I think – that’s what Emma told me) There wasn’t much electricity only one light in the house, they cooked over a fire and a stove that used wood to get its heat. When we bathed we used a big bucket with water that had been boiled over the stove. During the day it was very very hot, so hot that it made you lazy. Even though it was hot outside that’s where you stayed during the day as inside was even hotter because of the metal roof, and the heat coming from the stove. Later at night it started to rain but the rain was so terribly loud on the metal roof that you couldn’t hear anyone and you almost felt compelled to block your ears. Emma and I then shared a single bed for the night as that is all that was available.

The next morning some kids arrived and i felt as if they didn’t know what to make of me, the only and possibly the first white person they could see. Some didn’t even talk to me, they just stared. We then prepared ourselves for the long journey home. Turned out to be a 3 hour drive.

I had the most amazing time ever, I learnt a lot and enjoyed the company of the people there. It was a privilege and I’d do it all again sometime (hopefully not the funeral but just the visit).

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hi there

I have decided to start this blog. Why? You may ask. Well I’ve always liked the ideas of blogs and online journals but I’ve always had the idea that those type of things are for politicians, people who wish to be heard, people with a purpose, Previously oppressed people from the apartheid era or War etc. As I’ve Matured over the years I have come to realise that a blog is for anyone who wishes to express their ideas to the world, and this is exactly my intention.

I’ve always been bad at keeping diaries and journals and never thought i have enough creativity and will power to write a book so here is my attempt at a blog. I’m very excited about it and look forward to sharing many stories and experiences.

My thoughts on this page are my own, I normally am very self conscious and sometimes insecure and always care too much what people think, this page is a page where i will say what i feel and not be ashamed, Haters are gonna hate right? but right now, right here I don’t care.

I’ve always been inspired by many singers such as Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift and Pink to name a few, these talented singers express themselves in their songs, they write songs that have meaning to them and express how they feel about certain topics, they clearly feel very strongly about these views and wish to share them with the world. Seeing as I can’t sing this will be my version of expressing myself and letting the world know about it without being famous.

So this was a small taste of who I am and what to expect from this blog site.