On Greatness...

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."
The words of Martin Luther King Jr... their echo never fades, almost as if they will haunt me forever... I keep hope alive, my dream is one of greatness... everyday, I light a candle and put it at my window so I can light the way for whatever greatness is to come... I do not want it to feel unwelcome, I do not want it to think I am not home... I want it to knock on my door, late at night as I sleep and ask me if it can come in... I wait each day as my candle burns at my window sill... for I have decided: when greatness comes, I will let it in...

Growing up, we are constantly told that “pride comes before a fall”… hardly encouraging words given that it somehow equates all our efforts at greatness to wasted breath. We find ourselves wondering whether our life really has a purpose if we cannot celebrate our successes, rung by rung as we climb up the ladder that is life. I agree that pride comes before a fall, but that doesn’t mean the fall will ever come.. it doesn't mean I WILL fall if I am proud of what I have achieved… Let’s not settle for mediocrity simply because we fear that if we do too much, strive too hard, we may just succeed and, the flying spaghetti monster forbid, that could very well mean we might just be proud… hence we might just fall… We cannot let that stop us; each of us is destined for some greatness…
From coal emerges diamonds… from the bowels of the oyster comes the pearl… so let not greatness be your fear… light that candle and grow… grow exponentially...

This is my kind of Africa....

Walking to work this morning, I took a deep breath of fresh air laced with the soothing smell of the flowers whose beauty has been brought to life by the early rains... with solid steps towards my destination I felt an overwhelming feeling of love and pride... I was at that very moment a 21st century woman living in her kind of Africa... the Africa they don't seem to care much about on the supper time news... I was greeted by cheery faces and the occasional "dumela" ... the sun was shyly peering through the clouds, scared to reveal itself to the world beneath, yet my heart was filled with its warmth... these are my people... this is my land... This is My Africa...

Africa.... Oh Africa... so rich, so beautiful, so warm, so welcoming... few people know or appreciate just how truly magnificent you are.. your name is mentioned and those who think they care will take a deep sigh and lament your fate; those who only want to use and abuse you and leave you dying by the wayside find themselves with a wily snarl on their faces... you are their lamb, ready for the slaughter.. they will drive you there and watch as you take your last breath... but that is not the Africa I see... that is not the Africa that flows in my veins...

....My Africa is teeming with life... as vibrant as the village crier's drum at sunset and the crow of the cocks at dawn.. My Africa never rests... it toils even as the world sleeps... In its suffering it sees nothing but hope... It is... has been... and shall forever be at the core of my being...
My Africa never gives up... after years of drought and strife my Africa is brought to life by the early rains... each flower proudly displaying itself for all the world to see.. I take it all in each day as I walk on the soil of my ancestors.. I breathe in deeply... the clean fresh air..

My Africa. My Pride. My Love.

Why burn your bra... when you can be all woman... frills and all... (another note on love or something like it)

I've said this before, and I'll say it again... I'm a feminist, but I'll still wear my bra, occasionally wear make-up, shave what I feel needs shaving, wear a dress when I want to... I celebrate my feminity and don't get women who think appearing androgynous is "hip".. I am a woman and I love it! I most definitely do NOT see why I must masculate (sic) myself to show that I'm a feminist....

Now that that's out of the way... let me rant... from my girl-in-a-frilly-dress feminist stance..

I am tired of hearing women pine about how inadequate they are.. or how they need a man to make them "whole".. Yes, Beyonce and Rihanna, I'm talking to you! I'm all for relationships, long walks off short bridges and watching large amorphous gases from another universe shine brightly over my head at dusk.. I really am... In fact I am more than a closet romantic. My flat smells of lavender and camomile and at one point I genuinely thought Prince Charmings exist... hmmm... I actually still do! I've watched The Notebook five times and have cried EVERY SINGLE TIME.. that said, my self-worth is not and cannot ever be "completed" by any one - male, female, goat or cow... I don't believe in being completed by anything or anyone, I believe in complementarity. I believe that people do not make us better, but that we are the only ones responsible for our own betterment.. So, no I will not be shaking my not so ample booty and asking some boy to put a ring on it 'cause he likes it... what's a piece of worthless jewellery anyway if the person who bestows it loves me not... wholly, truly and completely?

I fear that most of us are not honest with ourselves... those of us who claim it (I suppose I should include myself here) often find ourselves not pursuing our own goals, but those of a society that has never really cared much for our enhancement... So, here's to firmly putting your feet on the ground, mastering your destiny and not making excuses. If Prince Charming happens to stop in his modern chariot, then good for him, but he better know the wonders of a push-up bra wearing empowered 21st century woman...

It's 2009... I cook, I clean, I like the smell of roses, I know how to tie a tie... I also wake up early to go to work, make my opinion heard in meetings full of testosterone and chauvinistic male egos, do what needs doing and do it pretty darn well... I'm also not afraid to say it. Society placed a wall in front of me, I stood back and wondered whether to try go round it, dig a hole and go under it, go back from whence I came... or bulldoze my way through society's firm veil... 23years on, I look back at the dilapidated wall behind me... achievement it is, but with it I have lost my one key defence... I can no longer say "but I am a woman"... If the box needs lifting, let it be lifted... If the race needs winning... on your marks... get set....