Gourmet Goddesses indeed :)

The Gourmet Goddesses had our monthly get-together at The Pot Luck Club...yummmm!

http://gourmetgoddesss.blogspot.com/

Exotic noises of contentment rose from our table, with Caren's groaning of  "Oh my G*d" after an especially satisfying bite, attracted a few "When Harry met Sally" stares! At one of the Indian cooking classes I attended, the chef told us that eating with utensils is like asking a messenger to make love to your partner. I get it :)

However you do it, I realised that this is probably one of the most divine experiences we have on this earth - bliss!

 

And then there is the sharing of food with friends, the unconditional love and support that we extend to each other. Giving and receiving, whenever and whatever is needed, always knowing that no matter what, we do not travel alone. 

My dearest friend Venita shared this with me a long time ago, which will always remind me of love connections...I miss you my friendy!

"I'll be looking for you every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we'll cling together so tight that nothing and no one'll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you... We'll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams... And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they wont' just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight...” 

Philip Pullman:    His Dark Materials Trilogy

Our story....

I was fascinated by a Discovery docci on the evolution of man. It shows that Mr. Darwin, whom I secretly devoured in high school biology class...(we had an enlightened teacher), was indeed standing on the shoulders of insight and imagination: He would have been delighted with the evidence to support his theory that we are related and have evolved from the Chimp family. Not only do we have Ms. Pless from Sterkfontein, whom I visited as part of my Absa ADI adventure. We now have "Lucy" (3 million years old) and "Ardi" (4.3 million years old) - both walking upright with brains a lot smaller than ours today and both from Ethiopia. 

This is where some Historians and Archaeologists believe the Garden of Eden's Gihon river ran through. And where the pagan Queen of Sheba ruled in the time of King Solomon. They came together and had a meeting of minds and according to many text in the Bible, a son named Menelik.  Menelik visited his father and was taught Moses's law by the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. He returned to Ethiopia, with a tribe from Israel and the son of the High Priest (Zadok) and many believe, with the Ark of the Covenant.

It makes me think about what our role as humanoids are on this planet, and more specifically, as individuals. What is our story and what is our purpose here?

My journey has taken many turns and I have many more questions than answers, but as I boldly go where many before have gone (!), I embrace the fact that I am a spiritual seeker, a scholar of life, very possibly en route to my own Eden ;)

I hear you....!

I try so hard to drown you out...

A random thought, an electric knowing.

I see your heart, I feel your thoughts.

Then suddenly I am in the way,

which is usually to say -

this is going to hurt

one way or another.

 

 

Anne-marie

 

 

 

My biffffday...again!

I do not know how it happened.
I just woke up with another year-ring around my (slightly expanding)...trunk!

Don't get me wrong, I am OK with the age thing. Every line, every pound and every pain has been well earned. I feel like I am finally growing into my skin, which has always been a bit more than what I have taken up.

I took the week...uhm...OK, the month (!) to celebrate 2013, as I think 2014 just started for me.  It is hard work to get older!!!

I hope it will be a good one, a softer and gentler year, filled with love and compassion and abundance. And this is my favorite 2014 poem....

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you have ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

L'Chayim, Om namha Shivayah, Cheers, Maisha marefu and Namaste, Anne-marie xxx



A rediscovered love :)

So my dad established a Guitar Academy in his hometown of Nylstroom, after a 40 year long career in music. He did teach me the basics when I was around 11, but this pear fell very far from the apple tree! As life happened, dust covered my guitar.... and any rock-star inclinations I may have had!

Over the festive season I spend some time with him and he promptly gave me the Guitar 101 overview one morning and then stuffed an acoustic nylon string in my hands...and I loved every  moment.

No, I am not kidding myself by anticipating concert halls or even smoky bars with me crooning hoarsely from the corner. This is strictly personal and definitely not for sharing...yet :))

Thanks Daddy!

Good times...

It was that time again - prepping to facilitate another customised module at GSB. It is a time when everything comes together, almost like I am dancing in slow-motion...effortless happiness :)

I believe that I am in my purpose when the following things happen:

• when I feel like time has no meaning
• I know that everything is exactly as it should be
• another whisper is when I do not care what the expected standard is, I want to do my absolute best. I do not think it matters what you do, but people notice when you do your best
• when I am me - not trying too hard, not using cliches or other people's stuff

So off I go to Philadelphia...crystals for every student and lunch with my best friend, my mom :)

 

 

I am counting the days...