Earning my wings!

Went to buy a bird bath and ended up earning some wings - I always knew I had some Angel in me :)

Two nephews from Modimolle!

My sister and her family are still up North in Modimolle, and since I have lived in every part of South Africa and the last decade in Cape Town, her two boys grew up without their aunt :(
A birthday promise turned into an adventure and I finally got to know them a bit better.

 

And within the blink of an eye, they grew up...

Love them!!!

Dad...70 years young!

We went off to Lambert's Bay to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday. The drive there was (as usual) totally underestimated by me - I have this wanderlust which slowly (I lie, quickly) wanes after travelling about 100km. At least we were in Lola (Pietman or Blikkies tend to shake your kidneys into submission), which made the first 200km OK!

Birthday lunch at Muisbosskerm: Seafood and bubbles, and more seafood and home baked bread with moskonfyt, and waterblommetjie bredie, some sirloin steak, and some more seafood and then to round it off, koeksisters! I can highly recommend it, as long as you do adore seafood - and we do :))

The evening we had a home decorated cake, after having some more snacks and a small braai....yes, we do love eating. But the most special part was to honor this beautiful man. In a small circle we tried to do justice to a man who spend a lifetime spreading love. I have rarely met a person more gentle and peace-loving, and never mind all his other achievements, in our minds this gentle giant is a legend!

Three generations of Le Roux's

Cheers!!!

Speech!!!

Cheers - again!!!

Love...

Next to every great man....

Cake to small for 70 candles!

Honoring our hero...

Love by the sea side :)

 This video is but a second of 70 years of his life - no words can describe our love for him!

My truth....

It took me a while to get it....my truth is just that, mine. How I see the world, the choices I make based on what I'm dealt - all based on honoring myself and being truthful in what moves me. 

The problem is when I do not see things which others do. When I stay in cycles, jobs, relationships which I do not recognise for their truth, but rather for what I imagine them to be. When I have to work at it, or compromise - all is well, until I start betraying myself. And this has nothing to do with expectations or dreams, but rather my day-to-day "OK index" - when you have to move remove yourself, or knowing you must exit a situation. Almost like something is punching a hole in your heart and you start leaking life force...

The most difficult part is when staying is seen to be "the right thing to do". When you cannot bear to look at yourself in the mirror for feeling this way - but deep down you do not know how you will be able to keep it up? And maybe this is why we self-destruct - because it is noble? 

My Yoga teacher said something which struck a cord. She said you will never be able to stay if you are not getting something from the situation in return. Like all symbiotic relationships, a victim needs a hero, a coach needs a student, and maybe it is in these contradictions that we find our truth.  

No words...

I shared some memorable growing-up years with Michiel. I know him to be strong, inside and out. A free-thinking, swimming up-stream, stand-up man. But most importantly, a kind man.  Then the news that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer...

Last month marked exactly 1 year since receiving the mail - and he posted this on Facebook.

No words....

Unbroken....

At last, I surrender -

aftermath of a slow toxic exhale.

A knowing:

my heart is unbroken.

Anne-marie

Stripping the Paint....

'We accumulate barnacles, or layers of paint, which mask our purpose or constrain our personality. After some number of years, we might have survived – maybe even done very well – but in many ways we have numbed or forgotten what led us here, why we are on this journey and most importantly, who we are?’ Redefining Corporate Soul: Allan Cox

Another "Purpose Huddle" with beautiful people this past weekend at Grotto Bay: 

From Knowing to Doing to Being...

Some of the concepts we worked on:
- Thinking Styles
- Awareness
- Perspective
- Ambiguity and paradoxes
- Personal Contracts
- Purpose Statements

I always walk away from these weekends feeling profoundly affected by how we underestimate ourselves and how we are able to cause effects in the world, leaving it, in some way, better than we found it.

 (Thanks Veniets!)

Every human heartbeat is a universe of possibilities. Every human has the opportunity to transform their own fate. I’d always thought that fate was something unchangeable: fixed for every one of us at birth, and as constant as the circuit of the stars. But life is stranger and more beautiful than that. The truth is that, no matter where you find yourself, no matter how good or bad the situation, you can change your life completely, with a single thought or a single act of love.”

Shantaram

Hold out your hand...

A fellow yogi shared these beautiful words with me, and with that, introduced me to my current favorite poet, Julia Fehrenbacher....

Hold out your hand

Let's forget the world for a while

fall back and back

into the hush and holy

of now

are you listening? This breath

invites you

to write the first word

of your new story

your new story begins with this: 

You matter

you are needed—empty

and naked

willing to say yes

and yes and yes

Do you see

the sun shines, day after day

whether you have faith

or not

the sparrows continue

to sing their song

even when you forget to sing

yours

stop asking: Am I good enough?

Ask only

Am I showing up

with love?

Life is not a straight line

it's a downpour of gifts, please -

hold out your hand

On winter and working!

At last - today is the official first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere! Like nature, I am awakening from a long hibernation. Not so much a restful, rejuvenating one, but rather a hectic bit of loosing-my-groove kind of period. This tendency to loose myself in work is a real paradox....I love it, but is will probably kill me if I do not manage it. So this winter was filled with lectures across the country - from Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KZN to the Western Cape...and back again! And a bit of consulting, and lots of coaching. A rush from one appointment to the other - but so many highlights and so many memorable moments :)

I saw an ad this morning for a documentary on the life of one of our famous Rugby legends who has MND. I usually do not take note, as I think the media's portrayal of him is dishonourable - but that's another story. His words made me stop...he said we pay the least attention to the things we have to be the most grateful for: Time, and our health. We know this but I have not been paying attention and as people around me are in the midst of their struggles to come to terms with lack of time and their fragile health I make a Spring day resolution: This present moment is everything, I am making this single second count...

Just this moment.

Sitting here with you in my heart -

doing absolutely nothing,

means absolutely everything to me.

Anne-marie

Age of Aquarius?!

My (uhm, difficult) neighbour told me in passing the other day, that this was her worst year on this planet. She is around 65, which makes this quite a statement. 'What ever happened?' I asked, not really wanting an answer. 'Well', she stated firmly, lips pursed, '...everything is off kilter, I feel completely unbalanced. It is this age of Aquarius, you know?'. 

Huh? The only thing I know, is that I AM an Aquarius, proudly wearing my amethyst birth stone and being all whimsical and humanitarian. I sat down and 'googled' this thing. First thing I got - go figure....

"When the moon is in the 7th house 

and Jupiter aligns with Mars 

then PEACE will guide the planets 

and LOVE will steal the stars.

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius..."

I know this song from the musical 'Hair' and can vaguely remember it being about peace and love... and very bad hair. It seems that most Astrologers believe we are currently in Aquarius, with each age lasting around 2160 years. The previous Piscean Age emphasised faith, and with it, dualism, the conflict between religion and science. 

Aquarius is ruled by two planets - Uranus and Saturn. Uranus represents independence and Saturn universal humanism. Humanism postulates that no dogma or doctrine can save you; only you can save yourself. If you save yourself, you save society, you help save the world.

Mmmmm....not too bad - unless you are still waiting for that illusive someone to come and make you OK with yourself. I better warn the single gentleman in 407 - my neighbour may be seeking peace and love ;)

Salute to the Sun....

The sun has been laying low in Cape Town over the past few days. So when my little nephew of 6 came over to visit, we decided to do a bit of yoga. The Surya Namaskara (or Sunny Maskara as JC calls it!) was the perfect choice, and looks like this:

And there, within 2 minutes, he did it - a natural yogini!

And just to show his appreciation....the sun came out!

Namaste :)

Robben Island....

I came to spend some time with you today. I wanted to come sooner, but you know how it is - I always postpone the important things, as if the delay would somehow mark its significance.

Your Island is tranquil, like the sacred silence which follows after a great old tree buckles. You are not here any more. I close my eyes and for a moment and I can picture you in the courtyard by Block B, just for a fleeting moment, smiling wryly at our ignorance. Cell no. 5 feels staged and the hallway only holds the echos of tourist chatter. 

Out of the night that covers me,

    Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

    For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

    I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

    My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

    Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

    Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

    How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

    I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus by Ernest Henley

Then, just before Cape Town harbor, a spray throwing a rainbow of salted water high into the air! A tail slowly emerging from the water, freezing for a moment in mid-air before disappearing beneath the surface. I tried to tell the Americans next to me - look, look, did you see that!? 

But just like that, you were gone.

Hamba kahle Tata...