I wake up every morning appreciating where I live and the
people I surround myself with. This strange little town, with its mix of people
has captured my heart. I’ve been here a
year this month. A year since I decided that I was the only one who could
create the changes that I wanted in my life, to follow my heart and live my truth.
I believe that when you are on the right path, life flows and it’s been proved
to me once again. I’m not saying that there are no challenges, but how boring
life would be if one didn’t have to stretch ones self? It’s good to have to
think about being frugal, to appreciate the small things, and appreciate the
people in your life.
We’ve just been offered a TV. I thought about it and how it
would change the flow of our lives, Asana’s and mine. We lived with a TV for a
long time and when we moved here it was a conscious decision not to have one.
What would happen to bedtime stories? It would be so easy to
say… “OK, you can watch an hours worth of TV and then I’ll tuck you up” and
then I could get on with an extra hour of uninterrupted work. Fantastic! Just
be disciplined, limit TV time, they say….. I laugh! Discipline is a discipline
I really have to work on!
Asana is old enough to read to herself, but I still snuggle
in with her every night and read a couple of chapters. Sometimes she picks up
where I left off and reads herself to sleep and sometimes she puts the book
away and wants to talk. An opening line like: “Mom, you won’t believe what goes
on in my mind!” makes one sit up and take notice. Whether it’s the big questions
like “I often wonder why I am on this earth. I mean, what is the purpose of my
life?” to how one deals with friendship issues or just feeling differently to your
peers and having a different world view. It’s that quiet time were we catch up
with each other, where she has the space to talk about anything. TV would
infringe on that time.
With TV comes all the advertising telling kids what they
need.
What do they need? Kids need play, preferably outside
because it teaches them things. Making a bird trap and spending the whole
afternoon outside without actually catching a bird teaches patience and skills.
It also teaches one how to deal with disappointment and the realization that
everything is not about instant gratification.
Playing means getting dirty, scratches on knees from falling
out of a go-cart, swimming in a farm dam, interacting with real people and
learning how to deal with group dynamics. Our kids have that here. Us grown ups
should play too. I’d rather take a walk to a waterfall, hang out with friends,
swim in a dam. Better than watching a movie any day!
Oh and then there’s the news. Now that is really something I
can do without! How about some good news?? I can catch up with as much news as
I want on the internet. I would rather focus on the news that affects me
directly, local community news, where I feel I have input and can make a
difference. The kind of news you get by talking to real people.
Hmmm, TV. I don’t think so.
TV sucks you in. If I had been sitting in front of the TV
last week some time, I wouldn’t have decided to pop over to Marietjies for a
late night game of pool and a brandy coffee before bed. I wouldn’t have had an inspirational
conversation, with an inspirational person who reminded me that love is the
glue of life. He reminded me to be present in the moment, to be conscious, to love
and to practice gratitude.
And that brings me back to giving thanks to all the
beautiful people that share my life, all from different walks of life, brought
up with different paradigms and different view points. All special people who
make me feel rich and accepted and loved. And that folks is why I live here.
So thanks, but no
thanks on the TV front. BBos can be a real soap opera anyway so who needs TV.
Now I have to break the news to Asana!
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| Relaxing BBos style...Home made mead and a beautiful dam |
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| A walk into the kloof at Koudeberg |
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| Waterfall shower. Good people and good energy |
