Tuesday, December 4, 2012

TELEVISION OR NO TELEVISION?



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!


Relaxing BBos style...Home made mead and a beautiful dam
A walk into the kloof at Koudeberg
Waterfall shower. Good people and good energy


Monday, December 3, 2012

HERE'S WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO...

It's that crazy time again! Department of Basic Education submissions coming up and I'm working into the wee hours to make deadlines. Simply loving the natural science illustration work I have on my desk at the moment.
Work desk


Natural science text book illies
Here is a mandala that I've had fun doing in between the illustration work. I work with an idea or person in mind, start at the center and work outwards. The mandala sort of just happens. It's a like a meditation.

 The other excitement in my life is the extension to my very tiny cottage. Building is in full swing. Asana is on top of the scaffolding most of the day and can't wait for the team to arrive every morning. I am so looking forward to having a brand new exhibition space for the next art route in April.