The relationship between children and their parents can be a complicated thing. Our parents are complicated human beings themselves. We are an extension of them, so that already makes us complicated as soon as we come into this world. We carry their DNA, their personality traits, their physical attributes. We can also end up carrying …
Dit is die dag voordat ek en my ma Kaap toe vlieg. Ons beplan om eers Stellenbosch toe te gaan, dan Robertson, Gansbaai en uiteindelik Blouberg. Ek voel alreeds onrustig oor die padreis, maar ek kan nie my vinger daarop sit nie. Dit is vreemd, wat ek het nog nooit so gevoel oor enige iets …
I met tannie Jules around the time I became well-known in Bloemfontein as a motivational speaker. She was a friend of my grandmother’s and they both lived in a retirement village just outside of Bloemfontein. My grandmother quickly became friends with tannie Jules; conversations with her was engaging, interesting and never dull. My grandmother had …
It is a rare thing, meeting someone who leaves a considerable impression on you. Someone who carries an air of fire around them. Who has this undeniable passion within themselves in the way they carry themselves. They are well-read, well-traveled and well-equipped to handle all kinds of challenges that life throws at them. They are …
I got my first chore chart when I was six years old. On this chart was a list of things that I need to accomplish every day, some of them once a week. Because I had just started learning to read, my mom drew pictures next to every chore so that my sister and I …
A few years ago I was the leading actress in a theatre play called ‘Kinders van Stilte,’ which was adapted and translated from the Broadway play ‘Children of a Lesser God’ by Mark Medoff. In this theatre play, I had the role of Sandra, a 26-year-old deaf woman who refused to speak like a hearing …
Disclosure means to make ‘a fact, especially a secret, known.’ This is my secret: I have unintentionally lied about something for years. Eleven years, to be exact. Now I need to bring it out in the open: I had friends in high school. Five of them, to be exact. The final nail in the coffin …
We are constantly being bombarded with voices. Certain voices scream at us, taunting us with our fears. Some voices whisper at us; it is barely audible and we hardly recognize them. Other voices speak to us as daily reminders of the things that are missing in our lives. Advertisements. Social media. Family. Friends. Colleagues. They …
It is inevitable, but undeniable. We are constantly being shaped by the things around us. Music. Books. Television. Films. Magazines. It influences us and the way we view the world. It moves us, makes us come alive, changes us. We’re not always aware of it. * Lately I’ve been pondering about the things that has …
These past few weeks I’ve been having genuine ‘aha’ moments. Moments of revelation, moments of clarity and relief. For the first time in my life, I am relieved that I do not have children – yet. It is a discovery that I am very much surprised about. * I love kids. When I was in …
I haven’t felt like myself for a while now. I haven’t been fully myself in a long time. I am in an uncomfortable place in who I am as a person. No matter how much I try, I just can’t go back to who I was before. I am struggling to reclaim myself. * There’s …
I have a clear, vivid memory of the first time I saw Nelson Mandela. I was six years old and we lived in Bloemfontein at the time. The year was 1995, June the 24th. It was probably a cold day. My father was watching television in the living room with my two uncles. My mom …
This essay is a hard one for me to write. This essay means I have to think about all the people who’ve wronged me, rejected me or didn’t see me for who I really am. Especially where my career was concerned. People who said yes to me, people who promised opportunities to me but didn’t …
I have a gorgeous Danish feline called AllyCat. He’s been my loyal and faithful companion for eleven years. Ally wakes me up every morning, follows me around the whole day and regularly interrupts my sleep patterns during the nights. In short, he is my shadow. He has also been my ears for many years now. …
I’ve been driving cars for ten years now. I got my learner’s license after passing the test the second time around, and my car license shortly after. My parents really spoiled me; they almost instantly bought me my first car to celebrate getting my license. It was pure bliss having the freedom to go wherever …
For the last twelve months or so, I was nervous and agitated. Nervous, because the clock was ticking too fast and intensely agitated because it meant saying goodbye to something I did not want to let go of yet: my twenties. I had so many plans for my twenties. Almost all of them did not …