Three years ago, my mom and I moved back to Bloemfontein. We landed right in the middle of a severe drought. After experiencing an abundance of afternoon thunderstorms in Johannesburg, it was a huge adjustment to find ourselves in the middle of a Free State desert. Water restrictions were everywhere; even my grandmother had long …
| First Published in Kouga Express | Sometimes the thing we are afraid of doing is the same thing we must do. On the other side of fear is our destiny; it’s where endless possibilities await. When we give in to fear, we give up on our future, our voice. Recently I did a motivational …
At the local library, there’s a white woman who works there. It’s clear she doesn’t like me. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me give you a backstory first. * I grew up spending most of my Saturdays at the one and only library in Worcester. I adored books, so much that I …
From the moment a baby is born, almost everyone is in awe of this bundle of potentiality. What will this child be like? Who will he/she grow up to be? What choices will he/she make? It is almost instantly hardwired into us that we each have a specific purpose for being on this earth. It’s …
‘Swimming is simply moving meditation.’ Cesar N. Caharian I am not a superstitious person, but I have my rituals. It is a safe thing to fall back to in an ever-changing world. One such ritual I have is when it comes to swimming. Swimming and I go a long way back. When I was nineteen …
Last year, I posted two blogs in total. The first blog was focused on the books and writers that have shaped me as a person. The second blog was based on the music and magazines that have influenced me up until today. Today, I am concluding my ‘Things I Have Loved’ series. This blog will …
Recently, my grandmother gave me a suitcase. It was brown, small and worn out leather, and it was filled with newspaper clippings, black-and-white photos, magazine articles, old passports, worn-out Bibles, cufflinks, and even an expired bank card. This suitcase had a special distinction to it because it once belonged to my grandfather, Christiaan ‘Goggie’ Johannes …
My friend recently gave birth to her first-born, a beautiful and healthy daughter. What I appreciate about our relationship is that she’s been honest with me from the very start. She has not sugar-coated the challenges of being pregnant, giving birth and finally, the major adjustments she’s had to make with taking care of a …
‘Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.’ Psalm 9:10 In every relationship, trust is vital. Without trust, a solid foundation cannot be built. The key to building long-lasting relationships is to have complete faith in one another, knowing that you can depend on each …
I give you this to take with you: Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting. Theresa Brits I believe that this will be a year of starting anew. There has been an uprooting in identity, belonging, and purpose in the last two years, …
There’s this website where you can calculate the number of days you’ve been alive on this earth. Accordingly, I have now been here on this earth for a total of 11,167 days. I’m from the Millennial Generation. If you haven’t yet heard or read of these generational calculations, read this chart – it is a …
‘It is 365 years since the first Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape but no more than 180 years since Afrikaner nationalism gained momentum and barely 100 years since Afrikaans was formally recognized as a language.’ John Battersby Yesterday I was at a restaurant, and as I was playing with my 2-year-old nephew in the …
In my early twenties, I saved up money so I could tick off two things on my bucket list: Israel and Masada. I booked my tickets with the Lééf magazine tour group, and in early 2012 I set foot on Israel soil. Initially, I was disappointed by the whole experience. So I never wrote about …
There’s a scene in the 1964 musical film My Fair Lady where Freddie, a young man hopelessly in love with the main character, Eliza Doolittle, visits the street where she lives. She refuses to see him, so he wanders up and down her street. It’s getting dark and the streets are empty, but Freddie is …
It is 1995. Someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up. ‘A writer,’ I say without hesitation. I am six years old and I have yet to learn how to read and write. ‘What do you want to write about?’ the same person asks me. ‘A book,’ I reply. ‘A book …