Wisest Baby Brother #100convos #9

There is so much that I could say about this man. Brother, co-investor, best friend, loan shark, and morning nemesis. Richard... Although over the last 29 years I've called him about a 100 different names... Even before he was born, but baby brother is who he is.
 

I could write a post on Richard every day for the rest of my life - he is loving, wise and I don't know if I will ever know the half of what goes on in his head. I poke around the books in his bedside table earlier and wondered at his vast reading matter.
 

Without further ado, I give you a monologue on philosophical awaking. And because he is still the first person that I would save in a disaster, he got to supply his own photo.
 

"I've always been aware of my existence and that my perception of the world is different to others. We all perceive the world differently. That was my intro to my philosophical side. I only really became interested in philosophy at end of matric, it grew slowly while at varsity because I was studying commerce rather than the arts.

When I finally studied education my exposure to philosophical thinking was increased. I questioned who I was and why I'm here.
 

What I realised was that I'm here to learn as much as I can, teach as much as i can, and attempt to impact as many lives as I can.

Socrates said "the unexamined life is not worth living". We are called to examine ourselves continuously as to reflect and grow into who we are meant to be.
 

Who we are meant to be is unforeseen, the journey has no distinct destination."

 

Anonymous Artist #100convos #8

A different type of conversation, basically with a stranger, about a month ago, late at night, over Whatsapp. He asked to remain anonymous, so I won't explain. The conversation haunted me in its strange beauty and was actually part of my inspiration to start this project. I tracked him down over the last two days, and he said that I could go ahead with this post.

Me: Tell me something deep

Anon Artist: About myself?

Me: Anything

Anon Artist: Hmmm..I suffered from terrible night terrors as a child and got out of them by turning to art...and became a professional artist. :)

Me: Wow! Love it

Anon Artist: Turning a negative into a positive!

Me: Its inspiring

Today I asked Anon for an additional statement on the subject and he obliged.

"Being an artist is an incredibly rewarding experience. Despite all I've seen and heard in my life I wouldn't change any of it if it changed my art."

Art & Apartheid #100convos #7

I first met Sid at a mixer for creatives, and bumped into him a few times over the next few years. Sid is creative for a living as a graphic designer. He is also a total sweetie and I must admit that I didn’t give him much of an option about this interview. I pounced over a home cooked meal.

We chatted about my project in general, and I told him about interviewing the kids. He grabbed at my “kid friendly question of the world cup, and claimed that he had a great story about the final.

“I was in bed that evening with flu and I tried to watch the game on streaming, but it was very slow and I ended up listening to it on the radio instead – and sat on social media.”

It’s that the story?

I put him on the spot and demanded something juicy. Sid totally delivered with something beautiful.

“Growing up in Durban, because my mom was a domestic worker, I grew up with the family that she worked for; Until I was 5 and had to move to a different neighbourhood, away from my mom but with my other siblings. It was still apartheid and I couldn’t go to a “local” school. After ’92, my sister really pushed for it, the people my mom worked for said I could come to this new mixed race school, Northcrest Primary”

He clarified that while the kids were mostly black, the teacher were of mixed race.

“It was basically a stepping stone to a new life and new experiences. I had a teacher, Mr Mkhize, he was basically the first teacher to say that he was open to anything.”

Sid went on to explain how this extraordinary teacher really focussed on the kids as individuals, encouraging special skills and interests. This is how Sid discovered Art and it changed his life. “It was exciting” he said, and I could almost imagine him exploring colours and form with powder paints.

I was so moved by his story. Here was a story from the past, a past that I feel like I was almost oblivious of - I could go to any school that I wanted to, my parents grew up in an area that was very integrated, or maybe Cape Town just wasn’t as segregated. Or maybe I was just oblivious?

Globe Trotter #100convos #6

I first met Joanne at midnight on Long Street, through a mutual friend, almost five years ago. About a week later, I and said mutual friend rescued Jo from a horrid blind date. We made a plan to gym together and haven't looked back since. We have flirted, we have dined, we have cried, we have danced and we have laughed A LOT. Jo left South Africa 21 months ago and I miss her terribly.

 

Thank goodness for technology, we can chat whenever we want to, I'd be miserable without the contact! We had our conversation over Whatsapp.

Jo has lived in Cape Town, Lyon and Dubai in under 2 years. I asked her to tell me something that she's learnt through living in 3 cities in under 2 years.

“Don’t stick with what you know. Try something new and meet different people. It will surprise you how nice different can be. They have a South Africans in Dubai group here in Dubai. And they all stick together and socialize with each other mostly.”

And you don't?

“I just feel it’s close minded because they are missing out on a world of experiences and different point of views. My friends are French, Brazilian and Polish. I don’t even know any South African people here – except my mom!”

Culture differences between the 3 countries?

“SA and France had a big culture difference. But I found it refreshing. Dubai is such a melting pot of cultures because there are so many different ex pats. In some cases it is very similar to SA as we know it, other times it’s a world apart - I guess it depends where you hang out. I guess one thing about the culture here, is a lot of people are very concerned about image and money. I miss South Africa’s more laid back fashion and club/restaurant scene.”

South Africa misses you Jo!!

 

 

Supermom! #100convos #5

I can’t even remember when I first met Malika, it feels like I’ve always known her. We work for the same company but in different departments and really don’t get to chat as often as I’d like, especially when her department moved to a whole different floor! Like good friendships, the space doesn’t seem to matter.

I caught up with Malika at the end of a busy day. She let out a sigh and told me someone had reminded her at 2pm to eat lunch – one of those days. Suddenly she looks at me and exclaims that she always thought that my eyes were blue-green, not blue-grey. Just another indication of how we all seem to rush past each other, face-to-face and one-on-one is becoming the exception rather than the norm.

I asked Malika for a story about her daughter.

“So, I phoned Aalia and asked her: ‘How was school?’ She is 3 years old and says to me: ‘Never mind about how school was, you just need to know we’re having a Halloween party tonight. So get your costume ready for tonight.’”

At home, I asked?

“Yes! Now you know what I’m in for. She actually used the word costume!”

Malika loves Pinterest and we chatted about all the DIY and design projects that we keep meaning to do. She has plans to build a fire pit in her back yard and showed me a lovely quote that she plans to paint about the pit. I shared how I was surprised that I manage to stick to my 100 day challenges. We spoke about getting started and keeping at it. Then like Yoda, Malika drops some wisdom on me.

“It’s like running, the 1st kilometer or 2 is easy, then you get to 4 or 5 you start to die, your legs are crying – then your second breath kicks in and you can go onto 10 or 15km.”

I just stared at her till she said; “Yes I run”

But you said 10 or 15km?

“Yes, the most I’ve done was 21km, once”

Wow, you’re Supermom!

"Aw, you think that of me? That’s lank cute!”

 

 

"Love is..." #100convos #4

I met Tanatswa (and Nako) soon after moving into my flat. They are fantastic, well spoken children. Tata is the perfect big sister and I often forget that she is only 9, she has a wisdom about her.

She once styled my hair while playing - it looked so good I kept the style and got compliments.

Tata launched straight into the interview, volunteering the basics.

"My favourite show is Two And A Half Men"

Nako chimed in with "Ag they kiss in that!"

He was shushed, and a small debate sprung up about the primary storylines - in the end the consensus was "it's about kissing."

Back to the interview.

"My favourite sport is netball. My favourite food is chicken, lasagna, and Spur... 'People with a taste for life!'. My best friends are Sawaso, Ruqueyah and Jadyn. I like swimming."

Then she looked at me expectantly. I explained that I ask grownups to tell me something inspiring that they want the world to know. She said she didn't know what to say, so I asked her the meaning of love.

"Love is marriage, babies... And that's all."

This seemed to spark some vision for the future because she quickly slipped back into her monologue.

"And when I grow up I want to be a dentist and I want a Mini Cooper or a Volvo."

Again the expectant look, but before I could reply, she added so advice for us all.

"For the people out there: Don't waste water and then we can make some fishes happy."

"Why do you have a tattoo?" #100convos #3

Runako is literally my favourite 6 year old on earth. His family stays in the same complex as me and I can bank on hugs whenever our paths cross. He loved the idea of being interviewed. Like most kids, he says the funniest things until you expect him to be official - like in an interview!

Nako, has a keen interest in my love life and has on more than one occasion threatened to beat up any guys that step out of line. He rates my gentlemen callers too (the kind that come over during the day while he is playing outside).

He is also my health guru. I told him that I had a tummy ache once - he insisted on rubbing my belly while dispensing the following advice "you need to eat more vegetables" and "drink more water, not coke, my teacher says coke is poison".

He and his sister (interview with her tomorrow!) once asked me to read to them, the book they chose was "Mr Greedy" - they were addressing my weight problem.

The joy I felt while sun tanning post losing 15kg to hear Nako exclaim "Sharon! You are skinny now!".

Now, back to our interview today, Nako thought it best to ask the first question, "Why do you have a tattoo?" - I deflected the interrogation and asked about his favourite TV show.

"My favourite show is Dragonfly."

Why?

"He first never has wings, now he has wings because.... So he fell down a building and he got some wings out of nowhere."

"And my favourite game is soccer"

Did you watch the World Cup?

"Yeah"

And?

"Germany won the World Cup. And Argentina was nearly there to win."

He raised a tiny hand to indicate that the interview was over, and ran off to play.