REDEEMED PIONEER

  DISCLAIMER : The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event. The young boy stood, mesmerised by the musical talent of the performing artist.    The artist is a thin, unremarkable woman with multiple scars on her exposed arms and a few on her face.    She sings in perfect pitch while playing a ukelele in such a way that it draws a crowd of people who appear to be experiencing the delight of listening to a full orchestral band.    The young boy in the crowd belongs to a group of tourists from a docked cruise ship, and by the time his parents, with signs of obvious worry on their faces, join him and draw him into their protective embrace, he wriggles free, steps forward and drops a ZAR100 note into the artist’s collection hat. She noticed the money immediately, the only one of its kind among mostly first world currencies.    By the time she manages to transition to a catchy African tune, the crowd joined in with clapping and cheering, but the young boy a

  I firmly believe that deep down every person on the planet desires to be loved, unconditionally, and to belong somewhere.  I have no academic qualification in the field of psychology and/or psychiatry, I am just a simple (albeit qualified) mathematician with extensive experience in UNBELONGING and MISFITTING.    I know what it is like to be patronized, rejected, side-lined, misunderstood, overlooked, manipulated, berated, betrayed, judged, criticized, mocked, slandered, defeated, overlooked, disrespected, abused, abandoned and controlled.    I am also intimately familiar with the pain of falling through the cracks as well as the suffering it brings when the pain from the resultant cuts, bruises and fractures persists.    I know what it feels like to have my heart ripped out of my chest and then bludgeoned and butchered into a bloody pulp-mess.    I know what it feels like to have invisible limbs ripped from my body which leaves me disabled and scarred.    Paralysing pain.    Indescri

  SUGGESTION:    To those who have not read my blogpost SCREENSAVER OR SUPERHERO (3 weeks ago), I suggest you read that before reading this one. As promised three weeks ago, today I am exercising my right as a woman to swipe away all the SCREENSAVERS (and their empty noise) and dedicate my celebration to the men who are on a journey with me and who bring out the best in me. DISCLAIMER:    Other than my beloved Assie, I have had the privilege, in this particular season of my life, of embarking on a journey with the other men to whom I am dedicating this post to.    I have come to know them as my friends and I am cautiously aware of their humble desire to NOT be celebrated (or hero-worshipped) on a grand public platform.    I would like to honour that by changing CELEBRATION into THANKSGIVING.    Today I relinquish my right to be celebrated in order to give thanks to my husband and my friends.    My list is by no means exhaustive. ASSIE VAN ASWEGEN My beloved soulmate, hunky husband of m

  In one of her books author Marianne Williamson wrote the following: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.    Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.    It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.    We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’    Actually, who are you not to be?    You are a child of God.    Your playing small does not serve the world….. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.    It’s not just in some of us;    it’s in everyone.    And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.    As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” WORTHLESS is a state of zero value and PRICELESS is a state in which value is infinitely more than can be quantified and/or determined.    We were created to be PRICELESS, but so often we settle for price tags assigned to us by the society we find ourselves in.

He is your radiant rainbow baby With blonde hair and blue eyes A piercing smile that melts hearts And a heart that is fiercely fragile He is so smart and sensitive You’ll be so proud! He is making friends at school You’ll be so proud! He can define MITOSIS and MEIOSIS You’ll be so proud! He knows more than 15 world capitals You’ll be so proud! He speaks flawless English You’ll be so proud! He speaks flawless Afrikaans You’ll be so proud! Boisterous blessing Doting delight Learning-eager and loving-kind Formidable force of nature Tenacious little tyke Only four years old Precious treasure Cherished. Loved. Adored. Do not worry, do not fret Embrace of a loving family Oom  Charles as best friend And a caring church community A Moose and a Munchkin Mommy in heaven and Daddy on deck You’ll be so very proud of him!

In South Africa, we celebrate National Women’s Day on 9 August and the entire month of August is referred to as Women’s Month.     The idea of devoting an entire day to the upliftment of women by declaring it a national public holiday, is indeed a very noble one.     Add to that the notion of continuing this devotion throughout an entire month and it sounds truly noble, right?     Sadly, it only SOUNDS noble, because for it to actually BE noble, there has to be truthful ACTION and the available evidence, currently, suggests the absence thereof.     Like an attractive SCREENSAVER, it displays a picture of something desirable, but it is completely void of any ACTIONable plan to achieve that desire.     To add further insult to injury, a SCREENSAVER can be dismissed with a simple swipe ACTION. As female Chief Executive Officer of a technology company, I consider this holiday to be unnecessary, unproductive and redundant.     As a woman, I feel somewhat insulted and patronized to be celebr

The need/instruction to guard something implies that the something has value.  The greater the value, the greater the need to protect it. In the USA, Fort Knox guards the majority of the country’s gold reserves and the Secret Service guards the president.  The Royal Guard guards the King of England and multiple high profile Hollywood actors have their own, personal bodyguards.  Even access to information is guarded by encryption-based software security systems.  It would take someone with an exceptional set of highly specialised skills and the ability to meticulously execute it with calibrated precision to pose even a marginal threat to any of these guarded commodities.   Consider the following conversation between a grandmother (Nana) and her four-year-old grandson (Mikey). Nana:  Are you okay, my sweetheart? Mikey:  I really don’t feel so well. Nana (a little concerned that he might be coming down with something):  Where in your body are you not feeling well? Mikey:  It’s