Wednesday, 12 December 2012

See you beyond the flip side

have said this before, but I really do believe in the inherent goodness of people. I try very hard, and these last few months have been 'challenging' or no,......... should I just say it has been a horror/soapie in which I featured,  strangely detached, which added to the surrealism and weirdness of it all.

A friend of mine ended off a conversation by saying: 'See you on the flip side' and that phrase has stuck in my mind, as phrases often do.... The first thing I thought about, was the memory of myself, many,many moons ago, clutching a precious ten cent coin, on my way  to buy a seven single. I always listened to the flip side first, I guess I was just badass that way!
Soo, I've been pondering the 'flip side' and I realised how important it is, that there is always the 'other'side of any story, event, tragedy......
 A friend of mine and fellow godess, married the love of her life the other day. They found each other against all odds, they struggled through the swamp of mistrust, fear, anxiety, and paranoia that haunt us all at times, and they found and built a place of trust and respect. It was a beautiful occasion, and it brought home to me just how powerful Truth and Love can be.

The flip side of this story, is the old man I saw, heartbroken, as well as financially ruined,. staring morosely into a glass of beer in a bar in Ghana, very far from France....

 With my friend this didn't happen.. This time LOVE was victorious and they did sail happily into the sunset together, which is as it should be, I feel!! (I know that the 'reality' of a happy ending can come across as naive, which is another thing I have an issue about.)

For a movie to be'realistic', it seems that the couple must split up, or at least be in therapy on a regular basis. Happy endings are seen as 'unrealistic' WHY??????

Do we have a fascination of the 'flip side'? Do we always have to hanker for the forbidden fruit? Must we indulge every fancy and whim to 'gain knowledge'? What kind of knowledge to we sit with at the end?
is it all worth it???

What does the word 'flip' mean??  So many random questions!!!!!

Yes, of course I immediately used the 'Dictionary' app on my black berry...( I still can't get over the fact that I can actually operate this gizmo- a late bloomer indeed.)

A ha! among other verb things, the slang use of flip is the most entertaining.  Here goes: ,' to react to something in an astonished, exited, or delighted manner:'  'she nearly flipped over her new man'

OR:   to become' insane,irrational, angry, or highly exited'   (as in 'flip out')
'an instance of flipping' is also cool.
In the 18th Century, it was the name of an exotic drink - as in 'May I have a Flip please? Yes, with ice, ta dear'  
As the word implies, there should be some activity, as in 'flip my lid' or 'I'm flipping pancakes for my family as befits a good mother.(I actually did, but they weren't suitably impressed, so I have to repeat it.)

You could even be 'flippant' and dare to go to the flip side without a body guard and spare change.
The truth of the matter is that I need, as my BF suggested, my own Province.


 'Beyond the Flip Side' is where I would like to live. I shall refer to my Province as 'dis here my contri'

I would like to live in a place where people do what they are supposed to do, among all other pressing life issues.
People must primarily be - and spread- Love and Truth. God is Love and Truth.  The alternative is the flip side, Hate and Lies. And that is Hell in the making right there.
 (Whatever your perception of hell might be.)
My idea of hell is a place where everyone live for themselves and no-one cares about anyone else anymore-my idea of hell is when people start treating each other as expendable goods, where you get upgraded or downgraded, depending on your smart user friendly abilities. (to be stuck in a Mall for all Eternity is another idea of hell, but that's another story......or in a bank with a never ending loop of infomercials......)
My idea of hell is a world where a brilliant musician gets beaten up by thugs because they have 'beef' with him. How dare he play so well?           OH GROW UP!!!!
 I realised that strong measures will have to be taken to ensure a peaceful stay in 'dis here my contri'
I suggest a gentle debriefing session before taking up residence.

In the words of Oriah Mountain Dreamer:


The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living,
 I want to know what you ache for,
 and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing,
 it doesn't interest me how old you are,
 I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
 for your dream, for the adventure of being alive'

Spread the love always- be fabulous***

Monday, 3 September 2012

System exposed to risk

Have you ever listened to that consumate Queen of Country, Patsi Kleine singing 'Crazy'? It is the ultimate oh-help-me-I-knew-you-were-going-to-screw-me-over-but-I-still-love-you-song of all times.(or at least one of them)

'Crazy,I'm crazy for feeling so lonely, I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue, I knew, you'd love me as long as you wanted, then someday you'll leave me for somebody new,
Worry, why do I let myself worry, wondering what in the world I can do
Crazy for thinking that my love could hold you, I'm crazy for crying and crazy for trying and I'm crazy for loving you......... ' ( and so on and so on.)

Millions of words in various styles have been written about the subject of Love, from flowery sonnets to rapping, to novels, to amazing love songs, to Opera, to Heavy Metal, to Punk Rock, to Holy Books, to Motivational DIY instructions, to thousands of silly bumperstickers, to the giddiness of Valentine's Day...... the list is endless.....

Have you ever noticed the vast amount of cold remedies on shelves everywhere? The irritating advertisments of coughing and sniffing people smiling weakly at each other, while clutching their various coughmixtures and swallowing vile potions? (Remember the famous brats, Romeo and Juliet? Of course Juliet looked stunning while drinking the poison. I, on the other hand will look hideous and the paramedics will gossip.)

Much the same as the love question. The reason that there are so many remedies and material available is that no-one has ever been able to fathom a cure for either, not for the cold or for the ache of love All you know is that you have it, and you just have to ride it out, and in the case of love you hope that you will set sail into the sunset with your beloved,( and you will of course look devastating.) In the case of a cold, well, you hope that it will go away and not turn into something really nasty.

It's the something nasty  that bothers me, my mind has pondered this issue for a long time.
How many murders and suicides have been committed because of love? (Not for the cold, at least there you have some legal drugs to knock you out to help you sleep it off.)

'Love makes fools of all of us' (Shakespeare)  Oh indeed it does!!  My beloved Bob Marley said: 'The truth is that all people will hurt you, you just have to decide who is worth suffering for'

How many fights, arguments, cruel words, declarations of love, promises,e-mails, silly poems and presents, dates, longing, tears, time taken over the right outfit, the right present, the right smell aaahhh

So...... to the dictionary then...... LOVE- a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

PROFOUND- originating in or penetrating to the depths of one's being ...........

PENETRATE-to affect or impress (the mind or feelings) deeply- to have a deep effect or impact on someone- to enter, reach, or pass through something, as by piercing- (latin - penitus- deep down)
How amazing is this and how very, very sad that this act of penetration of the soul has been reduced to a mindless act of quick release. I'm not devaluating the quick release at all, it has its place, but it's not all there is surely? Why don't we say: 'I lust you",  instead of wrapping it up in the camouflage of LOVE?

And then we wonder why it all goes so wrong.... when the murders, the abuse, the fights, the regrets, the bitterness take over and we are left with ....................the memory of a loveless release?

I read the following quote: 'People were made to be loved, things were made to be used, the reason for the chaos in this world today is because things are being loved and people are being used' ( Can't remember who said it, but I love it)

  Just think of all the internet scamming going on.... dating sites have become warzones, identities have been stolen, hearts have been broken, dreams shattered, lonely people looking for love and finding themselves involved in a sad scenario of humiliation and lies. ( Not all, some people have found love and partners of course, but for the most..............)

When is it LOVE and when is it OBSESSION?  (Stalkers.......................) - the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistant idea, image, desire etc...... scary stuff ..........

'I have a crush on you'  (beautiful song by the wonderful Miss Ella)
CRUSH- to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms
-to squeeze or pound into small fragments or particles......

'I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART'

Beautiful words, lovely sentiments, a promise of great joy or a a cheap ploy?

I love the following quote by Epictetus- Roman Philosopher-' FIRST LEARN THE MEANING OF WHAT YOU SAY AND THEN SPEAK'

Spread the love and not the lies..........................

Friday, 3 August 2012

DASH ME FROM YOUR HEART

One of the most heartfelt and beautiful and schmaltzy songs of all times must surely be 'Unchained Melody' by the wonderful Platters. I love this song so much - the smooth silky voices, the undiluted sentimentality of this declaration of love, unashamedly wanting and needing. 'Oh my love, my darling, I hunger for your touch.....'  Have you ever crooned with ' I neeeeed your love.......God speed your love to meeee'?

Of course I can't sing it without crying my eyes out, who has never felt that longing? Who has never wanted to say that to the person they love? (if they were blessed enough to find love) 

Anyway....rambling off I go, I went to Ghana for three weeks, yes, went to recharge the groove, and I spent three weeks there. I have come to think of West Africa, and in particular Kokrobite, as my spiritual home. 
As I was on a very tight budget, I paced myself, and was careful about spending unnecessarily. I did, however, allow myself the luxury of decent filter coffee every morning and I bought beads, lots of them, I happily sat making bracelets, and I bought cloth, beautiful cloth.

Whenever a purchase was made and there was the slightest hesitation from my side, as in fumbling in purse, trying to work out how much can be spent, I would hear the following: 'Just dash me from your heart' and I would inevitably feel a frisson of hesitation. Why was that? 

This is the delicious hassle my mind pondered, and I had all the time in the world to do so.

Eventually it came to me, because, as I took out the money, I would always wonder if the offering would be considered sufficient and would that offering reflect a generous spirit or a stingy one? Would it be enough? 
After all, it comes from the heart na! So, how big is my heart? This quandry resulted in me dashing away and paying much more than I should, as God forbid, I should be known as a bad dasher!

So if  there should be a dash-o-meter, how would one rate?
What does it really mean to 'dash from the heart?'

  
What does this WORD actually mean?  I looked it up and here goes: dash:'' spirited action - vigor in action or style,' (as in ' the dancer performed with spirit and dash), or to' give a tip or bribe' , or' to cut a dash -make a striking impression', or 'the dash of the waves could be heard from afar', or' strike with violence' -'the waves dashed against the rocks,' hmmm 'my hopes were dashed' It can also be used as an expletive, as in 'Dash! I forgot my ....whatever' or 'I must dash - go' or 'You look dashing!' hmm

What is clear to me is that there is power in the dash. This is not a word that describes a mediocre action.
As in ' The contestants made a mad dash for the prize"
'
So, when we dash from the heart, we need to dash well and strong. Dashing creates a strong impression and its a spirited action.
What would happen if we dashed someone with evil intent.?  It would create considerable damage surely?
The dasher might not be aware of the turmoil and hurt to the dashee but it would be there, hopes and dreams would be painfully dashed, and one can just imagine-fantasize- how karma would deal with the evil dasher.

'Dash me from your heart' or 'Give me from your heart' means I want what you have strongly, and I want what you give, to come from, and with LOVE

I love these lyrics from Fela Kuti:  Dem wan dash us human right
                                                    Human right na my property
                                                    You can't dash me my property.
This man knew how to dash from the heart***

I am inspired by the dash, and now more than ever, I intend to dash from my heart, I will look dashing as I do so, and I am ready to be well and truly dashed**

Dash away!!!
Spread the love strongly**


Monday, 26 March 2012

a few of my favourite things.......









You don't have what it takes

Are we looking for love in all the wrong places?

Ive had some really incredible experiences lately! I've learnt so much about the way of the world and myself that I feel rather overwhelmed by it all.
A chance encounter with a sexy stranger is all it took to shake me out of my comfort zone and I entered a world unbeknown to me up till now. One would think that a woman my age would be more experienced in the way of 'love' (or what passes for love nowadays....) Oh I fell hard so hard!
I have to admit that for a while there I bacame rather obsessed and I experienced a range of emotions that were alien to me. I operated on trust and my faith in human nature and I came out relatively unscathed. Yes, I had a great moment and I will never forget it,but I had to learn that people love on different levels, and to assume that others feel the same way is just, well stupid? Love makes fools of all of us indeed, and as my mother is so fond of saying:'There's no fool like an old fool' (Not what I want to hear!!!)

I also realised that I don't have what it takes to play this game and I am so relieved!! It took me a while to click that I am way out of my depth, and then I realised that this depth is not something I need or want to experience at all. (No matter how sexy the person) Ultimately we need to be true to ourselves surely? How else can you be true to anybody? Is the whole world out to get instant gratification? Is everybody lying to get as much as they can? 'out for the gets?'

aah!! so I bravely went on to a dating site, and I have been utterly amazed at the reaction. I'm by no means a young babe and yet in the space of 2 days I received 200 messages ranging from lewd suggestions about my sizeable bust and butt to desperate pleadings for company, someone to talk to, someone to marry (?) or someone to have  live sex with as opposed to webcam fumbling. (I've never skyped, but have received invitations to skype away with strangers.) Interesting........

What I found particularly intriguing is that more than half the request were from people under 30! Why? Do all these men have an older woman fixation or are there ulterior motives? I find it amusing that they feel the need to tell me that age is but a number hmmmmm indeed honey!! And that 'they don't mind that I'm older'- (way older in fact!)  Observe the arrogance in this statement!! Am I honestly dependant on your approval of my age? Did I approach you? Oh there is a huge mental difference here!
Are they all under the illusion that older women are desperate and needy? And what, pray tell, is in it for us, as the 'elder?' Do we need to be validated by your fickle approval??.


 I can't help but notice the poses in the pics- pensively staring into the distance or showing off muscles- or even one Luthario in his bath! Straddling the bike is a favourite, yet one can't help feeling anxious about the helmet covering the face hmmmm Am I becoming voyouristic? So I've had heaps of attention from all sorts of people, and some quite hot, I might add, soo..... whats the catch? The catch is to know who is genuine and who isn't - but how????

I've subsequently learnt that the hot ones more than likely don't use their own pictures! Did everyone know this except me? Yes, I am much to trusting and not at all knowledgeable in the the ways of the cyber world. I am after all from an era where a person's word was enough. Not any more it seems, words are cheap and people are expendable.
After a rather shocking expose on a investigative programme on TV, where women were being scammed out of money and self-respect, my sista and I were rather spooked by it all. She just had a similar experience with a person who clearly sent a ramdom pic to a dating site complete with his fake alias. She was on to him very quickly, clearly she is more astute than I am, and she called his bluff eventually, when the inevitable requests for money started pouring in. After all, he did declare his undying love for her, which of course should prompt her to start rewarding him with money, as she is so grateful for his attention, NOT!!
Interesting how abusive the honey-tongued stranger became when his requests were denied..

I was told by one guy that my eyes were driving him insane (nice one!!) As I related this to friend, she immediately reacted in fear and horror, and muttered about serial killers and predators collecting the eyes of unsespecting love-lorn women. We did after all, follow the trial of the couple that boiled the head of a trusting stranger. The poor man fell in love with his chat buddy on a social network site and went to meet her for a date....... He didn't know that the couple from hell were waiting for him......

I have now received 300 requests from all sorts of men and a couple of women, I have been winked at, I've had various cyber gifts sent to me ,Ive been begged to skype with people, but my resolve is firm and I am honing my bullshit detectors daily....

I will now delete my profile on this dating site, and I think I've made one potentially good friend.

No, I don't have what it takes to play this game, as I don't ever want to think of relationships as a game to be played for whatever payback you expect.

'Oh the games people play now, every night and every day now, never meaning what they say now, never saying what they mean.... '( Remember this old song?)












  

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

what a wonderful world - Louis Armstrong

As I was driving around our little town yesterday, I was visually assaulted, yet again, by the screaming headlines of newspapers.

MAN STABS NAKED WOMAN

TODDLER BEAT UP - FATHER ARRESTED

AND: A week ago,  the corpse of a naked and bound woman was discovered stuck in a tree- she was also impaled on a branch that stuck through her throat. This woman's corpse was up in this tree for at least two weeks and no-one saw it.

I pondered on all this horror, trying to imagine the events that lead up to the various assaults and murder and I didn't know what to think. I wanted to know how this happened, what was the story?

What happens inside you to be able to resort to this cruelty?

Why in God's name do you have children if you clearly don't like them?

Was the naked woman asleep when she was stabbed?

Who killed the lady in the tree? Why??? How many helped to get her up the tree? Why????????

The thought struck me that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes actually live in the same town as me- have I passed these people in the street? Maybe even spoken to them?

I experienced such feelings of hopelesness and a wave of futility hit me - What is the point??

And this is it- The original meaning of the word 'sin' is to miss the point. It makes sense doesn't it?

Once you understand this concept the rest becomes much easier. We are here only to create love around us, and to infect as many people as we can with this love.
Nothing else makes sense to me, and the more you spread it, the more it grows and  produces such beautiful results.
God's love is everywhere and free to share with all, it heals, it motivates, it gives answers, it empowers you to such an extent that you find the courage to let go of all that is negative and cruel in yourself.
We have no option but to let go of all the baggage and to move forward - bitterness is so unbecoming!!(and so destructive)

I want to live my life to its fullest, and I want to spread as much love as I possibly can to whoever wants to receive it.
A little boy came to me yesterday, as I was stuck in the time-warp of all this horror. He looked up with a big smile and said: "Mam, you haven't hugged me to-day"
If only this child knew how he blessed me, how I needed that hug, how we all need it.

Is that what went wrong in the lives of the tortured people that caused so much pain to others?
Did they have no love at all?  Why not??????

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Yara's Blues - Richard Bona

I find myself in a state of suspension - a kind of limbo if you will. Try as I might I can't seem to make sense of most things around me. I have long suspected that most people belong to a club with certain rules that I have not been privvy too. This is becoming apparent to me daily, and yet I don't feel excluded, more relieved that I was not invited, as I simply can't live within the confinements of  subversive behaviour and codes of  (mis)conduct.

The only way I can explain my feelings of displacement is to use the word 'weldschmertz' - a beautiful word in German that describes the grief for the world that grips your heart. I have often experienced it, but this time it doesn't want to leave me at all. Am I obsessed with suffering? I don't know, maybe, but I do know that I am nonplussed at general human behaviour, mine included. Daily one hears, reads, sees the results of people's 'love' for each other. Calling it a 'crime of passion' sounds quite exotic and exiting, it isn't. Its more often than not horrendous, leading to damage and executed with chilling precision. Whether physical or mental cruelty, its all the same to me and I wish only not to be involved with it.

I refuse to live in a state of suspicion and distrust, I have been blessed with really wonderful people in my life, so I don't walk around suspecting all attention as cunningly disguised foul play.

When I was 13 and stuck in a dreadfull hostel - far away from my country and parents, I used to lie on my unsympathetic hostel issue, torture device that was called a bed, my earphones plugged into my illegal radio and listened to music. Between praying to God to release me from this hell and listening to my beloved radio, I managed to survive. God did release me, and music ( and books and words) are still my answer to everything that ails me. I will never forget the hormonal teenage-angst I went through when 'Nazareth' released their gravelly, wailing and pulsing rock song 'Love Hurts' I was delirious with pain and suffering and cried bitterly into my pillow and promised myself that one day a guitar slinging rocker on a huge bike will stop in front of this ghastly place and pull me onto his machine.
Hair streaming in the wind I would hold on tight as we sped away to a crazy soundtrack yeah!! Remember 'Born to be wild'? aah that was me! Of course I would be the drummer, I played drums at school and I still do and I still think I rock!! Yes, it still is stunning to sing in front of the mirror and play air guitar or hit the tables in my artroom to rythms only I can hear....

So, here I am, still going through pain, still crying in the pillow, still blasting the house with music, and all I know is that I will never give up on the basic goodness that I believe is inherent in  people. That once I love you I can't stop and I don't want to. A heart full of pain carries a burden of anger, and I don't want that, - it makes me look older and I run the risk of becoming bitter. I might stop caring then, and that would be the end for me.

In the words of the great godess, Aretha Franklin and the uber-sexy and talented George Benson- I give you the best advice I can (that is, if you needed some!)  LOVE ALL THE HURT AWAY!!!

The same God that released me from that hostel-jail, has given us the Gift of Love - He didn't say how and when it will come, but relish in it I will. (Is it coincidence that I now live in a Hostel? Don't think so!!)

So the heart is gripped and squeezed and the music plays on, and just when you think you can't stand it anymore a stranger comes along, and says Hi there! and there I go, holding on for dear life again.... stand by the paramedics, but ride I will!!

Spread the love*****