This weekend I found myself doing two things above all others: Sleeping, and dancing. Friday night I brought out my dancing shoes at my BF's uncle's surprise 50th birthday party. What a shindig it was. There ain't nothing like "Walk like an Egyptian..." to bring the 80s child in you out. When eventually, at 2.30am, my poor tootsies couldn't take it anymore, I quietly made my escape.
Saturday, as you can imagine, I had scrambled eggs for brains. And yet I somehow managed to get myself looking half-way decent and into the car for the drive to a wedding in Stellenbosch. The fabulous thing about it? I didn't know the people getting married from a bar of soap. Not their names and not how they fitted into my partner's world. But who cares? All the better for it. Not knowing anyone means not having to be teased at a later stage about how much you threw your name away on the dance floor. Because that's kind of my modus operandi. Dance dance dance and who cares about the rest?
Having left the wedding at 1am, we eventually got home and crawled into bed, where I stayed for pretty much most of the rest of Sunday, alternatively waking, nibbling, watching QI then snoozing again. Delicious sleep....
One of the best things about getting older, and I'm sure there are lots of things I'm forgetting, but the one that comes to mind today is that the older you get the less you care what people think. So I sometimes think I can dance like a white Zulu? Who cares? A bit of kwaito and we have a different sort of problem on our hands. Cheesy 80s? Bring it on! I'll show you how white people danced in the 80s! And as for my favourites - the one hit wonder that was Ice Ice Baby and who can forget the "pant" that goes with Hammer Time - there's nothing better to get the party started. So, my point? You're never too old or too young to dance. I saw it all this weekend - and the one thing us dance-bunnies had in common (you'd think it'd be rhythmn, but no) was a smile. From kids in their 20s to Oumas of 80, dancing makes the light shine brighter.
Yours in dancing and dreaming
A.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Love Is...?
An interesting question was posed by in a newsletter I subscribe to. It was: "How do I know I'm in love?" On first read, it seems a simple enough question. But on further thought, a hell of a lot more complicated, no? And then last night I went out for supper (to the DIVINE Jewel of India) with the girls from work and we ended up bonding over whisky sours and popadoms. And I listened intently to each person's way of speaking about what being in love means to them, trying to see if they felt the same as I do. There were some very interesting responses, and these are the ones I can remember *blush* (mine are mixed in there too)
1. cooking meat when you're vegetarian
2. wanting to drop all the plans you ever had to have 10 minutes with the person you love
3. passionately wanting that someone to consume you, and to consume them
4. Accepting every flaw and thinking its wonderful that this individual chose you, above anyone else
5. moving cities on the off chance that this person is imperfectly perfect for you
6. leaving sunflowers on someone's car because they're her favourite, and then never letting on that it was you
7. you're in love with a boer but you're a redneck
8. you want to touch/kiss/pause/engage the very essence of their being
9. you want them to be free to just be
10. they're the first person you want to tell any news, the first person you want to share anything with, and the last thing you think about at night
11. you want to kiss them. all over. Often.
12. you do things you never would - laundry/ washing up/picking up dog poo - just to make their lives that little bit easier
13. commitment is planting a tree together and being there years later to nurture it and watch it grow
14. getting up 5 minutes earlier to make tea for your beloved so that they may ease into the day
15. when that certain smile is for you, when theirs lights up the room like champagne bubbles
Ag, there are so many more. And although some of these may not be your idea of how you know you're in love, when you ARE in love, you believe anything's possible, and that's kind the point. Hope and love go hand in hand. Cliche! But no ja, it is what it is. And at the moment, I have both and I'm so so grateful.
How do you know when you're in love?
Yours in warm gooey love
A.
1. cooking meat when you're vegetarian
2. wanting to drop all the plans you ever had to have 10 minutes with the person you love
3. passionately wanting that someone to consume you, and to consume them
4. Accepting every flaw and thinking its wonderful that this individual chose you, above anyone else
5. moving cities on the off chance that this person is imperfectly perfect for you
6. leaving sunflowers on someone's car because they're her favourite, and then never letting on that it was you
7. you're in love with a boer but you're a redneck
8. you want to touch/kiss/pause/engage the very essence of their being
9. you want them to be free to just be
10. they're the first person you want to tell any news, the first person you want to share anything with, and the last thing you think about at night
11. you want to kiss them. all over. Often.
12. you do things you never would - laundry/ washing up/picking up dog poo - just to make their lives that little bit easier
13. commitment is planting a tree together and being there years later to nurture it and watch it grow
14. getting up 5 minutes earlier to make tea for your beloved so that they may ease into the day
15. when that certain smile is for you, when theirs lights up the room like champagne bubbles
Ag, there are so many more. And although some of these may not be your idea of how you know you're in love, when you ARE in love, you believe anything's possible, and that's kind the point. Hope and love go hand in hand. Cliche! But no ja, it is what it is. And at the moment, I have both and I'm so so grateful.
How do you know when you're in love?
Yours in warm gooey love
A.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Don't Be A Donkey About It
It's been an age since I last wrote anything, blog-wise or other. But today, I just feel like writing.
What happens when you think you're making progress, and getting better at something only to be evaluated and told you're not, you haven't, reached the standard expected of you? And who gets to set that standard anyway? Surely personal standards are more important? Or a discussion should at least preceed any sort of mutually agreeable standards. Well, in my case, it comes down to me once again trying to get some sort of "ok", acceptance, pat on the back... When WILL I stop doing that?!
The fact of the matter is that we're obsessed with recognition. There are a hell of a lot of people out there who go about there business seemingly not caring (do they?), and to be perfectly honest, I admire that. I wish I could so easily throw all sensitivity out the window and throw around comments I haven't thought through. But I don't. I think it must have its roots in some weird childhood pathology: "please see me, please recognise me, please hear me". But be that as it may, and whatever its bearing on today's reality, childhood can't be blamed.
I think what it really means is that I have just got to step it up a bit, put on the big girl panties and stop crying. Stop expecting and start creating, my own world, without so much as a second thought for the selfish blighter(s) I tend to allow to influence me, to bring me down, to make me doubt myself. It's the way I like to think I live my life, but sometimes these little (read: BIG) hiccups come along and sometimes they bring a tear or two (or a toilet tissue roll worth). It's all about how you pick yourself up, no? Yes?
How do you pick yourself up, when someone else is intent on not allowing that? I'll tell you how I plan to do it. A bottle of wine, a friend's ear to twist, a grand plan, and hope. Smiling all the way...
What happens when you think you're making progress, and getting better at something only to be evaluated and told you're not, you haven't, reached the standard expected of you? And who gets to set that standard anyway? Surely personal standards are more important? Or a discussion should at least preceed any sort of mutually agreeable standards. Well, in my case, it comes down to me once again trying to get some sort of "ok", acceptance, pat on the back... When WILL I stop doing that?!
The fact of the matter is that we're obsessed with recognition. There are a hell of a lot of people out there who go about there business seemingly not caring (do they?), and to be perfectly honest, I admire that. I wish I could so easily throw all sensitivity out the window and throw around comments I haven't thought through. But I don't. I think it must have its roots in some weird childhood pathology: "please see me, please recognise me, please hear me". But be that as it may, and whatever its bearing on today's reality, childhood can't be blamed.
I think what it really means is that I have just got to step it up a bit, put on the big girl panties and stop crying. Stop expecting and start creating, my own world, without so much as a second thought for the selfish blighter(s) I tend to allow to influence me, to bring me down, to make me doubt myself. It's the way I like to think I live my life, but sometimes these little (read: BIG) hiccups come along and sometimes they bring a tear or two (or a toilet tissue roll worth). It's all about how you pick yourself up, no? Yes?
How do you pick yourself up, when someone else is intent on not allowing that? I'll tell you how I plan to do it. A bottle of wine, a friend's ear to twist, a grand plan, and hope. Smiling all the way...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
