It’s been some time since I have been able to look in the mirror and see my reflection smiling back at me.
I noticed a twinkle in her eyes a level of contentment, that I had not seen in awhile.
Before my trip to the Namibian desert I had felt such exhaustion, a feeling of I just can’t anymore, had overwhelmed me.
I had been struggling to juggle so many balls in the air, workload, responsibilities and most of all the transition from the younger me to a wiser older version of myself. No one prepared me for that change I have been experiencing, the sagging of my body the tiredness, and generally what worked before just didn’t anymore. The general struggles of day to day life.
A good break of 12 days in the desert had come at the right time and it felt like a real gift to me from the Universe.
On the trip I had noticed how Nature was so resilient in the desert, everything was coming and going, the birds sang, the heat came and went. Light and dark. Rain and no rain.
This made me think of how much the human race had changed compared to Nature we appear to be more addicted to technology, fashion, money, achievement etc.
I noticed how people mainly tourists stayed late in the evening socializing and when the morning came with the first light across the desert there were only a few people up and listening to the awakening of the desert. It wasn’t till after 8am that most people surfaced missing the sun rise and the movement of the early morning choruses.
I have questioned many areas of my life , being on my own for most of the time. One being – we are here today and gone tomorrow. Yet our minds are filled with all sorts of ideas and concepts of our limited understandings of what life really means.
I thought alot about my sister and my Moms passing. My journey up until now, the struggles the joys – what was my emphasis on ?
Did I respect myself enough to walk away from those that treat me poorly? Do I value myself enough to say no to how I abuse myself by over working?
For me the strangest was one morning I was kneeling down with my palms facing mother earth and I was in absolute awe and gratitude for Mother Nature and my life when I noticed 2 doves watching me. I noticed the trees, the insects, everything was watching me. I ran my fingers through some red sand imagining how many billions of years old this all was. How many generations had come before me so that I could enjoy this moment.
The ‘ system’ robs us of our lives, our freedom. We spend our lives boxed in.
Just like that insect, none of us know how much time we have left.
What is our focus ? Building a life in this world of materialism, and then what, you die ?
Anyone that values something different to the norm, like bowing to Mother earth, walking in dry river beds – loving the rocks and admiring the dried up poop from the buck are considered not part of the main stream. I had a realization, What if everything else is ‘ Alternative ‘ and this way of honoring Mother Nature was in fact the way our lives should be. This is the Natural way.
Do you know how few people actually care about the animals struggling in the heat, no water. How many actually stop and make a difference to give a plant some water, very few. Humans drive past in our air-conditioned vehicles and go straight into our air-conditioned homes never considering that we can make a difference to someone’s life.
I have struggled these past 2 years to adjust to the older version of myself. But that twinkle I saw in my eyes just this morning was a knowing in my heart 
that I am truly free in my thinking and not conforming to a system that is shaping people away from their true selves. Life is Nature, wake up to that. Nature, animals and all of her beings are interconnected with us. This make our life possible here !
The Native Americans and other tribal traditions were onto something as they honored Mother Nature. The older I get I realise how ‘ normal ‘ I am and so are many others like me. Everything else is ‘Alternative ‘,
When did eating and thinking naturally become alternative. Even homeopathy is considered alternative where it should be incorporated into our daily life as a natural way to treat our minds and bodies.
So much of the way we have lived our lives up until now has changed due to technology. While I myself love tech its important to take our power back and to make use of all that is available to us and to not give our power away.
We need a balance in life, to take care of animals not from our air conditioned cars and homes but to get involved to lend a hand, to contribute to something higher than us. To become part of a cause that makes a difference. Every little being you help be it an insect, plant or animal is struggling just as we are. When you help out, you have made someone’s life better, easier and lighter.
This festive season, how or what can you do to help someone. After all we are all in this together as no one is getting out of this life Alive !
Love Marlene