Whispering Willows

I'm supposed to tell you who I am here.  But honestly, I am still trying to figure that out myself. 

Do any of us ever really know ourselves fully?  

To know yourself fully, you have to sit with all your demons - childhood and adulthood ones alike.  You have to get to know the things about yourself that you like and the things about yourself that you do not like.  Well, first, you have to accept that there are bits to like and bits not to like.  And you have to accept that there are bits - even bits that you actually like - that others don't like so much.   Sometimes not at all.  Some people might even hate you for those same things that others like about you. 

Was it not the indomitable Sir Winston Churchill (love him or hate him, he made his mark) who once said "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything"?

Well, I'm not sure how many people in this life like me very much, but I do know that I have some haters... so I guess at least I have stood up for something somewhere along my journey!

Somewhere along these pages, I might just get to know myself a little better.  And if I can spark a little knowing in you too, then I have lived a life of at least some purpose. 

I hope you enjoy at least some of what I write.  And if you don't, that is okay too.  You are even welcome to tell me so! I'll try to respond where I can, but please forgive me if I don't:  it's not that I don't care, it's just that I don't always have the time to respond to each and every one. 

​

Speaking of forgiveness:  I should probably take this opportunity to request forgiveness for my utter incompetence when it comes to blogging or anything IT.  As you will soon find out when reading through my ramblings, I was not born in the current century.  In fact, personal computers, mobile phones, and the internet did not exist when I was a teenager.  But hey, I am totally open to assistance! If you think I made a particularly big mess of anything, please do not hesitate to help a woman out!

 

Yes, I intentionally used the word "woman" there, and not "girl".  I don't mind it, it's just that women have fought so gallantly for their right to speak that I kinda don't want to minimise us to the status of children quite so easily. Don't worry, I am far from some woke feminist, but I did grow up in an era where women were still fighting to be let into university on the same criteria as men and for equal pay once we graduated, so I cannot just simply let it all go to waste.  But perhaps a bit more about that in some of my ramblings later on. 

​

Which reminds me - I guess you have already figured it out, but if the colour and content choice did not already make it obvious:  hello from a 40-something-year-old perimenopausal woman at the Southern-most point of Africa still trying to find her way in the world.  

What a time to finally start a blog, eh?  If my writing has kept you reading up to this point, then hopefully I'll find the inspiration now and then not to bore the living everything out of you! 

Yes, I grew up and still make my way through life in sunny, multicultured, friendly South Africa. No, we don't have lions roaming the streets.