and so the journey continues…
to grahamstown they say! as my quest to complete my masters continues i find myself being continually drawn to new experiences. there seems to be a never-ending cycle of new happenings that repeatedly remind me of the precious lessons learnt at lonavala – the most precious of which – WAIT AND WATCH!
and can the girl be patient already? yoh!
admin-wise, i have a new supervisor, a revamped project (continuing from the ‘old’ but with a fresh, more focused outlook) and second wind to ‘whack it’. i’ve declared 2011 as the ‘year of yogi’ and focus is the name of the game along with loads and loads of patience. boy, it’s not an easy lesson to learn and getting back on the tread-mill after yonks of laziness is well… a challenge. but i have faith! these lazy bones have loads of vooma in them and as the days pass and the more exposure i gain to the literature, i begin to see the links between what’s cutting ‘on the ground’ and the theory. my research aims to understand the search for the sacred within social context and already i see fireworks! i can’t wait to get started.
(are you feeling me on the patience thing?)
on the 27th of this month (wednesday) we celebrated freedom day in south africa (ironically my parent’s wedding anniversary too!) and the only thing on my mind was the plight of freedom seekers in the middle east (i use the term ‘seekers’ on purpose and not fighters – is freedom a thing that you flight for or is it something you seek out?) i shed tears of pure joy watching egyptians in tahrir square erupt in elation at the news of former president hosni mubarak’s resignation. what a thing to behold! can you imagine what drives a person to risk everything – everything – for the sake of freedom? as a south african (indeed as a young south african) i feel privileged to live in a country that has emerged from the horrors of an oppressive regime relatively unscathed. it breaks my heart to see our leaders wallow in past achievements – riding on the merit of their predecessors. this freedom our fathers have worked so hard to achieve will lay to waste should we perpetually refuse to engage with what it means to be free. yes, politically, we have the freedom to elect our own government and have equal say in the governing of our country. but what of the freedom to make choices of our own based on our own inclinations and not what economics (for example) force us to? here i look specifically to the poor and destitute of our country. having no option but to accept the low-level of healthcare in the public health system many end up as victims of their circumstance – trapped in a system that allows for very little if any breathing space with regards to their own health. they have no freedom to chose the way in which they are treated, the place or the time. in a capitalist economy, and in this specific instance – money truly can buy time!
anyway, i digress from my point. my point simply is that i believe that we (as members of a ‘free’ nation) are obligated to ourselves and the nation – indeed humankind – to begin to think about this whole thing called freedom and what it is to be free. i certainly don’t expect the average bloke on the street to start discussing foucault’s theories of freedom at the weekly poker game, but what i am saying is that i think the more we are aware of it – the more open we make ourselves to the idea of freedom, the closer we come to achieving it. if the door is open, surely at some point someone will walk in?
and there i stop. i must apologise for my almost ‘over-emotionalness’ but since mauritius – this whole notion of freedom has been getting me going… and what better place than a blog to let rip. ;)
adieu dearest ones…
