… Finally, After 7 Months.

Sheesh. No blog for seven months? Really? The time has flown. I cannot believe it’s been that long. Now that I have a little borrowed internet access for the month of December, I am finally able to do a little update.

It’s been a year and four months since my return to South Africa. I feel settled now. Settled, acclimatised and accustomed to the fact that getting things done out here takes a bit longer than it did in the UK.

I’ve watched the jacarandas bloom. Been here for the birth of two babies. Offered my shoulder to my cousin when she split from her boyfriend and shared drinks with her when they got back together. This stuff – the grit of life – this is what I missed while I was away.

What a year so far. I did not choose a relaxing and uneventful life this time around. While I knew Madelein for a little while, we started dating in February. By June, after a whirlwind romance, we got married at the Department of Home Affairs. We were planning a spiritual ceremony for early next year, but finances have forced us to put that on hold. I am so blessed to be living in a country where one’s sexual orientation is protected by the constitution.

In July I moved out of my sister’s house, into our own little garden flat. This weekend just gone, we moved all the way back into my sister’s house. She’s off to work in Middelburg for two years and preferred to rent the family house out to… well… family.

My cousin Jackie and her husband David are expecting their first child and about a month ago, they immigrated to Australia. It was a blessing to get the chance to get to know her, because the last time I saw her she was ten years old. So weird coming back and she’s a young woman.

Painted a grand total of six paintings so far. Not done much else creatively. Bit of a novel. Bit of a short story. Couple of poems.

I’ve seen an Egyptian Sun Healer and I’ve left the practice of Nichiren Buddhism as promoted by Soka Gakkai International. I am slowly coming out of a spiritual crisis that began in late July.

I’ve lost a total of four kilograms, with more on the way. I feel renewed. This is home, and this is where my energy began. While I miss the friends I left behind in the UK, I am glad to be around the friends and family I have here.

In the universe there is always balance.