Winter break: Being a part of something

A couple months ago I wrote a post moaning on how I did not feel like I was being an " all-rounded" student. I was in a slump. All I seemed to do was go to lectures, go out for coffee( alone) and study in the library or secretly log on to Pinterest while no one is looking. My college experience was... boring. I needed to do something, make something, Be PART of something

So I signed up for a couple societies. For instance a poetry society, a literature society and an outreach society. There has not been much going on, except for one really great poetry evening I went to. It is a start, at least to step out my little library.

Last Saturday, the society I joined, Benevolence participated in a community outreach. Basically it is a Christian society that does these outreach projects by raising funds, soup kitchens etc. Being the newbie, I was excited. Not only would I have the opportunity hopefully to make a difference in someone's life for a day, I could also get to meet new people. And be a PART of something. Actually "belong". 

So the morning started off with a group prayer in one of the group member's homes and carrying heavy pots, buckets of drinks etc to the " park". Now before that morning, I thought the park would be like green filled with kids playing around on swings and jungle-gyms. It was quite the opposite. We were literally on the side of the street in the middle of town, hoping to catch the attention of people around. So we waited... and we waited and no one came. Here we are thinking: " wow! look at all this food we have brought to feed hundreds of people!"

After a few members of our group spread the word around that there was " free food", the people came. and they came. Even people who were not homeless came trying to get a plate, driving their nice cars... I mean, really guys? 

Anyway, in total we fed about 96 people who told us to come again. It was sad though when one homeless man said that this was his meal for the day. Others remarked saying they wish we could come everyday. I do. I wish that people could have a hot meal to look forward to everyday .

 I say it was a day well-spent, as opposed to being a potato back home. I do not want to sound melodramatic or Mother Teresa like, but there are little things we must not forget to not take for granted. Like warm showers, hot food, under floor heating... 

Which brings me to the whole being thankful thing... I have noticed that no matter what curveballs life brings, there is so many positive things in our life which outweigh the negative. 

Peace and love

xoxo 

Imani Dlamini

It's not fair

 “If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn't eat him”. 

The truth is the world is not fair, but heck, you did not need me to tell you that. In addition, you do not need to be on this earth 18 years to know that. Even my 10-year-old sister could have told you that after the mysterious “disappearance” of her new pair of Nike sneakers from her school bag (despite the printed name-tags on them). 

You can abide my all the road rules, stopping at a stop sign, stopping when the robot turns red and indicating when you’re about to turn alerting the other drivers. You can look left, look right, and look left again like your grandmother taught you, before crossing the road. You may be a loyal and trustworthy friend, putting others’ needs above yours. You may exercise 5 times a week, maintain a balanced diet low in fat and get vaccinations.Still, bad things happen or to avoid sounding completely negative, undesirable things...An elephant might jump in front of you as the robot turns green. On the other hand, you may found out that your best friend has been...  well not so honest with you, secretly holding drawing a dagger in and out of your back without your knowledge.


I am sure we have all been there and asked ourselves: why me?. What happened to the whole karma thing what goes around goes around thing? I am no philosopher, expert on spirituality, preacher etc... However, I am a human being who has been in “crappy” situations I have labelled: unfair.I am sure we all have. It really does not make any sense. It still does not. It really is not fair! But resisting and getting mad at the world is not going to change anything, and in life there are some things you cannot control. Except for your attitude.It may not remove the obstacles in life.

 Take a zebra for instance. I imagine when a zebra is born, it knows it purpose on this earth is to: eat, reproduce and be eaten by a lion( as far as I can imagine since I am not an expert on the animal kingdom). That is just how it goes. And it can try and run and run and beg the lion not to eat him... but it probably will happen. Just watch a documentary on discovery channel.But that my friends is the circle of life( cue Lion King music in the background).  We are zebras. We may go about minding our own business, but the lions will always be there. But yes, we are zebras. But what can we do? 

 I often wonder how millions can be killed in a war they did not sign up for? Why is there so much violent crime perpetrated to innocent victims Why do people who claim to shield your heart end up being the ones to break it ?

What comforts me, despite the chaotic " cruel" world we live in is Mahatma Gandhi words: “ Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. Be the change! SO what? You have been lied to, cheated on, the jerk scratched your car or something. DO not let the world turn you bitter. The world may not be fair, but you can be.


If it is any consolation: at least you are not a zebra!


Peace and love


 Imani Dlamini 

Winter Break

Winter Break

After a gruelling two weeks or so of modes of assessment that they call “exams”, or what I like to call them “ the E word”, I am pleased to say I have made it through my first round of university exams. For now as I now anxiously awaited the results. 

Meanwhile the end of exams means the end of the semester. Whoop! Which means... “spring break... But seeing as it is Winter down here, I will call it winter break.

With holidays or breaks comes many hours plopped in front of the television, face_booking and occasionally reading a novel or two wishing I could be more productive. A month is a very long time when you’re not planning on spending it in Hawaii or some other exotic location. But you can survive:  I mean all you really need is decent internet connection and food, and all seasons of your favourite TV show.

It is funny how every time a school break like this comes around, I construct an elaborate to-do list to keep myself occupied, and to prevent the unpleasant “cabin fever”. The most severe symptoms of this ailment is actually wishing you were at school. Yes, it is a true story.

But somehow, when the holiday is coming to an end and we are all conversing with my friends on what they got up to during the summer holidays I always have nothing to say. Zilch!

“Oh, I just chilled... “  WOW!

I did get a holiday job during the December holidays before starting varsity, so I did at least keep busy and do something productive. Even though I did dream of being back home being able to sleep till 11 am every morning.

I’ve got another month off, and I feel like in order to actually achieve the things I plan on doing I should actually blog about it. SO here it is:

·         Learn fluent Japanese

·         Learn how to knit

Ok, that was a joke. But the first thing I embarked on was off course this blog! And DIY projects.

Talking about the blog, there is going to be a few changes going around here to our loyal readers.  Just so you know, it feels really awkward writing about myself because I mean, it’s like talking about yourself.

My mom and I are running our first 10 km marathon. Whoop!

Last year we started running, and were we such diligent athletes. I swear we could have completed the Comrades marathon or something. It all started like this... let me note: I hated running. Maybe because I always ALWAYS came last when I was forced to run as part of interhouse running and I hated how after running, I would be so out of breath and all hot and sweaty and ugh! Highly allergic!

And then we got a school physical education assignment where I actually had to run. And being the studious learner I am, i did dragging my mom along with me for moral support.

Months later, We have been running ever since and even ran a 5km ( we more like walked because the streets were soo full... ).

And then after the euphoria and hype of us telling all our friends we had run a marathon, we stopped.

“ Oh, its too hot!”

“ Oh, I’ve got so much homework!”

“ OH, my fingers hurt!”

So now we are back to where we were, training for another marathon but this time it is going to be 10km. 10 km and 12 weeks. Let us do this!

Anything to get us exercising

Healthy Fridays

Remember when I used to blog “healthy Fridays”? That is still going to continue, but I will mostly be posting recipes that I have tried out because I just love to cook, eat and eat.

Winter Break

The winter bucket list, I like to call it. This is my attempt at keeping busy and blogging about it. Whoop! Mostly DIY projects I get from pinterest!!!!! www.pinterest.com

Book reviews

My dear friend Heather has also inspired me to also occasionally write book reviews. Isn’t she just great? 100 books in one year? AMAZING! I am not going to try and top that, but I guess I could at least try, right?

That is it from me for now. Happy reading J

Xoxox