I havent blogged in a few months and here is why:  I went to India for a month, then returned for a very very busy month at Viva and then went on holiday for a month, and returned to a new very very busy month in 2013.  

India:  What a wonderful, colourful, fragrant country.  I travelled with my son Rheece and this opened up a whole world full of young people that I could mother to bits.  We back-packed.  Yes.  I did back-pack.  I also jumped off a cliff into water, slept on a rock in front of a cave, I climbed up 599 stairs to the monkey temple in Hampi, I rode a scooter, I traveled on many a train, I ate in dodgy places, I was carted about on rickshaws, tuk-tuks, taxis, buses and on bicycles.  I at many a momo.  (Tibetan pasta parcels with spinach and mushroom filling) I ate lots of chapatis with lots of wonderful dishes that I cant remember by name.  I slept on very hard beds.  I went to an Indian loo on a moving train, the tale of which is a topic for a post all on its own.  I bought a Tanpura and I dolak.  (Indian guitar and Indian drum) I sang and played my drum on the beach at night with amazing people until the tide washed up under us. I did many such things... but what is really amazing is that I heard God very clearly.  He spoke to me in different ways:  quiet voices, through a drunk Brit, at the foot of the biggest fortress (Jodhpur) I had ever seen, through my writing and through a beautiful prophecy that I wrote down sitting at an ordinary restaurant table.  Yep, He spoke to me in many places and may ways, the tale of which is also a topic for its own post.

I came back to South Africa and was not a little bit shocked.  I discovered that, unlike while travelling in India, it was not always possible to walk away from what annoys me.  Reality hit me a little hard. Dont forget it was the very very busy last month of the year.  I cant remember anymore how many very big events we had at Viva, plus getting everything ready for the close-down.  VAT returns, PAYE, Salaries, HR files, Letters, Arrangements, Gifts for hundreds of children, Catering, Venues, Equipment, Staff, All the Stuff I Didnt Do While In India... what a shock!

Luckily there is the River of Destiny at Wilderness where I could re-gain my sanity.  But, alas, I must admit, I have not yet managed to find what I had in India and it makes me a little sad.  I was so sure I would be able to keep up the new habits I picked up there, like reading a lot, reflecting a lot, walking a lot, eating little, and worrying very little.  Basically the main thing I kept from India is drinking a lot of water.  That I still do.  I might simply have to go back.

2013 does have another kind of feel to it though and I notice it is a universal thing.  People are positive - very positive - about 2013 and so am I.  It is going to be a good year.  Next I shall write about my Rape Response Protocol Initiative.  It is going to be a big thing.

If you read this - and I will be amazed if you did - thank you for doing so.

Meleney