The Positivity Addict: Student Maturity Rising.

I chatted to Momsie Guru. (See earlier posts for more on who she is).

She said : "The most vulnerable students are the ones oppressing others and holding the whole of South Africa hostage".

"How can those who assault others, and threaten assault, be vulnerable?" Asked Mr Drollrimple - our local do-gooder who had popped in for a cuppa. He of course did not hear what Momsie Guru - the feline advanced being who resides with me, said. I pretend that I come up with these things, but it is really not me. Momsie assures me it is not plagiarism or intellectual property theft, because she is quite happy to provide these nuggets for free. Well, at least in exchange for meals, board and lodging which is provided uncomplainingly by myself.

"Well, Mo..uh" I so nearly revealed the secret, so lulled into serenity I was with Mr Drollrimple. He was a placator of great prowess so no-one has ever felt threatened by him.  "Oh, sorry, I was distracted." I said as I struggled to remember Momsie's exact words.  I had to make do with this:  "Those with a high desire for idealised, over-glamourised heroism think that rigid adherence to obstructionist and reactionary behaviours shows bravery, dedication, and selflessness. By using force and threats they become the oppressors. They lose their ability to be rational because they become addicted to the adrenalin and attention they get from their increasing extremism. Their whole identity is wrapped up in struggle politics so they feel they would lose face if they did anything less extreme. They are therefore vulnerable. Their whole identity gets trapped in a cycle of extremism."

"Ok, I get that". Mr Drollrimple nodded, disarming me from preparing what I thought was quite a formidable defense. He added more firmly "Are we not just saying that the shadow side of the masculine is perpetrator-hood, domination, oppression? That the 'light 'masculine is active -the explorer, venturing into unknown territory. To do that the light masculine needs to be firm, decisive, assertive etc. When it becomes distorted, those qualities become distorted in actions. No longer just decisive, but dominating and oppressive, no longer assertive but impulsive and aggressive and no longer firm but rigid and intractable,  to the extent of obliterating others?" He ended more with a statement than a question.

 I had to concede that his archetypal version seemed relevant when applied to the current waves of violence and intimidation across our land.

A bit strongly put, but I could accede to the overall notion. I often get a bit uncomfortable with the shadow and light aspects of masculinity and femininity because it seems reductionistic. How much it helps toward solution building was my concern. I also wondered what he thought about those who are forcing others to bend to their will by closing the Universities and forcibly pulling people out of lecture halls. Do they not realize the extent of the damage they are causing, or they do realize it but believe their needs to be more important than the rest of society? I know that 96  4th yr NMMU social work students spend 4 days a week working full day at various organizations, hospitals and schools in Port Elizabeth.

These vulnerable patients and clients that fourth year social work students have been attending to include children and adults who have been raped, people who are victims of crime, illness and injury, people  - including fellow students, who are in huge life crises and might be suicidal, to name just some of the issues that student social workers help with.

These organizations rely on students doing their practical placements and internships to provide a regular service to health, welfare and education organizations of South Africa.

My estimate is that in the three weeks of disruption and closure, at a minimum, 20,880 people connected with the work of our 4th year students have either directly suffered, or been seriously inconvenienced, as a consequence of the actions of the Fees Must Fall Campaigners.

This estimate looks at the number of clients or hospital patients that the students see per week, the family members and work colleagues of those clients and patients, and the staff of their practicum organizations - the hospitals, schools and NGO's who have been inconvenienced and disrupted by the disallowing of the social work students to attend to their duties.

This figure does not include the family members of the students who are seriously affected financially, emotionally and practically by the closure, the intimidation, violence and bullying.

It also does not include nursing, psychology or third year social work students in practical service who are also serving vulnerable, sick and dying people.

For arguments sake, let us use the same basic figure and add that as the estimate for 3 other universities with practical placements for 4th years social work students who have closed for the  3 weeks to date of intimidation and closure. That would mean that the Fees Must Fall campaign has at the least, for work connected with social work students only, affected 83 520 vulnerable people and organizations. This is not estimating the long term effects on the students, the organizations, the clients and patients who have been affected. This estimate  just looks at the disruption and suffering caused by 3 weeks of absence of services. The long term consequences are serious and in some cases, dire.

Analysing the problem has minimal value without looking at the solution.  I gathered my thoughts and said to Mr Drollrimple who was waiting patiently for my response; "You seem to be only blaming the victims here - the students who are protesting who perceive themselves as victims. Ok, some of the victims who are perpetrating against others because we cannot lump all protesters as doing harm. But what about the actions of the authorities?" I asked, my defensiveness now rearing it' s ugly little head.

" You are right in that analysing the transactions between the opposing parties is important".  Mr Drollrimple, ever respectful and caring in his responses, smiled encouragingly. "In this case, meeting a shadow masculine with shadow masculine does not work. Rigidity and might clashes against opposing rigidity and might. Never the twain shall have a spare moment to think rationally while they are all throwing stones or shooting rubber bullets. Extremism creates wars. The shadow masculine hates to lose face because then they must lose their identity as you said earlier; the 'hero'  version of self would say something like 'I am a rigid, bold, brave hero -sacrificing and not only standing up for my rights but yours too" This martyr eventually becomes the tyrant. Anyone not supporting the shadow masculine 'martyr hero' , is automatically seen as the enemy". He looked expectantly at me, as if I would agree entirely with him.

I might have done so, but his words sounded fatalistic. "Are you saying then, that these unconscious psychological forces and social roles leave everyone with little choice?".

"No". He replied firmly. " I am just pointing out that when people choose extremism for whatever conscious or unconscious benefit they feel it has for them, it has a natural tendency toward more extremes. It divides, polarizes and destroys".

Tiring of the misery of being dragged into extremism talk, I shot back immediately; "Well, knowing you, I am aware that you are far more conciliatory  and creative than that and you would have solutions to all problems".

"Aha. I have a few".  He affirmed. "You will have to pay me though. It took me 7 years of study that cost me a lot of money to get to these ideas and I am not giving it away for free! Otherwise, how do I ever pay off my student loans?"  He winked. I know that he meant that he needed more tea and biscuits.

Once tea was carefully brewed and some of it settled in his stomach, he began.  He said he was not interested at this point at looking how to create a way forward with the protesters, but rather, how to institute into the fabric of the University, a way to tap the talents of all students. I have written them here for your edification.

Tertiary Education Level.

• All students study free education models. Enlist every university department and field of study to ensure that there will be at least one week of teaching around free tertiary education for each year of study. One assignment will be required per student per year aimed specifically at examining local and global best models of this and creating a model for South Africa. This will ensure that every student participates in crafting a free education system, building knowledge and skill for the universities and creating graduates whose knowledge and skill can be further harnessed in the work place.
• Publication. The top 3 assignments from each department for each year can be published on the University websites to show transparency, promote student endeavor and share inspiring ideas.
• Graduate students do research on free education models. These students can be encouraged to do their masters and doctoral research on this topic.
• Departmental action groups. Every department and field of study commits to a quarterly meeting with staff and student representatives to collate knowledge and ideas from the student work. They refine these, and add to them to provide guidelines, models and recommendations for their department to take to a national meeting.
• Once yearly tertiary free education meeting. The national meeting will have student and staff representatives from each university with the best proposals from each department. It can take place via skype for those who do not have the funds to support travel, accommodation and venue costs.
• Best ideas Affirmed.The meeting will archive all ideas and decide on the best ideas to publish and take forward for the next year.
• National meeting minutes to be published on their websites. These developments will be taken into consideration each year to restructure assignments so students continually participate in the continual crafting of free education from the perspective of their field of endeavor.

Political, business and civil society involvement. Local politicians and businesses will be invited to lectures and the departmental level of engagement to share their knowledge and expertise together. They may then participate in the national meeting and mobilize resources and actions based on the recommendations.

"Wow",  was the most intelligent offering I could make after a long pause while I tried to digest what he was saying. Momsie had lost interest, diverted as she was by the neighborhood marauder cat sitting nonchalantly partially hidden by the tree branches on our garden wall. I was annoyed that she had removed her attention as I needed her help.

Valiantly, I marched into my own tangled jungle without her support.

"That certainly is a huge dedication of time, will, intelligence, and money to support the cause. I like it. I really like it." I blustered with a sudden rush of excitement to my head. Now I was really energized. " Oooh, I would love to design some assignments for this". I continued. " A simple traditional one would be, mmm let us see: 'choose two countries with effective models of free education in practice. Compare their political, economic, health and welfare performance to those in South Africa. Take care to compare the employment levels, tax structures and average household incomes. Conclude with recommendations for how SA may learn from these examples and begin implementing some of these practices to create free tertiary education here."

Momsie suddenly did a jig of delight to show she had heard and then apologetically slunk off to defend her turf against the marauder.

"I think I am a positivity addict", I said to Mr Drollrimple. "I think I will blame you for it".

He laughed and mumbled " More next week. We can discuss how these suggestions might be just doubling up existing structures, how it might help the young people who are losing control of themselves and how to help everyone get out of the drama addiction trap.  I now have a sugar rush and have to go and lie down. Byede bye" He waved drowsily as he exited, leaving me overflowing with curiosity and Momsie defending her territory by giving the marauder her 'death becomes you' glare.

Fees & Illusions; Falling Processes.

How strong Wobble's reaction was when I told her the title of this blog. (She is my canny editor) "Most people" she said, "do not want to be disillusioned because they don’t know that they are full of illusions in the first place. Plus, why would you or anyone else want to be party to depressing people by disillusioning them all the time?".

I was stung by that because I certainly do not want to depress people. I recovered quickly and said "If I had known before I went to University, that all lecturers were not good, that the University administration was not perfect, that the students were not all interested in learning, I would have had a far better time".

 "But rebellion is a natural process of growing up" She interjected rebelliously.

Knowing that she too had major disillusionments as a youth and young adult, I sought to explain more fully.  "I think we are talking about the same thing - not rebellion per se, but individuation - which is a process that is natural and can happen through constructive interaction. It does not have to be antagonistic".

I genuinely thought all those years ago upon entering the University campus,  that I would be swept off my feet by the brilliance of the lecturers, by the free thought discussions. By the shared ideal of searching for solutions to society's ills. This did not happen. Lectures were mostly delivered with no or minimal discussion. Knowledge was mostly deposited upon us, obedient, silent students in a formulaic fashion. I was rescued by the fact that I was employed part-time in various jobs. I sometimes felt that I learnt more from working than I did during my studies.  What I learnt from working was that each work role had specified responsibilities and that I played a small but important part in the workplace. That sense of empowerment, despite my meager earnings, provided me with a sense of place in the world. Something that  was markedly absent during my student-hood in the early years. Being one of thousands with no participation apart from handing in assignments marked by someone who would not recall having ever seen you, certainly piles up the sense of disillusionment and disempowerment.

How then can there be hidden treasure in the process of disillusionment?

Illumined Illusions.

Firstly, it is important to understand that there is treasure in illusions. With unbridled idealism and hope, we are invigorated and inspired to engage in the world. At school, perhaps we deal with our disappointments as I did - by moving our idealism to a further point in time and place. I had a mantram; "Oh well, at least at university, I will be able to speak and share ideas with people of similar passions to contribute to creating health and welfare for all".

We feel, usually as youth and young adults, that we can make the changes that our foremothers perhaps could not. The illusion is not just the projected idealism - expecting others to be powerful, knowledgeable, caring, available etc. It includes the introjected ideal, the sense of grandiosity that my idealism, my enthusiasm and dedication can achieve a lot. Not necessarily more than those around me, but certainly more than our foremothers.

When Illusions Fall.

Then, as we go about our engaging, we begin to see that our idealised authorities, the lecturers etc, are not as all powerful and all competent as we thought. Our idealism that was projected onto the University crashes. Sometimes quickly, sometimes over a few years. In addition to this is the notion that my ideal of myself also crashes when I struggle to meet the pressures that the studies demand. I can then either blame my feelings of disempowerment and failure on the betrayal of my teachers and leaders who have failed to match my ideal, or I can turn it on myself, feeling that I have failed to achieve what I had hoped and I am now not good enough. Or, a bit of each.

Stepping into Self Sufficiency?

This disillusionment is a step toward a greater sense of self sufficiency. Disillusionment is part of the process of independence - no longer relying on others to be all and do all for us. It is the step toward the autonomous self that can contribute to society without being overly dependent on those in society to provide for us.

Negotiating this crucial phase of psychosocial development can be disastrous for some people and in the current case, for some institutions and perhaps our whole nation. This occurs when the disillusionment becomes a sense that my grandiosity is affronted by the betrayal of the authorities to do what they have promised to do and then my unconscious refusal to individuate.

Instead of taking up the mantle to create the world that I wish to create with others in  a more cooperative, balanced, way, I become reactionary and rebellious thereby sinking myself further into the abyss of dependency - expecting the idealised authority to continuously provide.

Three Illusions Crashing.

 I become enraged by my own failure to cope and to enact the idealised change. However, because I do not want to face my disillusionment in myself , I need to blame the idealised other. In this case,  I blame the failure of the treacherous authorities to provide free education. In my struggle to cope with these calamitous disillusionments, I revert to earlier dependency by becoming the tyrannical outraged young rebel, demanding that the authority act according to the ideal that I have about them - that they have the power to provide.

The individuation process is now frozen in the space between striving for self- sufficiency versus seeking others to provide. At this point, the perception remains that the others might still, if forced, agree to provide - after all, they are just withholding the goods from us. Herein lies the extra illusion that needs to crash. That is, the illusion that regardless of the stance of the authority - witholding or not,  the ideal itself has simple solutions that can happen instantly or at least very soon. In this case, the perception of many is that the structures of the economy and governance have the capacity to support the whole of society adequately and can just deposit the money into the University coffers today.

The more I seek to retain the illusion that others have the power to provide this simple solution instantly, the more tacit  permission  I grant to my own destructive behaviour. After all,  my power to intimidate others to force a shutdown of operations,  at least makes me feel less helpless. The illusion of my grandiose self and the simple instant solution is constantly fed. The more the I perceive the authorities as withholding the goods, the more powerless I feel, the more enraged I become at their refusal to provide.  It literally becomes a vicious cycle.

The allure of the new emerging autonomous self becomes lost amongst the false glamour of 'heroic rebellion'. Enemies have to be made in order to act out these illusions. The University was the original enemy. Then  a little of that illusion cracked - that maybe the Universities were not the only part of the problem. The outraged grandiose self needed to keep finding new targets as each illusion began cracking, so the government, then the stock exchange were targeted. The police are now amongst the list of enemies that have to be continually created to keep serving the illusions.

Stepping into the Self-Sufficient Self.

How does the outraged rebel step into the emerging self-sufficient self? Thankfully, there are few who get stuck in the  dependent, 'rebel against withholding provider' stage. There is a natural desire to become independent on the path toward understanding and participating in the healthy interdependence of adulthood. That process is when the young person recognizes that through our independence we all contribute and therefore have a level of mutual dependence - all playing our part to provide for our well -being.

We are beginning to see some of the students and some aspects of the authorities - government, Universities and parents begin the process of engaging together. Some people are inviting greater engagement and staying true to that intention.

As more people from all sides avoid the temptation to fall into victimhood or perpetrator-hood, so the real work can begin.  As the rebel begins to seek empowerment through mutual cooperation, the other illusions will fall - hopefully more gently. This will be a more natural process as student groups engage with the arduous task of working together. To begin recognizing that they are no longer the receivers of provisions, but they too, are providers.

The illusion that others can instantly provide solutions will fade as each young adult begins to recognize that they are part of the solution. Not their violence and intimidation, but their intelligence, their growing knowledge, their ability to work in teams with a range of others. That they too, may harness their dedication in positive ways to steadily, over time , add to a better society through providing a free, respectful, nourishing, and compassionate education system.

Rising Innovation, Falling Fees.

I thrive on creativity. Creating free tertiary education would be one area  I can focus on.

Can innovation be taught and learnt?

There is something about passion, enthusiasm, and excitement that is open and reaching for more. I like that. I find it thrilling and hopeful.

First there needs to be an ability to recognize that there can be more. An ability to see that the current status quo is insufficient, or sufficient but can grow.

Then there needs to be a move from passivity into activity - a desire for change and a willingness to act on that desire.

The Fees Must Fall campaign contains a wonderful group of young people who show these first few criteria. Their enthusiasm is powerful and they have become active in their desire.

Change and growth takes something that the Fees Must Fall campaign is literally struggling with. 

It takes far more than just moral outrage and aggressive demands.  The Fees Must Fall Campaign is anchored in the antagonistic paradigm of 'us versus them', of 'people against authority'. In essence, the archetype of the rebellious adolescent against the parent. This, some would argue, is a natural stage of growth. I would argue that the adventurous adolescent does not have to rebel. That the young person, seeking to carve their independence in the world can choose to participate and co-operate in shaping their own intellect and use their social activism through collaborative apprenticed endeavour; To work together with elders to shape a world that is more hopeful and desirable.

The very words of the campaign include the word 'must'. This is representative of the archetypal authoritarian power battle. When our attitudes are steeped in a belief (conscious or not), that others have the money, the power, the means to give us what we want and are refusing to do so, then we  have set up the battle ground. They 'have' and we 'have not'. It becomes a fight, with the kind of behaviours that we see occurring around us currently. The battle can be as harmless as a quiet protest march. Those who believe that authority figures have the resources and are withholding them through spite, greed or whatever motive is imposed upon them, can choose to escalate the battle as many have done. The key difficulty with an 'us versus them' archetypal set up, is that it creates oppositionality, obstructionism and resistance on all sides.

 I have not met anyone, young or old, who would not wish for free tertiary education. I have met many who wonder how staff can be paid and buildings, computers, etc maintained without money. Nobody insists that the income needs to be obtained through fees. How can bills be paid without the income from fees?  This takes us back to how innovation takes place.

We have, for the sake of argument here, seen that enthusiasm and a willingness to be active in the pursuit of innovation are two very important attitudes and qualities of behaviour that are useful. It is clear that many of the current student protesters have these qualities in abundance. I wonder what would happen if they chose to use these desirable qualities and their intelligence collaboratively to create the systems that will form the new structure of free tertiary education? We all want it.

Who knows how to get it done?

Someone has to do the work to create these structures. The rebellious adolescent archetype does not wish to be the creator but wishes to be the passive recipient.

Will the rebellious adolescent archetypal qualities being currently displayed in the student protests, choose to shift into the adventurous adolescent archetype and contribute to the new structures and systems with their intelligence and  enthusiasm?

This would require a shift into recognising other qualities that are required for innovation previously hinted at. The first is an understanding that destruction occurs with oppositionality, and construction can occur with the choice of collaboration. Both methods can achieve change. Unfortunately, impatience and outrage often lead to destruction first, creating poverty and taking years to refill the coffers and build new structures.

It is more dramatic. Outrage and protest creates the appearance that things are happening.  It satisfies emotional impulses to act out - the worthy cause giving permission, as it were, to no longer contain our emotions in calm behaviour.  It symbolically  provides a means to express long held frustration and anger toward all whom we feel have thwarted us in the form of the current targeted  enemy - in this case the University authorities. The drama can also provide the false impression that change efforts are actually successful. After all, burning buildings and smashing windows feels temporarily powerful and emotionally satisfying and shows an immediate, concrete result.

For the adventurous adolescent archetypal qualities, collaboration is much quieter. To contribute to the process of helping innovation rise requires a steady perseverance. It seldom has a public profile.  There is no drama so it does not feed that part of the rebellious archetype that seeks the false glamour of violent mythical 'heroism'.   It requires a host of other skills - patience, persistence, determination, the ability to tolerate frustration, and most importantly the ability to continuously  retain the vision and keep working toward it over time. It requires the willingness to steadily learn and grow in knowledge, skills and attitudes. It also requires the ability to work in the abstract world of visioning, ideas and systems.

What particular skills and knowledge are useful in creating a new style of tertiary education that does not require fees being paid? I do not know. I am not an economist, accountant or politician. I suspect that these competencies could be helpful.

If I were 19 years old, would I choose to be listed in the police records of those who burnt priceless buildings and text books  or rather have my name as co-author to a document outlining innovative no fees education economic systems?

Maybe I have just always been addicted to learning and cooperation, because I find the idea of rising innovation by far the most attractive option.

Fostering Splendid Streepness

 Meryl Streep's latest movie,  Foster Florence Jenkins, dazzles and enchants.

If you have a penchant for the more classical line of music and of singing, then this will not disappoint you. Actually, it is more about the technicalities of how to prepare for a performance.  There is much fascinating rehearsal in this movie.

Our wealthy main character Foster Florence Jenkins, played by Streep,  is a woman of wealth whose love of music has led her to create a forum for musical performances prior to and during the second world war in Manhatten, USA.  She is a devotee, driven by all sorts of motives to spend her life supporting musicians and theatrical artists through creating opportunities for performances that she herself participates in.

Therein lies the dilemma. The patron herself loves the theater and particularly music, with all her heart. But is her strength of passion and devotion enough to earn her a deserved place on the stage? We watch with mixed emotions throughout this amusing and deeply poignant story as her struggle for expression and longing for acknowledgement unfolds.

Hugh Grant to my initial great dread, plays St Clair Bayfield, our heroin's apparently devoted husband. I have seen Grant in a few movies and have always found his acting flat, uninteresting and apathetic. Thankfully my fears were unfounded. He was nothing short of stellar. He transformed himself into the character to the extent that he was virtually unrecognizable - at least to me. In fact, in a character constrained by high society English notions of proper conduct, he managed to express the nuances of inner conflict, of being torn between all sorts of desires and needs, with an intensity and subtlety of which I thought he was not capable.

 We enjoy their marital relationship, as they did. We enjoy the challenges of their preparing for performances, vastly enhanced by the wondrous piano playing and evolving friendship with  Cosme McMoon (played by Simon Helberg  the Howard Wolowitz of Big Bang theory fame). You will barely recognize him here for as the pianist, he plays the opposite character type -a highly anxious nerd who virtually apologizes for existing. His social phobia is so severe that he can barely hold eye contact let alone a conversation. But he can play like a genius and much of the enjoyment of the movie is thanks to his mastery of the ivory.

This movie thrives on social awkwardness, on the force of the unspoken, on the confusions and whirlpools of hints and innuendoes. Many of these moments cause hilarity and many touch one deeply.

I have not waxed enough about Streep's performance. I honestly think she is a mage and sage combined. I will not give key information of the movie away, so suffice it to say that the complexity of Foster Florence Jenkins is captured by Streep so smoothly, that one might be misled by the character' s seemingly rather self- absorbed personality. I can only urge you to not let your concentration slip, as she reveals ever so slightly, the deeply buried emotions of her past, desperately trying to meet the challenges of the present while maintaining the required mask that polite and wealthy American society demanded.

I suspect that the audience feels as many people around Foster Florence Jenkins felt; initially charmed and periodically alarmed. We are taken on a journey leading through amusing contortions of social confusions into layers of the different aspects of love, loyalty and devotion. We are left feeling a profound sense of admiration for this strange woman and of privilege at having had the chance to share the tenderness of her life story.

Fooling Around at Fogarty's

It is one of the secret treasures of Port Elizabeth and you are now sworn to keep that secret if you are reading this.

If book fanatics hired a pirate and the pirate stored the treasure - then you have discovered it inside Fogartys' book store in Walmer Park shopping Centre, Port Elizabeth.

 Of course my kind of fooling around is looking at books. Each peek offers me a trip of great adventure that I would otherwise not be able to enjoy.

The treasure is not just in the pages, though they be enchanting in themselves.

 The collection of top class treasure is in the old fashioned values that are followed by the owner and the staff.

 The above picture shows the beautiful shop assistant Lindsey Nell doing her magic.

What prompted my desire to share this with the rest of PE and the world was an incident of unashamed eavesdropping that I engaged in recently.

I crept into my secret little bookstore the other day, intent on spending some time adventuring through numerous pages, when I noted a mature gentleman cuddled into the bookshelves. He looked like a skilled cuddler so I was tempted to ask him to cuddle in to me instead. Discounting that notion as possibly inappropriate, I was preparing to walk to the counter to ask a question of the assistant when he beat me to it.

It is not a large shop so overhearing what others say is compulsory. At least, this is what I reason to myself whenever I happen to hear other peoples' conversations. This is what he said;

"I think you have one book on order  and I will take this one today." He raised a book in the air and placed it carefully on the counter top. It was too obscured for me to see the title, so my curiosity remained unsatisfied. He continued, " This shop is great - you always respond to my every request. Whatever I want you find for me you do so. I have never had a problem and you always attend to me. Thank you." 

How often have you heard that in the last year, ten years?

What did the sales assistant reply? "Well thank you, that is our aim. We will always do our best to help you and get the books that you want".

So satisfying to hear. I am not making this up. I stood with my face turned away so they could not see my jaw so seriously dropped in astonishment. This is best service in action.

I could barely contain myself and rushed to the counter as soon as he left and said "He must be related to someone here or you must have paid him to say that"  No, she assured me, he was a regular customer with particular arty crafty interests and the staff enjoyed him as much as he appeared to enjoy them.

"Relish these moments"  I said to myself in appreciation. A small retail store that is threatened by several mega chain stores, is holding their own through excellent, respectful, caring service. These moments inspire me. I turn to them when I am feeling overwhelmed by bad news out there and in my own life. In fact, they sustain me. I basked in the mutual appreciations flying around the store and left buoyant and skipping. Actually, the old knees would not take the skipping, but you know what I mean.

An Island of Beauty.

There are some people on this planet who go about their business quietly.

Vincent Chizawari is one of these creatures. He moves with quiet grace. His hands do a slow, steady dance, moving here and there as if they know what to do without the person behind them intervening in any way. Miracles appear from these hands, the raw material is his dance partner, sharing the unheard rhythms to cooperate in creating beauty.

Entering a large general store in Port Elizabeth, one does not expect to be confronted with a little section of heaven. One expects the usual clash and clamour of shopping trolleys, the irritable crowds and the unattractive shelves and banners of the typical supermarket. If those are present, they go unnoticed.

Mr Chizawari is the centre of  his island of beauty  on the left of the entrance to one of South Africas'  major supermarket chains - Pick n Pay, in the Walmer Park shopping centre in Port Elizabeth.

He creates a feast for the eyes like this:

And miniature versions like this:

I have spent most of the last 6 years unemployed and very partially employed, dealing with trauma and sheer desperation.  I found myself a few years ago standing in front of his sea of flowers, relishing the serenity, the delicacy of colours and textures and the sheer exuberance of the beauty of the blossoms and their harmonious constructions.

I now take every possible opportunity to seek the restoration of my soul, there, at Mr Chizawari's creations.  His work is a wonderful example of heart in action, of a job that his talent and heart has made into a service to humanity. Thank you Mr Chizawari.

Momsie Must Fall.

As I pulled my car into the driveway, Guru Momsie sauntered up to greet me. 

"How was the neighbourhood watch meeting?" I asked her as we walked to the front door. 

 She tossed her head with mild amusement. "Old Billy from number 23 said it was time

 the government was booted out because crime has only increased since they came in to power. 

He ranted for 30 minutes and thankfully someone suggested we have early tea. 

Aunty Jo then said that she knows who the petty thieves are, because she has been watching. 

We all stood in stunned silence.' It's Billys grandchildren' she triumphantly informed us. 

Billy threw a fit and walked out, and Aunty Jo burst into tears because she meant it as a joke."

"So the list of decisions and actions needing to be taken will wait for another month?" I sighed.

She nodded in affirmation, and said in a hesitant tone. 

"You know I do not approve of the violence and immature behaviour shown on most television

 programmes and movies. And I certainly expect better behaviour from the members of 

the Neighbourhood Watch,  but I guess they are so accustomed to seeing 

the tantrums and poor impulse control day after day on television that they have lost 

any mature skills they might have possessed. But I am seduced and highly entertained 

by the real life drama of my neighbourhood and I wonder if it actually provides better,

 more immediate entertainment for me."

"At what cost?" I asked, feeling the demand of house chores and a gnawing hunger 

requiring my attention. "It's a toss -up right now". Momsie mused.

 "I cannot decide between enjoying the entertainment value 

of my neighbourhoods' addiction to emotionally intense drama and histrionics, 

versus actively creating a Watch system that actually works".  She raised her paws her indecision.

"Well, my dear Guru. It is you who says "Sometimes building a working toilet is more important than 

fighting about it and walking around in the  stench of human excrement' . 

But my hunger was growing so I hastily added;

  "So shall I prepare supper while you check on what needs to be done in the garden?"

"I must be getting old" She tossed her head in self mockery as she walked out the door and  

called back "When your devotees start quoting your own words back to you and they are right!"

She watched me while I ate. "I find it astonishing that you humans have still not cottoned on to 

what this world is all about." She looked at me carefully to see if the food was addressing my mood, 

in case there was a remnant of my irritability waiting to surface.

 I nodded in a carefully constructed un-irritable fashion, not willing to disturb the sensation 

of the taste of the food in my mouth enough to answer verbally. 

I loved it when she spoke about the consciousness of humans. It always fascinated me. 

I have yet to reveal to her that I understand very little. 

After all, she holds a high status and I do not want to disturb her honourable equilibrium.

"This world of yours is such a fascinating mix of emotions, thoughts and physicality. 

Very few of you wondrous beings have realised that most of the power lies in the unseen level of thoughts 

and emotions. So you all remain unconscious slaves to those hidden aspects of self and

then act physically in ways that bring you grief, usually to your shocked surprise."

 I confess to being a bit disappointed. This was not new information. 

I did not let on, I just nodded more thoughtfully while greedily piling more food on my plate.

 "I am sure you are disappointed with what I have just said," Momsie continued, "but I want to add that…"

"I cannot bear it when you do that" I interrupted, exasperated and amused. "It is downright scary".

She laughed, "We have far more time, and I dare say skill,

 to observe and sense your real thoughts than you hominids do. 

Your disappointment was written all over you. Anyway, may I continue?" I gestured my capitulated assent.

"When there is a choice to get something useful done, as in our aborted Watch meeting today, 

members would rather bring all their past issues to bear, dump all their suspicions and bitterness

 into the present and sabotage the current need. Imagine if us felines did that?

 Here I am stalking a bird, and Joey from next door says from an overhanging branch in the tree;

 'you have to give that one to me because my forefathers were victimised by your forefathers' 

or,  'when you  had your kittens they made such a terrible noise that I could not catch a single morsel to eat, 

so you owe me. ' So my lunch flies away and Joey starts a "Momsie Must Fall" campaign".

 I coughed to hide my amusement at her indignation and then choked on my food.

Once I had washed the tears from my eyes, drunk some water and wiped my mouth,

 I asked Momsie what she would do if she had such a challenge from Joey. 

"I would offer some of my meal and then say 'Joey, In all that time you spent  obsessing about 

how you feel victimised by me and others, talking about it, planning to yell at me about it, 

then waiting to yell at me and then yelling at me, and then organizing community protests

and twitter campaigns,  you could have caught at least 3 birds. 

So let us work together to improve our hunting skills'.

No drama. Just Guru Momsie in peace practice.

"And if Joey creates a Momsie Must Fall campaign?" I asked curiously.

 "Then you can create a viral post of pictures of me with the heading 

"Momsie Has Fallen" and there I would lie on the ground, 

fallen into a warm spot of sun. It will fool everyone." She said.