The stories in my blog are based on actual events. Many people who know me, who have shared in my experiences ask why I am doing this. The answer is simply, because you couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted to. And because I can. In the words of a colleague who has become a very dear friend “Terri, you don’t got the money, but you sure see life”.
It goes without saying that I love telling stories. I love laughing and making people laugh. I think laughter is a rare and amazing gift in a world that has become too serious and living sometimes dreadfully hard.
I was a very serious child and adolescent. Quiet, shy, but solid. My worst quality according to my mom was an inability to hide what I was thinking. When people came to visit and I didn’t like them, they knew it. I gave new meaning to the words straight-forward and direct. I am still very direct but I have a little polish now – and I stress a little. My colleagues will tell you the softest thing about me is my teeth, but the truth is I wear my heart on my sleeve. I am excitable (on the up-side), volatile (on the down-side), alternately happy and sad, and can mostly find the good in the bad. Mostly.
I grew up in Yeoville, Johannesburg when it cost 5 cents to go to the public swimming pool and La Mammas made the best pizza in town. I loved to sleep in and it was not uncommon to see me trawling the streets in my pyjamas at all hours. My aspiration has always been to be eccentric; in hindsight I may have beaten myself to it. My party trick as a child was to lie on my tummy and bring my legs over my head onto the ground – bherundasana for the yogis among you. Perhaps this was an early physical manifestation of the emotional and mental adaptability and strength I would require later in life. You guessed it. It wasn’t all easy going but I decline to bore you with the details.
The most important thing to me is the people in my life – my family and friends. I think what we invest in people is the truest measure of a life well-lived. I can only cope with today, tomorrow is too much of a responsibility and frankly too unpredictable. My current quest is authenticity.
Terri
PS > Names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.
PPS > I’ve always wanted to say that