Sunday, January 1, 2017

Time to "ukubutha izinto sami"

1 Jan 2017

I picked up the new issue of O magazine – with Oprah herself splayed against the grandeur of a cotton candy-hued Grand Canyon, declaring 2017 “the year of your greatest adventures.

This clearly spoke to me. For years, wanderlust has been my opium, adventure my muse. I have lived nomadically, traveled globally, and made friends around the world.

But my gypsy lifestyle has resulted in a lack of routine and rigor I have found …. unbecoming. Just as my ‘stuff’ is spread all over the planet, I too have spread out a bit. Eep! “The year of your greatest adventures,” I’ve decided, doesn’t jibe with my life right now. I need some time to regroup.

So 2017 will be my year of getting my sh*t together. (I tried to find a cleverer way of saying this: in French it might be, “Bouge mon cul” … “Ukubutha izinto zami” in Zulu … or Maori: “Whiwhi whakaritea toku ora.” Much more civilized.)

A year of getting settled – not as in ‘settling for’ a compromise or consolation – but in allowing some roots to grow. Letting myself get grounded, and comfortable. Gathering and unearthing my stuff, taking treasures of out storage, exhuming paperwork, revisiting finances, getting organized. Taking classes/studies/workouts/whatever it takes, to get back to the foundation of who I am. ‘Including the good habits that will fuel the next 30 years.

And I can only do this thanks to Barry.


I enter 2017 with an unprecedented sense of affection, security, and excitement. Barry is generous in every way, an embracing partner who has offered me the warmth of his love and coziness of his lifestyle. And while the call of the wild has dominated my life for many years, I am looking forward to our lives - and escapades – together. My greatest adventure, indeed.

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