I believed them and never revealed it until now — Neither my partner nor I ever shared the secret mantra given to each of us when we enrolled in the Transcendental Meditation program 26 years ago. I discovered their spiritual deceit last month through a link Amy Marley had provided to the best guided meditations on Mindvalley. An invisible force…

Poetry Writing Contest response — I hear your cries across the barren lands, The ghost of history comes to haunt again, Undaunted by a shabby show of hands, I won’t ignore the tears and hungry pain. Belovéd children, shelter in my home, Dissolve your wounds in tender healing streams, No longer will your soul be left to…

So many stories we could turn them into a series on Netflix — First, we have the rumpus over the US Ambassador in South Africa, Reuben Brigety, crossing the diplomatic line by accusing the country of sending arms to Russia. Oh, in case you didn’t know, the Lady R, a Russian cargo ship sanctioned by the US and known for transporting weapons, sneaked…

Poetry Writing Contest response — Am I sure I want to recall the past? Because there’s a danger I may awaken memories I Captured inadvertently in that nasty net of Denial I wove in my jangled, tangled neural pathways. In my Eagerness to move beyond where I stood, I Floundered ahead against the current. That…

You and your songs will live forever in our hearts — We saw on BBC last night that Tina had died peacefully at age 83 after a long illness. Hubby and I cried together. The sorrow and pain of her passing were raw, like losing family. …

Should South African opera diva Pretty Yende not have sung at the coronation? — The vitriolic responses which emerged on Twitter when Newzroom Afrika tweeted a link on 6 May to Pretty Yende’s performance at the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey were unbelievable. I keep quiet about my opinions on social media for fear of a backlash. …

And that doesn’t bother me — Our cottage perches on the southern slopes of a mountain and this denies me the pleasure of watching a sunrise or a sunset. The rough terrain of bushveld, thorn trees, snakes, dolomite rocks and mountains offers no opportunity to travel on foot or by car (which I don’t have). …

Autumn Essay Writing Contest response — The swallows are gone. They remind me endings are beginnings and beginnings are endings as I curl and swoop through the vagaries of life: harmony and strife. My limbs are crispy on the edges, skin wrinkled bark, hair no longer golden, now silver grey — a portent of winter waiting…

An epic journey of recovery — that fly buzzing around my head terrifies me what if it climbs into my ear and eats my brain must get rid of it wrap my head in a scarf despite the sweltering heat to defeat its evil intentions no I won’t walk on the beach the waves are too…