Month: October 2021

These days things can get a little frustrating at home as we are going into week 11 of this lockdown. But my special power is to find quality in the mundane. Here are some words my 4 year old says to sooth my heart and soul.

Bedtime chat:

Me: I love you always.

B: I love you to the moon. When I love you, I love your whole body, I love you to the whole earth, I love every leaf which is the shape of you.

Conversation after she didn’t listen to what I asked her to do:

Me: Where is the Bella who listens well, I miss her.

B: Well when you say stuff like that it makes me sad. I am still me. When you say where is the Isabella who listens make me think you don’t want me anymore. It makes me very sad.

I hug her tightly and say sorry for the words that hurt her.

Conversation after she explained something really cool in a scientific way in front of me and her Dad.

Me: Thats is super clever, where did you learn that?

Dad: Of course from me, Dad knows everything.

She adds in a small voice: …and the TV.

Her age does not define the wisdom of her words.

This lockdown I went on lots of walks. Ingrid sleeps well in the pram, so going for a long walk during the day not only tick my box of the daily exercise, also she gets to nap. Thats how I found this podcast on BBC Sounds – World of Wisdom. On this programme, they collect questions from people around the world, they are then answered by spiritual leaders.

So after listening to it one day, I decided to send in my own question about having children in a middle of a pandemic. I want to know how to be strong for my children even though sometime I am terrified by what is happening around us. The day after I sent it, I got an email from the producer and they wanted to have a chat as they thought my question could relate to many people around the world. After two weeks back and forth with emails and video calls, I sat down in front of my laptop and had a chat with Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth. During the recording session there were some technical issues with my microphone, we were stopped twice to fix some minor issues. However, these little pauses didn’t affect the flow of our conversation, and I really enjoyed the half an hour chat with Mpho.

The final editing version added more depth and clarity to my questions and Mpho’s response. My biggest take was that “Love is an action”. Sometime I can get too caught up from thoughts (hence the name of this blog) and feelings, I forget that action can be the most effective way to empower myself and my children. In Chinese there is a saying “撸起袖子，干就对了！” translated as “Roll up your sleeve, get on with it.” Love is not just about feelings, sometime it’s about despite not feeling like it, still doing the things for our loved ones.

Here is the conversation, it is a bleak question to begin with but the answers are filled with positivity and power. We can all take matter into our own hands, change is up to each one of us. We have the power to make decisions which show our children that life is full of wonders and possibilities. After all, what experience is more miraculous than a birth of a child? To me, none so far.