Ancestral urgings

I felt soooo good last night after finally managing to blog again. I can't bear to dam/damn my flow, it makes me all itchy and scratchy (funnily enough, also the names of two donkeys that belong to the wonderful savage diva who lives on the hill. However, this has nothing to do with the story!)

I gather that I really need to express myself. I felt elated, light, bouncy. The kinetic stress and rush-rush mentality was gone and I landed back in my reality. Just like that! I mean, I wrote and I felt well. So Ho! to those of you who told me so :)

My mum wanted to be a writer. She named me after her chosen pen name and instilled her love of words and language. My grand father was a journalist and writer and my great grand-father translated the bible into Venda poetry. All those urges continue in me. I have ancestral love pulsing in these veins and it feels good to express it. This love is not only a personal urge.

All the sages and the success stories confirm with wholehearted conviction: Do What You Love. Its the only way to live and we all know it. I'm beginning to understand how doing what I love is not purely egoistic. It is service to others who have had great loves, too. Those who live in my blood fuel my passions (imagine the urge to share of a man who would translate the bible!)

Doing what I love is so self indulgent. It's like eating the whole box of Favourites. Exactly! Yet, it is also communal and honouring.

It is traditional to recognise that the love of those who came before us is a responsibility for us. We need to follow its urges and craft its wonderfulness. And we need to do it with zest and joy, integrity and delight, so that those who follow us can feel the surge right through their bones!

My ancestors are passionate, spiritual, creative people. Their loves, like mine, were many and varied. I like that when I act in integrity, their ribbons of colour and nuance add grace to my work. It is exactly what I have been intending: Happy, supported family space; and vibrant, focused, creative work (to think that I used to imagine that these two intentions were somehow in conflict - but that's another story.)

I may or may not write over the next few days. I am teaching a Principled Negotiation workshop and will be in another world. I intend to express my love, either way!