Spoken Word Poetry

Definition according to Wikipedia: 

Spoken word is a performance art that is word-based. It often includes collaboration and experimentation with other art forms such as music, theater, and dance. However, spoken word usually tends to focus on the words themselves, the dynamics of tone, gestures, facial expressions, and not so much on the other art forms.

I first discovered this divinely honest and beautiful artform through the artist Mary Lambert who sings a bridge in Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' – Same Love. The song is controversial and perhaps that’s why I love it so much. It is deeply beautiful and powerfully speaks truth to the hurt and confused. We need to stop hating what we don't understand and start treating each other equally.

I then delved into more of her (Mary Lambert) music and spoken word. Tearfully amazed at 11pm in my room as I listened to the verses she spoke with such command and honesty of her own self experience. I shared more in this previous post.

It seems Macklemore sneakily collaborates with other geniuses and leaves the viewer to discover more of said collaborator.

Then. Today I began learning so much and being reminded of things I've felt so intensely grip my heart. Firstly a young man that has become a comfort to millions of young adults that spend their nights awake. He speaks to a generation about the definition of an education. I love how he challenges people; if it means it’ll bring some sort of justice he expresses it. Another that I had ironically shared in a previous post. 

I love this follow up: I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate||Spoken Word

And this one speaks for itself.

Lastly, this is probably, no, definitely one of the best videos I have seen in a while.

It is exactly how I can only hope to one day raise a baby girl.

I think it's quite conclusive that I am infact now obsessed with spoken word poetry.

It has inspired me so much I may even go ahead a write a poem directly after this.

Moments

I am certain I was meant to meet many people. Fleeting moments in my little life that leave me with so much. Perhaps life is less about knowing many people well and more about learning a lot from strangers and delighting in others stories. Maybe they will always haunt you but your life wouldn't ever be the same if it weren't that way. I've had the privilege of meeting many colourful people. And I've also had very dark people come into my life and teach me about reality. 

It's all so beautiful. 

We get to play a part and we are all connected in some way.

Seek the glorious experience of being entwined with someone else's struggle or joy. Not to gain anything except the present moment.

This is what's up

> "You could ink yourself until everyone knows all the things you love. You could wear uniforms that give you all the authority in the world. Lose weight until there is nothing left. Paint your face. Suck in your gut. But in the dark, stripped down to your bones, all that remains is you." 

I read this a long time ago and found it again today. A golden reminder.

> I watched this yesterday and cried at this courageous man and my heart was so much warmer knowing there are some people getting it right out there.*

*The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

> I met the most lovely lot from Cape Town last week and some of which are in The Aztec Sapphire. Their sound is so fresh and I truthfully feel like they are going to take over the Cape Town music scene. Here's a new song they released recently. Listen to it. Mmmm.

> MORE LOCAL LOVE: Desmond and The Tutus. New video. 

Nice hey. I was there. If you watch carefully you can see little me for two seconds having a jive (2:45)

Revelation

I'm writing this out while it’s still fresh in my mind and heart.

This week has been emotionally tortuous.

I've heard an abundance of words. Some strong, some that frustrated me and some that hit the core of me

but even more than that, words that gave revelation.

It’s certainly true as they say, often the hardest lessons are the ones that grip us the most and look right into us and shake us up to reality. 

Tonight I experienced this in all its goodness.

Words are important. Actions are crucial

Actions because I know the dire need for it more in my own life.

Let us do more and speak less.

We get too caught up in ‘life’. This common knowledge, we need to do more daily to make a change. 

Cause I'm just like you, walking a fine line between saying it and living it. 

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Sunsets and gratefulness

Today I simply stood in awe of the sun setting behind a Durban hill. Despite those tiny circles that appear in your line of vision, I watched it until it was gone and it was spectacular. I managed to take a photo but my phone died before the most extravagant exit. This was indeed a blessing in disguise as it made for no distractions. (Imagine we took the time out of our day, just once in awhile to watch the sun setting, instead of a brief glance. The progression of it all is actually what makes it what it is.)

I sipped on the last of my tea and breathed in deeply and became exclusively aware of the splendor that surrounded me. 

I know I am because I said am

I know girls who are trying to fit into the social norm
Like squeezing into last year's prom dress,
I know girls who are low rise, mac eyeshadow, and binge drinking.
I know girls that wonder if they're disaster and sexy enough to fit in
I know girls who are fleeing bombs from the mosques of their skin
playing russian roulette with death; it's never easy to accept
that our bodies are fallible and flawed
But when do we draw the line?
When the knife hits the skin?
Isn't it the same thing as purging,
because we're so obsessed with death,
some women just have more guts than others
The funny thing is women like us don't shoot
We swallow pills, still wanting to be beautiful at the morgue,
still proceeding to put on make-up,
still hoping that the mortician finds us f###able and attractive
we might as well be buried with our shoes,
and handbags and scarves, girls
we flirt with death everytime we etch a new tally mark
into our skin
I know how to split my wrists like a battlefield too
but the time has come for us to
reclaim our bodies
our bodies deserve more than to be war-torn and collateral,
offering this f###dom as a pathetic means to say,
"I only know how to exist when I'm wanted"
Girls like us are hardly ever wanted you know
We're used up and sad and drunk and
perpetually waiting by the phone for someone to pick up
and tell us that we did good
You did good.

( I know I am because I said am, my body is home)
So try this
Take your hands over your bumpy lovebody naked
and remember the first time you touched someone
with the sole purpose of learning all of them
Touched them because the light was pretty on them
and the dust in the sunlight danced the way your heart did
Touch yourself with a purpose
Your body is the most beautiful royal
Fathers and uncles are not claiming your knife anymore
Are not your razor, no
Put the sharpness back
Lay your hands flat and feel the surface of scarred skin
I once touched a tree with charred limbs
the stump was still breathing
but the tops were just ashy remains,
I wonder what it's like to come back from that
sometimes I feel a forest fire erupting from my wrists
and the smoke signals sent out are the most beautiful things
I've ever seen
Love your body the way your mother loved your baby feet
and brother, arm wrapping shoulders, and remember,
This is important:
You are worth more than who you f###
You are worth more than a waistline
You are worth more than any naked body could proclaim
in the shadows, more than a man's whim
or your father's mistake
You are no less valuable as a size 16, than a size 4
You are no less valuable as a 32A than a 36C,
Your sexiness is defined by concentric circles within your wood;
wisdom
You are a goddamn tree stump with leaves sprouting out:
reborn
- Mary Lambert

Oh! how gloriously effective you are Google.
Here's where I found the words I spoke about in my last post.
Beautiful.

Love has come for you

How long you have travelled in darkness weeping

No rest in language, no words to speak 
But there in the wreckage beneath bricks and bindings
Love has come, Love has come for you
So lift up your heart now, to this unfolding
All that has been broken will be restored 
Here runs deep waters for all who are thirsty
Love has come, Love has come for you
Ten thousand angels will light your pathway 
until the day breaks fully in the East 
They will surround you and make your way straight
Love has come, Love has come for you.  


I recently rediscovered this beautiful piece of writing I found a few years ago. I have no recollection of where it actually came from but I am reminded of why I loved it so much when I first read it. 

Light/ Art

I just find myself marveling at the creative brilliance this world is so oozing in.

Creased Japanese paper, single light source, shadow
By Kumi Yamashita

Oh my goodness there's more.
Paula Braconnot.
I am in love.

Thank You

Yaaaaay!
My blog has reached the 1000 mark which seems rather unbelievable to me.
Thank you to anyone and everyone that takes time to read my silly thoughts.
I love you people.
<3

School vs Education

This guy speaks a lot of truth. So many kids these days in school are missing the point, some adults too. 

I only had this realisation towards the end of high school. 

"If you don't build your dreams someone else will hire you to build theirs."

March Snaps

Moments of March all taken with my camera or my iPhone.
Also found here.

I said goodbye to this beautiful friend of mine, Ash. 
(Far right.) 
Ash if you happen to read this I hope your UK adventures are plentiful and that you are missing me! I love you dearly. 
Do yourself a favour and read this woman's blog.

Splashy Fen 2013, oh how I miss this.

Girls

60’s fashion is such a gigantic inspiration to me.  

The 80’s did well too but I just believe I was a part of this era sometime in my past life. Somewhere in the background, perhaps.

With icons like Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Christie, Anna Karina, Audrey Hepburn, Edie Sedgwick, Janis Joplin; men would have no excuse to ever be without a muse.

Everyone just seemed so ethereal and whimsical as if they floated on some far away cloud and their soft joy could never be broken. The movie Factory Girl is quite a lovely, honest portrayal of it all. 
Gaze upon more 60's pop culture on this gorgeous tumblr blog

Finally I must share my life’s latest excitement. 

The show Girls, a vulgar hilarity but completely addictive and beautiful in the best of ways. Although, I wouldn't suggest it for the easily offended. I adore the entire cast. 

Lena Dunham is a genius. 

I particularly LOVE Jemima Kirke's character Jessa. Her playful disposition and bohemian goddess style in the show is so divine. I have such a girl crush. 

Get a cupcake and download + watch the show!

  

Snap

These were the moments of inspiration,celebration, relaxation,contemplation,& whatever else may have caught my eye during the month of February.

Oh Life

The seasons are always changing. Every day in fact. I find this bizarre. One moment we think we are in summer and the next thing it’s half way through autumn. Good old C.S Lewis articulates it quite perfectly, “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different.” Everything is different. Presently I feel myself changing but yet stagnant, if that even makes sense at all. There are so many things my heart yearns for of which are out of reach. The upside though, is that I know I’m heading in the direction of where I want to be. I just don’t know yet where that is yet. Nevertheless I am steady on my way. Without a doubt I will proceed without caution and wholeheartedly grasping whatever and whoever I am blessed with along the way. So far I’ve been taught more lessons I had expected or even wanted but surfaced as better than ever. I’ve fallen even more in love with the soul of people, the core, where it all really matters, where what we know we deeply need surpasses what we want. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t have it all together and as it is temporarily I don’t know WHAT I want to be but I feel proud that I have an understanding of WHO I want to be. And I don’t know where I’ll be in ten years but I do know where I am now and it sure as heck deserves a long sigh of appreciation.

Lovely love

Valentine’s day has come and passed. The hype around it all does make me giddy but at the same time I don’t think the day needs to be about spending all the money you have and coming out of it all with bigger holes in your pocket than you've ever dreamed. It’s about so much more than that. Loving people. And not just the one you’re romantically inclined to love, but everyone that you hold close to your heart. It’s so sad the way single people bash Valentine ’s Day because of soppy couples. If you don’t have a boyfriend or lady friend, spend some time with your cat. (Or dog.) 
Because silly depressed people must just stop being silly and depressed. Well that’s the way I feel. If it were me I'd pamper myself and enjoy the day anyway.
Eartha Kitt could not have put it better; "It's all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit." 

Nevertheless I had the most glorious day with MY love. He dropped off roses and Lindt. He made me laugh. We drank milkshakes and held hands. Lastly, he made a three course, candlelit meal – of which we were too full to even think of having pudding so we proceeded to eat it for breakfast the next morning. (Peppermint crisp for breakfast is really quite wonderful. You should try it.)

My Valentine’s day/night was perfect. I hope yours was too.

Words

“What we have here is a dreamer, someone completely out of touch with reality.” Jeffery Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides 

Handpicked Melodies

Here's the playlist that I'm delighting in at the moment, 

I hope you love these songs as much as I do

Snap

These were the moments of inspiration,celebration, relaxation,contemplation,& whatever else may have caught my eye during the month of January.