Beginning of the end.

It’s true what they say that life does come at you fast. One minute we were gearing up for the new year and now it’s over.

It’s safe to think that a lot has been happening and that’s why I’ve been MIA and haven’t had time to write.

Though the thought does hold true, I’ve really just been living life hey. I know that sounds a lot like I’ve been living my best one. Well I can say that this year has been a mixture of me losing my mind while simultaneously having the time of my life. So at least I can say I managed to balance it out.

A lot has really happened this year, if I were to even begin writing about it I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Ironic right? Considering that this is the very portal where I’m meant to share with you all these stories. Man, it just feels like a lot.

Many high highs and many low lows. Not even trying to be sombre Sally, but grateful to have made it here. It genuinely wasn’t easy. I tear up at the thought of it all and being here to tell the tale.

I know those who’ve been journeying with me on this blog are thinking it couldn’t have been any worse than all those previous years. Well at this point? This year feels like an accumulation of all those years combined. I know, hectic right? But we here and we moving.

With no lessons to share on this year, only gratitude for what is and hope for the beginning that is to come. Speaking of beginnings, the title of this piece probably had you thinking that this is the end of our road together, never that beloveds.

This year may have knocked me off my feet and writing journey a little bit, but I’m still here fighting and kicking. I know the title does leave a little to the imagination, but look at it this way. We’re heading for a new year, so in retrospect this is the beginning of the end. The beginning of what is, while the ending of what was.

With that being said, as I go off to finish what is left of this year. I wish you all your hearts desires and that they may be in alignment with your life. A prosperous new year, and most importantly, I wish you always…

Love and light and lots of luck.

Maz_Dizzle

I was here.

Oh what a year this has been. And as it draws to its end, I know that this may not be the soft landing that we had all hoped for. Though I believe we can all attest to being grateful to have made it this far.

I’ve mentioned before that this may not be the hardest year that I have experienced, but it has been the hardest I have seen. We were hard pressed from all sides.

With the impact of the pandemic on business and industry, and the human cost.

Our need for freedom and the realisation of how much of it we had taken for granted was intensified by the hard lockdowns. The grave disparities in our socio-economic standings were highlighted by the inequality and social injustices, that also gave rise to the stand against a number of these injustices, namely systemic racism through the #blacklivesmattermovement. We also experienced great losses, of loved ones, opportunities and celebrations that were.

This year has had us adapt to change, not only in our lives but the world as we knew it, leading us to take a deeper look into ourselves and the world.

Most of us, if not all had set out to make this year the one in which we, as our South African Miss Universe said; “take up space.” Then these sudden turn of events had us redirecting our steps. However despite that, I still believe we still took up space. Not in the way we had intented, but we still changed the narratives in our homes, communities, socials and workspaces.

We stood up against injustices, fought for equality, and advocated for what is right. We fought for our lives and to put ourselves first. It may not be the hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations that we wanted to bring to fruition, but we are here nonetheless. And that is what this piece is about.

That this year may have not been what we had set it out to be, but for what it is worth we are here to live and tell the tale. Many unfortunately were not afforded the liberty to do so. So for those of us who can, instead of dwelling on what was or could have been we should be grateful for what is.

That we still have an opportunity to run this race. To be able to still leave our footprints, like that in the picture above of my 7 year old footprint mould, in this walk of life and keep moving forward even when at times we dread doing so.

Not much has changed in terms of my shoe size since then, I guess I’m the type that was never serious about having feet, but anyway we move. As I always say, no matter how short or small, baby steps still move them forward and that is how we will choose to approach walking forward.

I know things haven’t been easy, this year really took a toll on us. We experienced highs and lows, and many lessons were learnt too.

I believe there is a lot that we all took from this year. I for one thought that the last year and decade taught me a lot. Well it did, you can’t discount a decades worth of lessons, but this year was a real eye opener. It forced us to slow down, quiet our minds, and work on ourselves.

To confront parts of ourselves and lives that we overlooked. To take a deeper look at what works and what no longer serves us. The lessons are endless and I believe we could all go on forever, because we all have our own unique experiences of this year and how it’s shaped our lives to be.

This time of the year is usually the time that we start to reflect and look back at the year we had. To see how much was accomplished and how much we still need to achieve.

I then wrote this piece to remind you that, if all you did this year was to survive that is okay and that is enough. That in itself is the grand achievement/accomplishment. This year has been tough as it is.

To have made it this far is everything and more, let us embrace that and clink our glasses to have survived one of the hardest years.

Given everything we’ve been through this year, it’s hard to look forward to what’s next to come, luckily for some of us we don’t believe in resolutions anyway. Though that shouldn’t take away the optimism for the new year, even without its terms and conditions.

And that’s where I leave it ladies and gentlemen. Ever so grateful that we’ve made it this far on our journey, and hoping to continue to voyage together.

Wishing you a new year that is gentler and kinder on you, one that is filled with all the pleasantries this world has to offer and mostly…

Love and light and lots of luck.

Maz_Dizzle