Death

Madiba is in a critical condition in hospital.  It’s all over the news. Its all people talk about. And if you work with anything related to media – you’ll know people have been preparing for his death.

It’s a horrible thought to prepare for someone to die.  It’s death: it breaks, it screams, it hurts.  It’s horrible. 

You hope when you’re young that it will happen when you are old and wise.  Older - yes. Wise – not so sure.  Three of our cats passed away in the past year. 

The first, a ginger that my mom found in a little pet shop when I was in high school – he screamed really loud and she brought him for next to nothing.  The cat needed loads of love, hugs, assurance and loads of food. But he flourished into a fluffy animal, always by your side.

The second, Skapie, as I called her – she reminded me of a sheep dog, thus the nickname.  Given to us by a colleague of my mother, she was a lady.  A little cat, with a big heart and very much human.  She greeted me when I called her name and came running.  She washed herself several times a day and would find the closest human hand or cat body to wash as well. She slept on my bed and would sit upright every night when I woke up in a panic because of a nightmare. 

Both of them passed away within a couple of weeks from another. I tend to think Skapie died of a broken heart, she couldn’t be alone.

Klein kat, a tiny tiny kitten my mom found in a pet shop was run over by a car about two months after we got him.  This little one, found its human in my mom and brought her all the leaves that autumn had to offer into the house… Needless to say, quite annoying cleaning all the leaves but definitely worth seeing this little body struggle through the open window with a leave twice his size.

I’m not sure that any of us knows how to deal with all the shit that finds us, but little things make it better. Our friends, looking a full moon, red wine, chocolate… TV series, if you’re me. And our pets – they make us believe in life again.  They teach us about love.  

They teach us that the world looks a little better after a long nap.

Fences

They say fences make good neighbours. 

It was part of a poem in the 10^th grade – not that I can remember much more, but I remember this.  Fences also have gates or entrances.  Perhaps it’s not about the fence but about the other side of it.

Do we ever really know what’s on the other side? The others side of a job interview? Of a plane ticket? Of a long overdue fight? Or that email that took you two days to write because you had to sleep on it? Of a date?

I’m not sure we do, and I’m not sure that if we did we’d know how to handle it. 

My first job interview went well.  I walked out feeling good about it.  I got a call exactly 3 hours later saying that I got the job, but little did I know that my superior was going to tell me I’ve got a demon because I stutter.  Not exactly what I had in mind for a good entry into the workforce.

A friend of mine had a hectic year last year, but in March last year she said that she wanted to go to Mexico.  Somewhere in December she climbed on plane, flew 20 hours to the other side of the earth, to Mexico.  She spend Christmas eve walking down streets as the locals were singing Christmas songs… She came back amazed by the little bit of earth she got to explored. 

Do we know what we’ll find on the other side when we step off the plane into a new country? Google, as much as I like it, cannot tell you everything. It can show you some insights into the life, the costs, the traditions, the transport system and the housing but it cannot prepare you for its hidden secrets.

It cannot tell you about the homeless guy, who during the summer months, sleep on a ledge on plastic, because then at least his blanket won’t get wet.  It cannot tell you about the guitar player in town, who owns nothing, who walked away from his family when he lost his job.  He eats one meal a day and plays guitar for small change.  It cannot tell you about the Mama who walks her 6 year old son to school every morning, quietly praying that he creates a better life for himself, while she cleans houses.  It cannot tell you the way the city smells after a thunder storm.

Perhaps it’s not about knowing what to expect.  Perhaps fences are stuff that conforms us, that keeps us safe, that we grow out of.  Stuff that are not meant to last forever.

The demon lady didn’t last.  The Mexican holiday came to an end.  But the sun rose again the next day.

Passion

I visited one of the Community TV Channels I work with this morning.  As I drove into the township, I stopped at a traffic light.  The cows next to the road were staring into the nothingness while chewing away the grass.

It’s in an old school.  It’s a couple of class rooms dedicated to telling the stories of the people of that township. 

I like visiting the Channel. It’s a colourful place – its just around the corner from famous Nobel prize winners home and the setting for many documentaries.  But to me it’s almost a miracle - it’s a place where the people have a different outlook on life. 

They hustle.  They play.  They work.  They laugh.  They dress up - never mind what the weather does, nothing will stand in the way of a fabulous outfit. 

It holds very little resemblance to the corporate world I know – there is less politics.  Less emphasis on how to behave and more on getting the job done to the best of your ability.  There is an almost touchable passion from the make up girl, learning to speak a new language because she is actually a trained stage actress.  The classrooms are all painted bright colours and little groups of people have their morning coffee and magwinya’s in the sun. 

I realised as I drove out, to me it shouldn’t be about the politics.  The BEE status or the profitability of a company.  That’s someone else’s passion.

It’s about doing what makes you happy – telling peoples stories, creating something from a heap of chaos, advocating for knowledge. Whatever it is that makes your heart happy - do it. 

There are people to whom the politics are important – not me though.  To me it is just about enabling a storyteller to create beautiful, truthful Community TV.