“Regardless of one's destination, all roads lead home.” HeartHomeInspirationHappinessHopeNovelSouth AfricaCape TownHlbalcombRainbow Nation Author:hlbalcomb
“If a rainbow could be embodied through the personification of architecture, the Bo-Kaap would be exactly that – a rainbow captured through the lively paint colors of the homes in all shades of bright hues that most of us would never have the courage to paint our own home’s exterior with. Yet collectively these colors create a space of warmth, and the understanding that you’re home – home is where the Bo-Kaap meets the end of any rainbow. A place of happiness...” HappinessNovelHeritageSouth AfricaHlbalcombAll Roads Lead To Cape TownThe Rainbow NationBo Kaap Author:hlbalcomb
“We followed him to a covered veranda. In America, we would call that a lemonade porch, however, in South Africa, they call it a stoep. A meeting place located outside the front of the home where friends and family can gather, and one can watch the rising or the setting of the sun in the cozy spot simply called a stoep. The stoep projected a natural ambience of peace and harmony, as a light breeze filled the space with its woodsy fragrance of pine and other natural fragrances inspired by the area’s shrubbery. It almost felt like it was hypnotizing one into a deeper state of tranquility, a state of existence that celebrated the quiet pockets of solitude where a richer from of living is housed. It made one slouch a little more meaningfully and relax the muscles of your body a little more conscientiously, as you let go of one’s innate need to think – to think to the point of hyper focusing on the meaningless details of life, for example, the incessant need to make every moment in life count… Yet, the stoep’s lesson of deeper living is simply the gift of becoming reacquainted with the joy of just being – open yet connected to now, without a higher purpose beyond that. Sometimes, the greatest gift that we can give ourselves is just to sit in the rawness of the moment without any outcome or intention in mind – except, to breathe in the life of the area around us. That is where my afternoon’s lesson ended, knowing that a stoep is a space where quality of human connection is made with or without the presence of any audience because it’s that space that celebrates the stillness of nothing and yet everything simultaneously, or in the words of Rumi: “In order to understand the dance, one must be still. And in order to truly understand the stillness, one must dance.” In South Africa that concept is lovingly called…Die Stoep, a space of possibility.” HappinessCultureHlbalcombAfrikaansUbuntu QuotesAll Roads Lead To Cape TownStoep Author:hlbalcomb
“As we drove out of one of The Kruger National Park’s main gates, before I could think further, I added, “That was a lekker holiday!” If South Africa had taught me one thing, it is that South Africans who are natural collectors of little moments understand that the feelings of contentment should have a scale to measure where exactly a person is on the range of gratitude. And lekker is exactly that, one word to measure the depth of one’s connection to the feelings of life within one. In that moment, my scale of contentment was sky high, and by the way I had just pronounced that word, I had just made it clear to the world that I was starting to understand the value of one word to convey a complete thought of happiness through its shifting context of interpretation – the gift of acknowledgement of an instant spark of awareness within. Lekker, simply stated -- a visceral connection to our understanding of the wealth of happiness residing in our heart by means of a single moment unfolding right now – in front of us. Lekker…enough said.” HappinessCultureHlbalcombAfrikaansUbuntu QuotesAll Roads Lead To Cape TownLekker Author:hlbalcomb