Some of the time there’s a shade of light that can’t be defined or replicated, certainly not in the Instagram picture I’m about to upload unfiltered. Often it’s the luminescence of the water that makes me stop and look, as the waves etch their white foam between the blue – or is it green… or turquoise? – blanket that covers the sand. It’s always the salty smell of the sea, the fine spray that takes me by surprise every time I round the bend on a blustery day. If I’ve braved foggier conditions, I may even be jolted out of my skin by the blast of the fog horn as I make my way around the arc where the lighthouse stands, unwavering, day in and day out, a guiding beacon of light and assurance to to whatever may be heading to shore from way out there in the vast Atlantic.
It’s when I’m walking in the early morning, the sun having just kissed the seaboard that wraps around the rocky outcrop called Lion’s Head beneath which I live, that I feel inspired, that I feel strong and hopeful, even when everything around me shouts that it should be otherwise.
Life on the southern tip of Africa
Living on the southern tip of Africa is complicated. We have a history that the whole world knows and somewhat reveres. We got rid of apartheid, the lawful segregation of and discrimination against people according to their race. We made a peaceful transition. We didn’t descend into civil war like so many other African countries have done. We are not your average African country at all. We are South Africa, and we set the example to the world that this peaceful co-existence thing can be done. Or so it should be. But of course those of us who live here know what is true. While we live surrounded by beauty, and most of the people who call this place home are good, solid, peace-loving people, our government is riddled with corruption and there is some very real danger out there. Just ask our national soccer captain Senzo Meyiwa . Right. You can’t. He was shot and killed near Johannesburg, apparently over a cell phone.
However we are not designed to live in despair, and it’s not fair to say we are going about our daily lives as if we were in the “Wild West” although you would be forgiven for sometimes believing it should you stay tuned to the news.
Magic of Cape Town
Life in Cape Town defies the doomsayers and casts its spell. You feel a sense of deep gratitude for having as a stage this naturally beautiful landscape.
It’s when I walk, mostly at a brisk pace, along the Sea Point promenade, characterised by its lighthouse and green spaces, that I’m inclined to slow down now and again just to take it all in, to breathe in lungfuls of the ocean air, and to feel thankful for being part of this great big scheme of things.
I am reminded that we are small, but significant sparks in the greater light of this universe. We each have a purpose – it is our journey to find it. And so we keep walking, searching, day in and day out, wherever the road leads.
As I make my way along the paved seafront I feel the heels and soles of my feet connect firmly to the ground as my soul reaches up to the unknown, where all is good and as it should be, where we all connect and are whole. Some of the time it’s a glimpse of refracted light through the water sprinklers showering the green lawns, or it may be the shock of an explosion of sea spray on my face that turns on my gratitude sensor, and reminds me to keep my eye on that red and white lighthouse, that beacon of hope that is there, always there, no matter the weather or mood, to show me the way.
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