I entered this year with the declaration that my word for the year is “LESS”. You can read more here. It’s 16 days in, and I am thrilled to say that I have definitely made progress on the physical clutter front in particular. I’m at least halfway through.
Here are a few things I learnt since starting:
To be successful, it’s crucial to get rid of things fast; otherwise, they just end up becoming clutter in a different bag/packet in a different part of the house.
Once you commit to something, the Universe will do what it has to to meet you halfway. The things I decided to sell were sold very quickly online. I also gave some stuff away.
Image: Created on Canva
I have to admit it feels really good to let go of all the stuff that I no longer use. There is so much space that is taken up by “things” I will probably never use and papers I will never read again. I feel lighter, and I feel excited by the possibilities. My intention is to rearrange my space to be beautiful to my eye and to my soul. It is hard to be at peace when surrounded by a mish-mash of things that do not look beautiful. Rough edges do not soothe me.
Next up is my digital clutter. That’s going to take a while, especially my inbox. No matter how much I unsubscribe from, my inbox is always full. I just don’t understand it. Anyway, I will succeed in clearing it out this time.
Hi There! Interesting question Bloganuary. I must admit that I communicate in very limited ways online.
As Grounded African
I love quotes (in case you haven’t noticed). Ever since my mum passed away just over 5 years ago, I have been on this journey both spiritually and emotionally and quotes have helped me along the way. I try to create visually appealing backgrounds for the quotes that resonate with me and share them via this blog, IG and FB.
I communicate my thoughts and lessons via this blog and sometimes on Medium. On Medium as I do post under my name though. I share the links via FB and IG, but I find the audience on each platform is more drawn to the quotes and don’t appear to be keen to read blog posts.
Image: created on Canva
On a Personal level
On a personal level I stick to Facebook and IG. I use both to update friends and family on the milestones in my life as well as on the things that amuse me, make me sad or that I find interesting.
I do have Twitter/X accounts but I use the platform more to keep up-to-date with the goings on in the world in real time. Otherwise, I find it a scary place to interact with people.
I chat on WhatsApp mainly. I find it highly frustrating (and shady) that Snapchat deletes your chat after 24hrs, so when I forget to note something, that’s it; it’s gone, so I have deleted my Snapchat account. I also chat with my fellow players on Scrabble.
I also share short book reviews on Goodreads. You can view these by clicking on the Goodreads widget on my page. If you are on there, please add me as a friend so that I can discover new books through you, and perhaps you will do the same through me.
I am keen to expand my online presence but have yet to find the time to plan it out and learn how to make the best use of the different apps like TikTok and whatever else is good to know. I still have not figured out how to use Pinterest best.🤪 Does anyone have a blog page that could help me develop these skills? Do you have any hints and tips to share? Please leave a link or a suggestion in the comments.
That’s it for today. Thanks for popping by. 💐. Be Blessed!
Hi There. Last year I wrote about some of my favourite road trip experiences which included a drip between Connect and Weehawken as well from Durban to Johannesburg and back. You can read about and see pics of the smallest church in Southern Africa here.
Another trip that comes to mind is an overnight bus trip from Durban to Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) that my son and I took when he was about three or four years old. The new name is an IsiXhosa word, and the pronunciation of it might take some practice. You can learn how to pronounce it here. Anyway, I digress. I was a bit apprehensive about travelling overnight on a bus with him. Lucky for me, he was an excellent traveller as a kid, so on that front, all went well. It had snowed the previous day on the Drakensberg mountains, so I was hoping that my son would get his first glimpse of it and even get to touch it when we got to Kokstad, which is near the southern Drakensberg. It was not to be. Most of it had melted, and all we saw was the last dregs on the side of the road as we neared Kokstad. By the way, Oprah’s school for girls is just outside of Kokstad.
Images of Grahamstown – source: Canva
The trip was going well until the bus broke down about 20 minutes outside of Grahamstown (Now Makhanda. Thankfully, there are no tricks to pronouncing that name 😅). It was about 5 am, and it was freezing cold. The temperature was closer to zero degrees Celsius than it was to ten. Thankfully, after about thirty minutes, they got the bus going again, and we limped off to Grahamstown, where it died. I felt so sorry for those who needed to get to Cape Town. They now had to wait for a new bus to arrive to take them the rest of the way. I have no idea what time they eventually reached their destination. Luckily for my son and I, the friend we were visiting drove through to fetch us. It’s just under an hour and a half’s drive, so we were very grateful. It was freezing in Grahamstown. We were so fascinated by the town. The architecture is an interesting mix of Cape Dutch and modern buildings. It’s a modern town, but we also saw a donkey cart making its way down the road. It’s part dorp (an Afrikaans word for a small town or village) and part modern town. It was very interesting.
Image of Gqeberha: Canva
Anyway, we did eventually get to Gqeberha. It took us a while longer than planned, but we reached our destination safely. Thank goodness I had booked us flights home so we didn’t have to go through that experience again. My son wasn’t feeling well either, so it worked out perfectly. Needless to say, we will not be doing a bus trip again in a hurry.
An update on my plan to go on a cruise as I mentioned in part 1. It is booked and happening this year! We are super excited! I will definitely tell you all about it when we get back!
Well, that’s it from me. Thanks for popping by. Be blessed!
Grounded African 