Vanuit Die Restory - Gesprekke Tussen Reisgenote (224)

Eksistensiële Gesondheid

Midde-in Realiteit; Jou eie Outeur; Ongeleende Betekenis

Die Gesprek

Elemente Uit Die Gesprek

Kreatiewe Stuk

Hierdie week se kreatiewe stuk, 'n skildery, gaan eintlik meer oor die skilder as oor die skildery self. By dié stil, inkennige man kan mens 3 kenmerke van eksistensiële gesondheid sien.

L.S. Lowry, die Britse skilder wat "Going to the Mill" in 1925 geskilder het, het sy realiteit, die industriële stad Manchester, vierkantig in die oë gekyk. Terwyl ander die industriële stede van die tyd as lelik en kru beskou het, het Lowry die skoonheid, die eensaamheid en die menslikheid daarin gesien. Hy het nie 'n kunsmatige, verhewe wêreld geskilder nie; hy het die raakpunt met die werklikheid geskilder.

Om sinvol te rus, vra dat ons, soos Lowry, ophou om te wag vir 'n "ideale" of "perfekte" wêreld voor ons tot stilstand kom. Dit vra dat ons die realiteit van ons daaglikse lewe met sy meule, sy rook en sy onvolmaaktheid in die oë te kyk, en om té midde daarvan te kies om stil te staan en by jouself uit te kom.

Lowry se ma het sy kuns hardnekkig afgekeur en afgekraak. Sy wou gehad het hy moet 'n "respektabele" professionele man wees en het sy donker, industriële tonele as lelik en minderwaardig afgemaak. As hy haar "draaiboek" gevolg het, sou hy sy talent onderdruk het om aan haar ideaal van die "goeie seun" te voldoen. Dit sou 'n geval wees van "Living from Borrowed Meaning". Teen haar besware in het hy snags, wanneer die huis stil was, sy eie betekenis geskep.

Wanneer ons lewe gerig word deur 'n sterke interne "Kritikus", of vir vroue wat grootgemaak is met die sosiale druk om altyd te dien en te sorg, is daardie interne stem baie soos Lowry se ma. Dit sê: "Jy mag nie net sit en niks doen nie. Dit is nie reg nie. Jy moet nuttig wees."

Lowry moes die moed kry om die "skrywer van sy eie lewe" te word (Self-Authorship). Hy moes kies om sy eie realiteit en sy eie roeping te omhels, selfs al het dit nie die goedkeuring van die belangrikste figuur in sy lewe gekry nie.

Musiek

Hoe op aarde sluit Antonio Vivaldi se “Cum dederit” uit Nisi Dominus, RV 608 (vierde beweging) by hierdie week se tema aan?

Die teks van Cum dederit kom direk uit Psalm 127:2 (in die Latynse Vulgaat) en sluit byna naatloos by die tema van rus, ons realiteite en die stryd teen die interne kritikus aan.

Die volledige vers uit Psalm 127:2 lui in Latyn: "Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: surgere postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris. Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum..."

Wat vertaal, só klink: "Dit is tevergeefs dat julle vroeg opstaan, laat gaan slaap, en die brood van pynlike arbeid eet - want Hy gee dit aan sy geliefdes in die slaap (of terwyl hulle rus)."

Hierdie teks is 'n direkte, eeue-oue waarskuwing teen die menslike neiging om van die vroegoggend tot die laatnag te swoeg en hulself te dryf ("panem doloris" – die brood van pyn/angs). Dis die uitnodiging van Cum dederit, 'n wiegelied vir die moeë gees, wat herinner dat die lewe se diepste geskenke soos genade, herstel en betekenis, nie gegee word aan diegene wat hulself uitput nie, maar aan hulle wat waag om te rus.

Met ons liefde en die begeerte - vir jul elkeen meer van die waarheid en ritme van Cum dederit.

George & Matilda

Whistle while you work

Drawing by Ron Leishman When last did you whistle while working? When last did you hear someone else whistle while working? Somehow it bothers me that whistling has become an almost absent element in our work. The sound of a person whistling a tune while busy somewhere in the house or out in the workshop conveys something of an underlying happiness, satisfaction and contentment. An enjoyment of the work itself. The tune need not be flawless. Applying more air than sound won’t lead to disqualification, as long as the intention is there. Whistling can even be replaced by singing in all that I’ve said up to now. The same principles apply. The absence of any of these two activities bothers me because it says something about us doing the work and the type of work that we do. Can it be that our type of labour in this 21 st century is not conducive to either whistling or singing? What type of work is that then – draining, stressful, pressured? Or are our conclusions ...

A likely Hero: Jara Cimrman

As Matilda has already indicated, one of the most difficult things to do after you’ve visited a country is to return and convey something of what you’ve experienced. How do you show a city’s many faces, introduce its inhabitants? How do you tell of the effects a history has on people and of a stance towards life that can actually not be translated into words? In the case of Prague, it is very helpful to have someone like Jara Cimrman. ~ ~ v ~ ~ Petrin Hill, on the left bank of the river Vltava running through Prague, is in many ways a site worth visiting. Climbing the 299 steps of the Petrin Tower, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, gives you one of the most beautiful views of the city. But by going down into its basement, you enter into the psyche of the Czech people. Here, quite unobtrusively, is the museum for the “ Genius, who has not become famous ”. Matilda and I almost stumbled onto it by chance and as we went through the exhibition, our amazement over this brilliant ...

You never can tell

This morning I was out in the vegetable garden looking for signs of sprouting cabbage and spinach that we had sown a week ago. Among the weeds, I did find the tiny seedlings pushing through bravely, but I had a surprise coming. The young Zulu gardener drew my attention to an abundance of ready food growing in the ruins of the tiny stone cottage only meters away: Umbido, a type of wild spinach, and a staple food in the rural areas. I grew up with much the same in the northern parts of the country, but called Marogo in the Sotho language. Enter my new helper and friend, Winnie Nkosi. She lives on the edge of the Zaaihoekdam in a traditional mud house with no electricity. Twice a week she walks the four odd kilometres to help me with all things domestic. She has also taken it upon herself to teach me the Zulu language and culture with optimistic determination. The planned lunch menu was immediately ditched in favour of a lesson in local cooking and Winnie showed me the differenc...

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