Sunday, October 19, 2008

Thriving on Vices...

Everyone wants to make the most of life. And in some or other way, we all tend to live life excessively. We thrive on vices. We harbour secret addictions. Chocoholism. Shoe fetishes. People addictions. Choose one and stick by it.

And in everything lies an element of contradiction. Ice, cold and hot. Water, both the source of life and destruction. Fire, warming hearths and burning forests. A few weeks ago, I heard that someone's home burnt down. (But, she says, her ghd survived thanks to its heat protection case:P) And two weeks ago, my parents were travelling on the N1 into Johannesburg and they experienced a raging roadside veld-fire that bellowed smoke across the highway, making driver vision a smoky nightmare. Foglights, are made for, well, 'fog'. Later, my mom said the view was so beautiful but in the anxiety of the moment, she forgot to take photo's.

So there you have it, the beauty and elation in something awesomely alive yet incredibly scary! I love the ocean, and the rain. We have been celebrating a friends wedding all week, despite and even because of the intense heat. (I am out in Polokwane about 200 km's south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Just got here on Tuesday with my parents. My brother and his wife, sister and her husband (and baby) arrived on Friday. I love LOVE love having a full house. We have a family home out here, and while we partied together on Friday night, the rain of blessings drenched our skins.

We arrived home to find a room or two in flood. Persian rugs swam a centimetre above maple wood floors. Porcelain tiles were easily transformed into gleaming ski-sites. And a smattering of sand from an apparent sandstorm was now reduced to a bit of mud here and there. So we rolled up raw silk shalwar pants and discarded studded sandals for rubber soled flip-flops and got to work with some mops and music at midnight in true Cinderella style.

I guess the dismay would have hurt had it not been for the energy of love around. And a giggling sixteen month old who wanted to wiggle her way out of her gran's arms so she could splash about with the rest of us.

Love and fear can go hand in hand.

And like water and fire, love too, is a thing of gregarious destruction and/or immense fascination, filled with the possibilities of replenishing thirsty souls, creating spirited life and manifesting itself in oh so many beautiful forms.

In Love, Water, Fire...
S

PS: GG, I think a sari would've soaked up the water with no fuss :P
But, no water wonderland last night, (luckily). Sigh.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I already complimented you :-P

I said you looked divine, babe!

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

I believe the word is 'diva' ;)

LOL

Anonymous said...

kimmy, you forgot mirc, mxit, facebook, gchat, wext, mig33......

JT :)

Zahera said...

I was thinking about a similar thing on the way home last night when husby and I got caught in the storm! :-O I LUURRVVE rain but thunder and lightening is something else. It makes me think weird morbid thoughts.

For some reason this post reminds me of something my nani always says- "You can never trust 2 things; fire and water." Maybe her thoughts are as philosophical as yours Kimyi :-P

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

@ JT... thanks for adding them in, but i dnt see the addiction to gmail and mxit. its technology making connectivity easy and efficient. i dnt use any of the others... :P

@ zahera... hmm.. methinks your gran might be the peddlar of wisdom.. though, im tempted to take the analogy head and say, that just like fire and water, even love taken to extreme should not be trusted? :P

Nooj said...

when addictions go bad. and yes they do. i would boycott water for forever if it did that to me. figuratively speaking. maybe i'm not ready to accept the dark side of my loves. Full House is the awesomest feeling :)

Anonymous said...

well, the contradictions of life, are what make it interesting...i reckon what doesn't kill you...won't only make you stronger, it will motivate you to do better despite the odds....i hope the silk shalwars suvived the adventure, sounds like it was sorta fun....gotta see pics of da diva in all her finery!

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

nooj, think dark like dark chocolate :P

@ CC... i always think of u when im at a naach-gaana session.. will get some pics to u asap ;)

Anonymous said...

how long you gonna ignore me huh huh huh :-P

Az said...

I think people secretly love everything that scares the be-jeebers out of us :D

Look at a thunder-storm...scary as Hell...but beautiful none-the-less. Its exilarating, majestic even... makes you believe that theres so much more to this universe than we could ever fathom. Breathtaking....

Az said...

By the way...I LOVE water...but its dual nature demands respect.

I'll send you a post on email that explains in detail...

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

gg, honey, im not ignoring you! lol

@ azra...

i agree with you. been the benchmark for my relationshps methinks :P
will wait eagerly 4 your mail... but i found ur comment about duality interesting cos i had this long chat with a friend yesterday and this blog post among other things, became the basis of a long discussion about our dual natures... maybe material for an entirely separate post :)

thanks for stopping by my blog.

Saaleha said...

Shafs, sounds like you had a wet and wonderful time. Yousound upbeat, happy, fulfilled. I'm happy for you. Nature and all her elements demand respect. She is not one to be ignored :)

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

Allah's mercy is an obvious reality. Quests are journeys not destinations.
And lesson's are to be uncovered, not delivered on gilt platters :P

Awesome to know that you'r writing again Saaleha!

bb_aisha said...

It's wonderful how you turned cleaning up into an upbeat story:-)

I love thunderstorms, and enjoy standing at the window waiting for flashes of lightning. It freaks my family out.

But I also feel guilty that I'm cocooned while others aren't sheltered..

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

bb.. i think its your electric personality.. like attraction to lightning :P

but yea, the residents of footpaths have no shield, and the beauty of natures gallery is yet another luxury lost. all that matters is survival.