‘50’s rules book for girls’

I found this picture, I assume it comes from a ‘50’s rules book for girls’, I’ve added my notes in pink!

 
What are your notes? 

if you can dream it, then believe in it, then it can become your reality.

A few years ago, two of my friends where told that having a baby would not be in their future, the likelihood was extremely unlikely, if possible at all… they persisted, they believed, wished, prayed and hoped (along with all their friends). On Tuesday both of my friends gave birth, yes on the same day! One to a beautiful little girl and the other to twins, a boy and a girl.

I walked into the first room, it was calm, quiet and warm, my friend lay there, her miracle clutched close to her chest, both of them glowing with love and comfort… the tears where unstoppable and burst forth like a fractured fire hydrant. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and I will never forget it. She said to me in a hushed tone through her wide Cheshire cat smile “I am so exhausted, I haven’t slept a wink, I have never been so in love, I cant stop staring at her”. My heart melted and I was so overwhelmed by my happiness for my friend.

I then went and saw my other friend three doors down, and she was totally different, laughing out loud with excitement at seeing me, filled with energy and light completely supported by her husband and step daughter, such opposite energies but both so filled with happiness. We always joke that he’s a control freak, but boy does that come in handy when you have twins! I tucked her baby boy into his bed and passed her, her baby girl. We giggled at how odd her stomach looked as it contracted while she breastfed, like a little alien was still buried up inside there and too afraid to come out. She too, glowed happily, I kissed and squeezed her tight and left the hospital feeling filled with the joy of the affirmation of belief. Because, if you can dream it,  then believe in it, then it can become your reality.

What an incredible gift to be a mother, to feel that love… it is the most selfless and selfish thing a human being can do, knowing you will be loved unconditionally and feeling a love so immense it cannot be matched by any other … “Giving birth is like having your soul walking outside of you for the rest of your life” I think a small price to pay for unconditional love… I look forward to one day being so blessed. Congratulations to all of you who have persisted and never gave up, aware that all your dreams can come true.

 "Your children are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself." Feel blessed and believe

pictures from 

http://rialeephotography.com/blog/2010/06/22/six-days-old-newborn-twins/

http://pinterest.com/hledingham/read-these-words/

Be Happy!

I have always believed that aging gracefully has everything to do with mirroring your inner self:

If you are bitter and filled with regret and hatred, holding on to life’s knocks and hurts, I believe you will shrivel and wane as you age; feeling the loss of a life not lived.

But if your heart is filled with love, you take each blow and mistake in life as a blessing in disguise and a lesson glad to be learnt. If you see the positive between the thorns and help others, live life passionately, with the enthusiasm of a child and wisdom of your age. Laugh at yourself. If you remember to have compassion, be genuine with a generous spirit, have courage to do and say what you feel is right and always, always follow your dreams. You will be so filled with light and love that aging will be a journey so beautiful that Shakespeare’s quills will blush at not having written your story.

Even if you don’t feel like smiling, smile, smile as hard, and as long as you can, the world will not be able to resist smiling back at you :-) 

  I always knew Audrey and I where cut from the same cloth ;-)

Happy open minded days lovely friends, may your hearts and minds be enriched by life’s offerings…

I was recently cast in a commercial where I acted as a Muslim woman. I had to dress in a traditional hijab (which is the scarf that covers your hair) and a traditional Muslim dress, which was actually quite lovely. The only thing I did not wear is an abaya (which is that black piece of fabric with just the slits for your eyes to see through).

 

For the casting I did one take with the abaya on and one without. My eye lashes (much like the eye lashes in the example picture I have loaded) where too long and kept whacking against the fabric with every blink- not very comfortable at all. The hijab is pulled tightly around your throat ensuring no skin or hair is seen besides the face, which is perfectly framed in fabric- I found this very uncomfortable, firstly because I am claustrophobic– not just a little bit, I hate taking lifts (but will if I have to) I cant seem to deep water dive, I hate small spaces, tunnels, I hate wearing anything tight round my neck. Despite my frustrating little claustrophobia, I challenge myself as much as possible, I will not be controlled by it, I shall squish it like a little bug! (No I don’t actually squish bugs, well except for flies and mosquito’s … and sack spiders, but only those I promise)  So I am forcing myself to manage this frustrating discomfort by adorning myself with scarves as I love them and they are pretty and I shall feel comfortable wearing them! Even if I actually am not comfortable, 90% of the time, I will be! So there I was, finding myself with another perfect opportunity to squish my phobia, so I smiled and did not complain, I took the challenge head on!

I pulled on the dress; heart pumping, beads of sweat emerging, I was strapped into the hijab; pulse racing, pupils dilating and then… It was very interesting; there is a saying (and if there isn’t there should be) “The suit make-th the man”. As an actress I have found this to be true. “The Quran specifies that a woman should be modest and cover everything but her face and hands” Well, once dressed and cloaked and draped in the way that I was, it made me feel modest, it made me feel gentle, calm and elegant.

 

In life we choose our paths but do we realize how immensely our clothing affects the way in which we deal with the world, and in turn the way in which the world deals with us?

I walked around Melrose Arch and people stared at me as if I were an alien. Which totally defeats what the Muslim woman are trying to achieve, by being wrapped up they hope not to stick out, they hope not to call attention to themselves but rather to blend into the background and yes, some of them really want to do that, they are not forced. “Whatever you choose to wear, remember that the purpose of Muslim clothing for women is to deflect attention. According to the Quran, women should be modest, and part of modesty is not drawing attention to oneself.”  But in western society they do stick out like saw thumbs, we see them and we stare.

It reminded me of the time I lived in India and the time I spend in Dubai, I was stared at there too (even though I dressed modestly for a foreigner and always respected holy places), the local’s starred at me, constantly, unapologetically, without flinching or blinking or turning to blush.

That was the only difference, in South Africa we are taught it is rude to stare, but as humans we do it anyway, but when we are caught a blush and a swift removal of the eyes direction generally follows.

We all look at what is ‘different’, ‘uncommon’, ‘unfamiliar’ either with inquisitiveness, fear, curiosity, judgment, appreciation, or a number of emotions and thoughts, the point is we look, we look and we make judgments or stories up in our minds without approaching that ‘unknown/unfamiliar’ thing and actually finding out the truth. And I think, modestly, I think that the truth lies somewhere in between all the stories and all the truths. A cliché is only something, which has been known to be true so many times that it has now become a cliché, therefore cliché’s exist all around us and almost everything we think to be true, is true, somewhere in the world, or was true at some time. But we must also realize that it’s opposite will also exist and be true, always with no exception. Every human being has the ability to do both good and evil, in every walk of life you will find good and bad, in every single group, religion, organization, every single one is neither completely void of evil, and in the same breath none can be completely void of good. It is a fine balancing act, which is tipped from side to side as the universe/God/Allah (call ‘it’ what you will) attempts to maintain balance, which is the natural order of things. Everything is based on perception and when there is more than one person, than there is more than one perception to take into account, somewhere in the middle is the truth. Like the saying goes “There are always two sides to a coin, but the coin is the whole story”- ok I added that last part, but I believe it to be true.

I challenge you all to challenge yourselves to seek out the other side of the coin and hopefully when you find it, the two halves will give you a glimpse of its centre, and you will be filled with compassion and understanding... because in the centre we are all just humans, made of varying degree's of good and bad, all with needs, wants, desires, dreams and things that piss us off about ourselves, we all get frustrated and happy and sad and mad and we are all just simply ... trying to be happy. As the cliché goes: "Happiness is a journey not a destination" Enjoy the ride!

Happy open minded days lovely friends, may your hearts and minds be enriched by life’s offerings…

An interesting site where I got some quotes:

http://www.muslim-matrimonial-guide.com/Muslim-clothing.html

A little bit about me... I am lucky enough to be living my dream!

Most of the time I am a film Producer, sometimes an Actress, Creative Director, Photographer, Specialist in devouring delicious food and Keen entertainer to friends and family, but above all, I am always a Lover of Life!

Since I was able to communicate everyone has known that all I wanted to do with my life was make a difference and to make fantasies a reality, dreams come true, experience every profession known to man, (Producing films and Acting fulfill this side of me) but that’s not all, I also want to surround myself with beautiful things and incredible people, both old and young/new (some favorites: clothing, shoes, photograph’s and books). And to put the rather large cherry on this fantastic cake that is my life, I love to eat devilishly delicious food and drink dreadfully expensive wine while surrounded by my incredible family, my beautiful friends and the fantastically fabulous new people I meet. This is my life, I will only be blogging once in a while, the highlights or on a topic that grabbed my attention, I wont have time to blog more often, but I hope you pop onto my page and most of all enjoy a sneak peak into my life and thoughts!