Emptying the mind, replenishing the soul.

A long awaited vacation after long, recurring bouts of dis-ease. I am not finished sharing the lessons that Lyme provided and continues to provide. At the moment, I’m enjoying my 3rd week of feeling remarkably well. There was a pop in my awareness that seemed to facilitate this wellness….but that’s a story for another day.

I returned to South Africa to visit friends and family, and to get out into my favorite space of all…the bushveld. There have been good rains and some recent flooding. The vegetation is lush and green, the air is very warm and humid.

Cindy and I are in a thatch roofed cottage in the bush-veld, no phone, Internet or tv….leaving me very thankful for my iPhone. Our days do not revolve around the time on a clock, but rather we follow our instincts….getting out for walks in the morning, sleeping during the afternoons, sitting at the river at sunset…game spotting.

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We have not been disappointed; giraffe, zebra, warthogs, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, buffalo, hippos, birds and an interesting variety of bugs.

And there is the ebb and flow of conversation between two girls who have enjoyed a friendship that spans 44 years. Perhaps we are now women? It just doesn’t feel that way.

We empty out our thoughts and experiences, we sleep when we are tired, eat when we are hungry (and sometimes when we aren’t) and make room for what there is to enjoy in the present; the sights and sounds of the bush-veld that replenish us at a soul level.

I smell like bug spray, my skin is sticky most of the day, the water that runs into the bath tub is brown, I have engaged in a midnight battle with a very large and ugly flying bug ….and the entire experience is sweet and nourishing.

It’s true what is said: “The bush-veld empties the mind and replenishes the soul.”