Do any of you remember Glenda Kemp? She was that Boeremeisie, turned Vixen, who dared to remove not only her bikini top, but also the bikini bottom – ever so inappropriately, and then to add shock to horror, she danced with ‘n Luislang (Python), draped around her neck. Shame, poor Glenda. As a young girl she was placed in an orphanage along with her siblings, by what looks like her own mother and then later adopted by a salt-of-the-earth Oom and Tannie who tried their best to give her a good start in life. Well, started she did. She started dancing, and it became her passion. To say that she was controversial is an understatement. On the one hand, there was a barricade of Aunties, ready to shout her wicked ways from behind their bazaar tables. And on the other side (perhaps of the bed/table/pew?), was her fan club. Goes to show. We all have a skeleton (or python) in the closet.
But to get back to finding one’s passion. I was chatting to somebody the other day, and our conversation turned to when you reach that point where you no longer chase ambition but rather find your passion. It is not an easy journey, but my-oh-my, so rewarding when you get there. Amazing how some things that were once so important no longer matter. You no longer sweat the small stuff, or if you do, you do not notice the sweat. You put the sweat down to being less fit, or a last spasm of a hot flush. Which brings me to another matter…
Our house has a number of concrete roof sections. You can imagine that they were designed to resemble something from Colin’s imagination. Casting these roofs required some skill. The owner of the company that did this work for us has this on his WhatsApp status: Find your passion, and you will never work a day. So, here is the complicated bit. Either he had found his passion or was still chasing it. But what is undisputed was the bit of not working another day. Mr. Concrete Roofs managed to finish the roofs about – lets be generous, halfway, when the second bit of his profile status kicked in. We tried to get him back on site for 6 months, and in the end, we were not sure: Did he fire us, or did we fire him. The unavoidable split, however, left both parties with more feelings of animosity that Glenda would feel towards her python shedding his skin before she could shed her kit.
What to do? We wondered. Forward in faith, Colin said. So, we did. And we found a person with no wisdom displayed on his WhatsApp status. Despite this, he finished the work. So, Glenda. Never mind your python, we had a rather long, rigid green snake moving its way up the mountain, and at the other end poured out a thick slush of concrete. Somewhere in this, there is a good news story. On the day of the concrete being poured, Colin was on site with the engineer who’s job it is to ensure the structure is as strong as Colin’s imagination. Engineer spotted what could be a potential disaster. Faced with this disaster, and a rigid green snake that cannot be stopped, Engineer said: Hold my coffee, and got up onto the scaffolding himself and sorted out the problem. I guess he has found his passion, and he too did not need WhatsApp wisdom to make it known. We are so grateful to him. He saved us from what could have been a very costly mistake, and probably another few months’ delay.
The good news is: we are now working towards an end date, and April it is. This is now where I Flip-Flop between excitement and anxiety. Excitement has me collecting boxes to start packing. Anxiety had me up most of last night fretting about running out of time. I spent much of today looking rather dim and yawning from lack of sleep. I am in good company though. The new parents, Son and Wife, appear exhausted and sleepy. Little Bambino, on the other hand, has already learnt just how to wrap his parents around his very tiny little finger.
Find your passion. Do it for the right reasons. (And only once you have finished pouring your client’s roofs) And you will not work another day.