Why everyone should go to a Rodeo, at least once in their life...

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

“It’s boots and chaps, cowboy hats, spurs and latigo, ropes and the reins & the joy and the pain; They call the thing Rodeo.” -Anonymous

Being in Texas is surreal. Everything about Texas screams beauty; everything is green and big and it kinda feels like home. There is a rich, cultural history and it is also the place that stole my heart! We had the opportunity and privilege to experience Rodeo at Tejas Rodeo on the 4th of July celebrations.

My family and I at Tejas Rodeo

Here’s why Rodeos are awesome:

1. There is eye candy for everyone: Women: The cowboys who are riding the bulls/horses are gorgeous! They are strong, handsome and they are entertaining to watch… doesn’t it sound amazing?

Men: The women watching the rodeos are gorgeous, as well. Dresses/ skirts, boots and cowboy hats, need I say more? I think not.

2. It is great fun for everyone to watch! It is entertaining to watch the barrel jumping, the horse riding, the bull catching and the bull-riding. Children can participate in the ‘Mutton Bustin’ where they try to catch sheep or the calves. The women can enjoy the eye candy around them, as well as in the arena and the men can enjoy the view around them and all the action in the arena! Score, right?

3. There is a dance and live music afterwards! Hello, is this not a bargain and a score? You can dance the night away with your friends/family, plus you can dance with the cowboy/cowgirl, that you have been eyeing the whole night. The live music is also great; country singers, line dancing… Need I say more?

4. It is affordable: It is hours of entertainment and great fun for the whole family. It is worth every single penny.

5. The beer is cold: It is summer and EXTREMELY hot at the rodeos in summertime, but there is a cure! BEER!!!!! So drink up and enjoy!

My sister enjoying the action in the arena

RODEO IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!

If all this is not motivation enough, just go anyway! Put it in your Bucket List! Just try it! If you don’t enjoy it, then I will apologize and send a chocolate, but I doubt that I will ever have to do that! There is entertainment for everyone and it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Love,

From the girl buying a mechanical bull to practice her bull-riding…

Texas, the Lone Star State that stole my heart.

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I haven't blogged in a while, because I had exams in June and then went on an amazing holiday to San Antonio, Texas.
After the holiday our plane landed, I have hit the ground running when university started two weeks ago. So it has been hectic! But this post is not about how hectic it is going, but rather how amazing my holiday was...

IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT I BLOG ABOUT TEXAS!!!!

My uncle has been living in San Antonio, Texas, for the past few years. My grandparents and aunt already went to visit him, ranting on about the beautiful country, so finally our turn came to visit him. We swapped  our very cold winter here in South-Africa for a very hot summer there! So here is my general feeling about San Antonio and Texas:

• Texas is green: Coming home felt like leaving Avatar to come back to Earth. We left the green, beautiful, warm and green country to come back to a very dull and cold South-Africa. While flying over Texas, we just saw green green trees and land and then a few hours later, we flew over South-Africa, the brown, dull country of ours. 

The Valero Trailhead- the green is everywhere and majestically beautiful!

• Everything is big; the food, cars (trucks), the drinks, the roads (which is mostly highways), did I mention the food?

My dad next to a truck- it is BIG!!!

The highway interchanges goes 4-5 levels up! Holy crap that is high and MASSIVE!!!

• Everything works; Postal services, packages arrive a day after it has been ordered, without getting stolen! People want to work there, they don't have the attitude of that they HAVE to work, they WANT to!
• Their beer is AMAZING! 

CHEERS!!!

• They have Rodeos!!!!! You know like the sexy cowboys and bull-riding... Like where do I sign-up for a sexy cowboy husband??? 

Looking all cowgirl-ish

• It is safe! We did not have to check over our shoulders or be afraid. Even the dodge areas of San Antonio didn't scare us. There is not crime like we know it in South-Africa. We felt safe and relaxed. Postal services can drop packages in front of your door, without it getting stolen. 
• We were in the company of two gorgeous dogs: Mila and Percy!

Mila and my sister

Percy getting some loving from my uncle

The locals are so friendly! The locals always greet you and they always ask where you are from. They made me feel welcome and at home. My 'thank-you' was always met with a reply of 'you're welcome'! They have manners like you cannot believe...

San Antonio has stolen my heart! I still want to travel the world and see all there is to see, but I think that San Antonio will be my home one day. It is the type of place where I can live out my days with my family and be extremely happy.

So, how can I get my green card?

I will be writing of my trip in more detail on my other blog: In Travel Of Adventures.
Check it out and follow my journey...

When dreams have to be put on hold

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

When you know you have given your all, there is nothing more you can do.

I have failed my accounting exam. I have failed. I cannot write the rewrite, because we will be in San Antonio Texas! In your final year, you sometimes get a second rewrite, but you have to write the first rewrite and fail to get the opportunity to the second rewrite.

Unfortunately, I cannot write the first rewrite, which means I have to do it again next year. I was planning to Au pair in the Netherlands next year and travel the world a bit. But that dream has to be put on hold.

Everything happens for a reason. Therefore, I will make the best of this major  minor set back. I will get a job close to the university or maybe at the university if I am lucky. I will complete accounting and maybe do a creative course or two in Communication related things. But while I'm working, I will try to save loads of money to travel the world in 2017.

I will make the best of this set back, like I said, everything happens for a reason. Maybe I will save enough money to have a royal time overseas. Haha wishful thinking! The Rand is so weak against the Dollar, Pound and Euro that our money means almost nothing! But every bit helps!

I shall make the best of 2016! Nothing will get me down! Challenge accepted!

Cheers to the first semester!!!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

"I look my best when I'm totally free, on holiday, walking on the beach."- Rosamund Pike

Finally, after all the blood, sweat and tears, my semester has ended. Exams are like so yesterday. Or the day before that....

I SURVIVED!

Let's drink to that!!!

Cheers to the first semester!

Now my fun-packed holiday can start. I am talking chilling, sleeping late, spending time with the friends and the for the Grand Finale: SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS!!!!!!!

Hope you have successful exams and fun-filled holidays.

Xxx

Travelling between places

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

In a few days my family and I will be jetting off to San Antonio, Texas. I can almost not contain my excitement!! Already planning my outfits and itinerary, whilst trying to study for exams...

I have a wanderlust in me, that is just killing me. Every day, I want to explore and have the urge to see and experience things!!!! San Antonio will be the first of many!

A sketch of Brian Patten by an anonymous artist

Anyway, I found a poem about a traveller in The Poet's Sphere:

Travelling between places

Leaving nothing and nothing ahead;
when you stop for the evening
the sky will be in ruins,

when you hear late birds
with tired throats singing
think how good it is that they,

knowing you were coming,
stayed up late to greet you
who travels between places

when the late afternoon
drifts into the woods,
when nothing matters specially.

-Brian Patten

My curiosity to see the world, will one day be satisfied. But for now, I can dream and plan until then!

Love,
The Wanderluster

The Winter Trees

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words"- Robert Frost

An amazing friend of mine gave me, The Poet's Sphere, a poetry book. What an amazing gift! And since it is Winter here in South-Africa and we are freezing I found a poem about Winter.

In the woods near the university.

The Winter Trees

Against the evening sky the trees are black,

Iron themselves against the iron rails;

The hurrying crowds seek cinemas or homes,

A cozy hour where warmth will mock the wind.

They do not look at trees now summer's gone, 

For fallen with their leaves are those glad days

Of sand and sea and ships, of swallows, lambs,

Of cricket teams, and walking long in woods.

Standing among the trees, a shadow bends

And picks a cigarette-end from the ground;

It lifts the collar of an overcoat,

And blows upon its hand and stamps its feet-

For this winter, chastiser of the free,

This is winter, kind only to the bound.

CLIFFORD DYMENT

I love poetry because it awakens feelings and emotion within you, just by using words. I hope you have a warm winter's day or a nice summer's day, wherever you are.

With love xx

Looking for exam motivation? Read here:

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I would like to thank my friend, Armand, who sent me this song. This song is my exam motivation, because I have found my inner ninja and will conquer these exams!

I have received good news! I can write the Accounting exam, because I did good in my test. BUT I will have to do very good in the exams to pass! Therefore my inner NINJA will come out when studying for it!

Hope you have great and successful exams!

Millennium Lady The NINJA!!!!!!!

Where has the semester gone???

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it gets to the end the faster it goes." Anonymous.
Mr. Anonymous, never have you been more right than with this quote!

Oh man, just the other day I started with my post-graduate diploma in management, just figuring out how to wrap this arty, communication brain around business subjects and all things management. Changing my way of thinking. Making new friends and trying to keep up with the old.

And in a wink of an eye: here I am, beginning to stress for exam preparations!!! Like HELLO! Where has the semester gone? How has 6 months gone by so fast? Have I been sleeping for half of the time?

Exams are starting in a week. Scary!

Like I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I am struggling with Accounting. Never in my life have I worked so hard to master a subject and then failing miserably in it. Usually hard work pays off. We wrote our last test on Thursday. The test of Thursday will determine whether or not I have enough marks to write the Accounting exam. If I didn't pass the test, then I will not be getting my diploma at the end of the year, because I will still have to complete Accounting. So, I am holding thumbs, toes and hair that I have passed the test! I want this year to be my final year, please!

In my other subjects I am doing so good! Getting distinctions all the way. My other subjects are Economics, General Management, Information management systems and Strategic management. Never in my degree of Communications have I gotten distinctions for my subjects, so it feels really good that hard work is being reflected... (except for Accounting, of course!).

I will be making this exams successful, so I can fully enjoy my holiday in San Antonio, Texas with my family and my uncle, who we will be visiting!

Please hold thumbs that I get those grades for Accounting, it will give me the fighting chance to conquer my exams!!! It will also give me reason to celebrate in San Antonio!

I hope you all have great and successful exams and that the holidays will be as glorious as mine will be!

Don't you sometimes wish for a day for every day?

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Exactly at 11:11, I made a wish. A wish that there is a day for every day.

You are probably gonna hate me for making this particular wish. Damn you person for making such a wish! Is a year not enough for you??

But I certainly need a day for every day! What do I mean by that? By that I mean that for every Monday, I need another one. For every Tuesday the same, etc....

Why? Would you ask. Well, because my workload is a lot and I am struggling to keep head above water. I am usually 'til late busy with academic work. It takes me the whole day to complete my work, which must be handed in next. The days are flying past like tennis balls being shot out of the machine.
But after my day is done, I haven't made time for the people in my life and therefore I need a day for every day, so I can get the chance to spend it with them!

Maybe I need time manage. Maybe I need to sleep less. Maybe maybe maybe.
But this is my wish, which will not be granted. So stop hating me for my wish and chill! Life is short, enjoy the days. They go by so fast.

When hard work doesn't pay off

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

You know that feeling when you have worked so hard for something and then one day, you get the great reward of all that hard work?
Well, that is not the case with one of my subjects: Accounting.

I am busy with my post-grad diploma in management and accounting is one of my subjects... We wrote our second accounting test and I failed miserably. Just like my first test. This is after I have been studying it non-stop. We went camping and I studied, we had long weekends and I studied, during the week I had put time out every day to study accounting. AND I FAILED MISERABLY.

Usually hard work pays off, but not this time. I am truly not 'snapping' how accounting works. I am a communication brain, the creative kind and suddenly I have to think Maths and do sums and read between the lines of the scenarios and problems. No thanks!

My problem is that I HAVE TO PASS IT!!!! There will be no second chances or maybe next time. It has to be now!
I am in the process of organizing some help from people and I hope it will work and not cost to much, because this student is POOR!!!!

I am also disappointed because I sold some of my headbands, armbands and necklaces at a market yesterday and it didn't go well at all. I spend so much time on making these headbands and stuff and was bargaining on getting good money there, so I would have enough money for the month. This is another case of when my hard work didn't pay off. There were not enough people and a lady just a few tables from me, was selling some of the same things. So disappointing!

A headband I made.

I worked hard on both these things and my hard work didn't pay off.

Millennium Lady will not be sad, but only strive to do better next time! I will succeed with the biggest smile on my face! I will defeat accounting!

San Antonio, Texas = 2 Months!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

You know that insane headache you get. The headache that drives you mad and almost makes you want to scream. What's its name again?
Visa! Yes, Visa.

We had to go and apply for our visas today. Oh man, the preparation, filling out the DS-160 and getting all the papers in order for our visa application was definitely a huge headache. Where are those painkillers? The stress had us in tight knots. After all our preparation they didn't even take our papers, only asked a few questions! Our Visas got approved!

But even the stress could not dampen our excitement: in less than two months, me and my family will be travelling to San Antonio, Texas. We are going to stay at my uncle's house.

I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!

It will be the middle of winter here in South Africa, so we will be skipping winter for two weeks and going to high summer. Yippeee!!! We will be basking in the sun, while the people at home freeze! We will be wearing summer dresses, okay you get the point! I'll stop rubbing it in your face!

The wanderluster will be going on an adventure! Adventure is my word for 2015 and that is what I'll be doing. I will also be celebrating my 22nd birthday in the country of Cowboys with the best family! Oh, this is going to be good!

What places are recommended whilst visiting San Antonio?

Sleep: My daily drug

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

When I'm awake, I constantly think of sleep. When I'm asleep, I dream of sleeping. Sleeping is my drug and you know what? IT'S FREE!!!!

Are you also a student, who constantly sleeps?

In my first year, I got the nickname, Sleeping Beauty, because I was always falling asleep in my Afrikaans lecturer's class. But in my defense, she was a bit  extremely boring. Always reading the same poems and going on and on about the same work. The time of the class, was also accidentally in my afternoon nap time. I got good grades so the lecturer never scolded me, she just nicknamed me. My second year was pretty much the same thing, always falling asleep in class.

Lately, I'm quite good at staying awake in class and at work. I try to doodle in class or make notes, which helps to keep the sleepiness at bay. When I do eventually arrive at the residence, I immediately get in bed. I never sleep the amount of time that I planned. I set my alarm for an half an hour, but when I eventually awake from my death sleep, it's an hour and a half later...

I always feel so guilty when I wake up and think about how much work I COULD HAVE done in that hour... 

Pfffft! Yeah right!

Problem is: I love sleeping so much, I might consider marrying it. I love my bed. Oh, and did I mention my cushion. Just writing this, I am already fantasizing about my bed.

Is there something wrong with me? Or is sleeping just my drug? 

I'll go for the latter!

Sleep tight, my dear readers.

Sleeping Beauty

xx

A weekend for the wanderluster

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

We went for a weekend of camping at one of my favorite places, Mountain Sanctuary Park.

Roadtripping

Monkey drinking water at our tap

Being hit by a hailstorm at the swimming pool

Our first sunset

Clouds reflecting on the sliding pools

Beautiful dead tree at the sliding pools

Our last sunset

My fashionista sister, while hiking up the mountains

My mom and I said that the camping is not the thing you remember, but the beautiful and many hiking routes, as well as the scenery. I truly enjoyed the weekend. 

The wanderluster didn't even have to go far, to feel the satisfaction of going places and being awed by the majestic world we live in. 

“because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars...”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Living vs. Rat Race

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

“Life had become some kind of profound competition, where my emotional loss was substituted by my professional success. I became a part of what they call the rat race.”
― Saurbh Katyal, Seduced by Murder

From the day I was born, life has been a rat race. People going to work, trying to make money, rushing home in traffic, feeding the kids and getting them into bed. Only to fall asleep yourself.
Day spent.

After studying, you get a job. You get the man. You get the house. You get the children. And this is it. I know I have reached the time when I should send out CV's and decide where I want to work. The type of work that won't feel like work. I should aim to be successful. Maybe, I'll meet the man, while being successful in my work. Then comes the baby and the golden carriage. Constantly chasing success. Will it even make you happy?

Hell's Bells!

I want to shout at the rat race to slow down! Smell the roses around you. Live. See. Touch. Experience. Travel.

There is nothing wrong with being in the rat race and having a family and kids. BUT IT'S NOT ME. IT IS NOT ME. For now....

I want to go to places, which I have read about in books. I want to touch the Tower of Piza. I want to swim in Jacob's Well. I want to ride a bicycle in Netherlands and go places on my bicycle.
I want to do and see things, which not many people do after getting a job, the man and kids. I want to travel in Europe. I want to eat things, I have never eaten before. Walk where I've never walked before. Learn about different cultures. I want to travel. Maybe, once I have done that, I will be ready for the rat race. MAYBE.

I'll never be the common rat racer. I will always have feet itching to go places and see things. Is there a job where I can do that? Please make suggestions, if you know about something like that.

But for now, I'll be completing my studies and in the meantime, I'll be contemplating about what my next move is gonna be. The rat race has to wait for a while.

Love
The Wanderluster

#NoToXenophobia

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Today, I write with a very sad heart. My fellow South Africans are killing Africans. These attacks have mainly started in Johannesburg, where my family lives. It expanded from there to a lot of other places in the country.

Xenophobia: "deep-rooted, irrational hatred towards foreigners". Xenophobia happens when a population group present within a society that is not considered part of that society. Often they are recent immigrants, but xenophobia may be directed against a group which has been present for centuries, or became part of this society through conquest and territorial expansion. This form of xenophobia can elicit or facilitate hostile and violent reactions, such as mass expulsion of immigrants, pogroms or in other cases, genocide.

I love South-Africa and the diversity we have in this country. We are diverse in so many ways that other countries should be jealous. South-Africa has many cultures, races, religions, etc. We are a rainbow nation. But with these attacks it doesn't feel like we are a rainbow nation.

But it saddens me so much that people are killing others, just because they aren't South Africans. Where is your humanity? I take it as a compliment when people from Africa want to come and live in South-Africa for work. It tells me that South-Africa has done something right.

Nando's, a fast food company, made this ad a few years ago. It is a bit humorous, but behind the humor, there is a bitter truth. 

How can you hate so much, that you kill?

Follow these hashtags:
#NoToXenophobia
#AfricaIsForAllAfricans

Every dog has its day.

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

You know how you watch people do things that are wrong and you can't really change that, but then all of sudden the wheel turns and they get their day like every dog gets his day?
Yeah, I call it karma.

This year, whilst studying the diploma in management, we had to form groups and create "businesses" and then do projects as if we are a company. But some of the group members have not contributed to the group from the beginning and it was a real struggle. Only a third of the time, they showed up for class, meaning the rest of the group had to do the classwork without them. Which is not fair, because they are reaping in the marks, without lifting a finger.

Also, at the place where I work, people are dishonest about the times that they are working. For instance they leave 20 minutes before the time, but log out the time that they were supposed to leave. Or the people are constantly late, making other assistants miss their classes and then usually they log in the time, they were supposed to be there.

Well, enough is enough! We kicked the lazy members out of our group. They now have to create their own company and do the remainder of the work by themselves. Unfortunately, they are getting the marks of previous projects, which they hadn't really contributed in. But, they will understand how much the rest of the group had to do, once they have to do the projects on their own.

On the work front, the people are gonna get their day. I have always been honest and always made plan not to be late for work, so can they. If you know that you are always late, then set your alarms earlier or plan your day better. But don't make it hard for other people working with you, you are selfish.

Employers won't be very nice, once they realize that you are always late and lazy. The real life is waiting and it will be hard, if you don't realize that soon enough.

Disney and THE ONE...

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Constantly looking for the One around every corner and turn? Well, I say stop it!

"What? Are you serious?
You expect me to sit
around and wait for
some guy to come and
save me? I'm going to
law school in August
and as soon as I'm out of
this dump I'm reporting
my stepsisters  and
stepmother to the police
for harassment and slave labour.

I remember when I was younger, I used to dress up to go to the mall, thinking that there will be lots of hot guys and maybe, just maybe one of them will ask my number. Forgetting to enjoy the moment with my friends or family.

In high school, you believed the guy you are dating will be the One. You held on to them for dear life, believing you won't find another.

At university, every guy you even talk to, you do that thing where you imagine how it would be to be with them. Maybe even envision marriage. Believing there is only one ONE! Scary, ain't it?

I blame Disney for this lame belief. The belief that you HAVE to find the one when you are young. The belief that only a prince/man can save you. How about saving yourself, being your own hero?

Guess what? There are multiple ONE's! There are like 20 in your country, one in France, one in Ireland, like 1 million in America and 1 billion in China, who will be THE ONE for you.
How you meet people is about location, for instance you won't meet the one who is in China, if you are in South Africa. It is about the same interests, it is about timing, etc...
And the best part is, you will find one another when the time is right and your paths cross. It might be when you are 17 or when you are 31, who knows? And who worries????

I have so much that I still want to do before I meet my soulmate. I am not ready to meet them. I want to travel the world, live in my own place and I want to get a good job, before I meet the guy. But my interests differ from other people and I get that. I just want to make sure that I am making the right choice before I commit to a lifetime decision.

April Fools!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

My previous blog post is just an April Fools joke! CALM DOWN!!!

I am sorry if I caused you a semi-heart attack. But thanks to everyone who phoned, who spoke their concerns for the 'travel agency' who contacted me on Facebook. Saying that it sounds a bit dodgy and also reminding me that my dad isn't Liam Neeson, who will be able to save me, once I get taken!

I still enjoy my studies and will take it through to the end! I am not a quitter even when the going gets tough! I only have 8 months left of studies, afterwards the adventures will begin. I will travel in 2016 though, but it will be done through reliable people and not randoms, who contact me on Facebook!
Hope you had a bit of a laugh!

Click here to see previous blog post.

Quitting the studies to travel.

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I have big news! I have decided to discontinue my studies, to go and travel the world!

I have been struggling too much with Accounting and all those other boring subjects, while I tried to silence my Communication brain. It has been really hard. While I was struggling with this diploma, the wanderlust in me has taken over and it has been nagging at me for the last few months. I have been planning 2016 for a while, I was planning to Au-pair in the Netherlands, so that I can tour Europe in my spare time, but then life decided that it has to be NOW! I have to travel ASAP!

I have been contacted by a travel agency on Facebook, who wants to me to blog for them overseas. I will be blogging on their site, but I have free reign on my blog about what I blog about my travels. Guess my blog will be transformed into a travel blog!

The amazing deal includes that they will pay for my flight, my accommodation and meals, wherever they send me, as long as I blog for them, rating the place's stay. And I still earn a salary per month! My first stop will be Ireland, since I don't need a Visa to enter the country, thereafter we will arrange Visa's as we go.

My parents are not really happy about this decision. They feel it is a bit rash and I should think it through. My mom feels that I should first finish my studies, before doing this. But an opportunity like this only comes around once in a lifetime, whereas studies can always be completed later on. After all, traveling has been my dream for many years! I will join my parents in San Antonio in June, which I'm also looking forward to!

My flight takes off on the 11th of April. I am going to live the dream. I cannot wait for this amazing adventure to start! It will be so much fun!

Home by Alison Hugo

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I saw this beautiful poem about my amazing country in the menu of Mike's Kitchen. The poem is written by Alison Hugo.

Home

This is no ordinary country, this country of ours.

This is the land of the Atlantic and the Indian,

the bottom of the deepest, darkest Africa.

This is the place people dream of visiting,

yearning for adventure.

The country of mud huts and skyscrapers.

This is the 'it' spot, the heart of kwaito, jazz and soul;

the hyperbole of diversity.

Many worlds in one: the Lowveld, Highveld, Bushveld and Seaside,

Morningside and Transkei;

home to every fashion, flavour, colour and culture you can think of.

Bobotie, koeksusters, bunnychow, biltong -

all the best the rest of the world doesn't offer.

This is where it all goes down and hopes are high.

Bergie, businessman, beach bum, bru.

This is gumboot dancing, game watching, curio-selling and

taxi-driving.

Beautiful , raw, sophisticated, awe-inspiring.

Energy so electrifying you can feel it in your soul.

This is all of the above , all at the same time.

This is South-Africa; this is Mike's Kitchen.

Our sunsets! How can you not love this?

I am proud to call this my country. Even with all the problems, politics, loadshedding- I still love this place. 

Has your passion gone MIA (missing in action)?

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style" -Maya Angelou

Lately, my friends and I have been feeling like we have lost our passion. I have been wondering if I'm doing the right diploma. Is this what I really what I want to do? The hard work and late nights is making me doubt in myself and in my skills. 

I completed my studies in Communications last year and this year I'm doing a post-graduate diploma in management. In this course we have subjects like Accounting and Economics. And with all honesty I have realized that I am through and through a Communications person. Because I don't like accounting or economics.

I have been doing some introspection and trying to figure out where my passion really lies. With all my Communication studies and trying out all the fields of communication, I have realized that I want to become a Public Relations Officer. I want to do campaigns, write opinion pieces and organize press releases. Yes, I really believe that this is what I want to do. If I can't do that then I'll be happy to become a social media coordinator for any company. Social media is my jam!

My passion is: I love to blog, and doing all things social media! I am doing the social media of the residence and I have the title as the Social Media Coordinator, sounds fancy right? I feel fancy too!
My other passion is that I want to travel the world and see the wonders of the amazing Earth we live on! I have a wanderlust in me that is really hard to explain.

The question is: What is YOUR passion?

I have come across an article, who gives tips on How to regain your passion for life and everything else. View link here

There are 2 ways:

1. Give yourself permission. 

Give yourself permission to go after your passion each and every day. Remind yourself what you really want from life.

2. Symptoms not the Cause.

"Symptoms not the Cause: Getting out of your Story." We all have our stories and these stories support our actions, so we often times feel justified in how our life looks and why we don’t have what we want. Many call this being the victim. The first step in getting out of your story is being aware of your story.

"I challenge you to push past your story and uncover what it is that you are truly afraid of, could it be fear of failure, fear of being alone, fear of embarrassment. Once you have identified the fear you can begin to work on the real issue and begin setting the foundation to have all that you desire.

The author is still to release 3 more tips. But I think these two tips are already something which we can try and see how it works!

Life can get busy and we sometimes forget why we are doing something. Try to remind yourself daily why you are doing this. Is this your passion or merely a way of reaching your ideal life where you can live out your passion?