Living in an Experiment

I was born into an experiment. One that so many people predicted would fail. The world watched expecting us to fling knives at each other or let loose flames. We did not. 

I don’t remember much about my childhood, but I know that desperation did change those around me. We grew closer, began to fall in love with this experiment and with each other. And that was just the start.

The experiment is not over. Nor will it ever be if I can help it.

And yet, the world I live in is not a utopia. It was not created by scientists who meticulously planted every single tree to fit a pattern. Instead, pieces fell together over time. My entire country was shaped by decisions guided by hope, but ultimately advanced guesswork. That led to errors, some that nearly brought the experiment crashing to an end, but still it continued.

Just like with experiments, it is important to take a step back every now and again in order to change your perception of the situation. We are often so focused on the negative news stories we find, that we forget to celebrate the successes that have been achieved. Over 20 years ago South Africa was a place of brutal relations between fellow citizens. This mindset has shifted thus uniting thousands of people.So far our social experiment has surprised the world by changing the course of an entire nation; nevertheless there are still challenges for us to face. But, is that not the case with most experiments?

An Update

A lot can change in two years.

In my final year of high school I succumbed to the advice of those around me. I sentenced my creative being to the depths of my heart, so that my mind would not wander from the subjects I needed to master. But even as I fought the fledgling ideas that refused to be quietened, I never succeeded in hiding my creative side. This portal to my brain may have been silent though I never stopped writing. I have files of blog posts I wrote but never published, because of others’ words that I started repeating to myself.

I now know that ignoring my creative side because I had to “minimize the distractions” was counter-intuitive. I spent more time suppressing thoughts than it would have taken to ponder them. However, I have emerged from this time of reflection with more wisdom to share with the world. I hope you enjoyed my time of hibernation because now I’m back and ready to open the minds of my readers.

My Favourite TV Shows Of the Past Decade

Although I have always preferred reading over watching television, I have never stopped watching television entirely. This is purely because I have always had a favourite show that has driven me to put my book down for a few minutes and relax on the couch in front of the television.

The first of my list of favourite shows that I still remember is probably High Five. These shows included a lot of dancing, crafty activities and contained many bright colours. If I was particularly inspired, the afternoon after I’d watched the show I would attempt to imitate their craft time with my family.

I soon moved on to watching Scooby Doo. I watched every single of those intriguing episodes as well as all the movies associated with Scooby. Those mysteries were so much fun to see unravel I might rewatch them sometime.

When I got a little older I fell in love with Disney channel. There were many shows on this channel that filled my rainy days. I particularly loved The Suite Life of Zach and Cody - though I later preferred Suite Life on Deck – and Wizards of Waverly Place. By the time both of these shows’ final seasons had ended I knew their theme songs off by heart and had watched each episode at least three times.

After those two shows, I started watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Ty Pennington and his team always inspired me with their determination and the amount of skill that was required to recreate a house in 7 days. I also loved that the creation of this show was able to benefit so many lives.

My next favourite show was and still is, The Amazing Race. I find it so interesting to watch teams race around the world and complete hundreds of activities that they’ve never even heard of before. I like that the teams are able to grow throughout the race and overcome whatever obstacles that they find in their paths.


Do you still remember what your favourite television shows once were? If you do, why don’t you compile a list like I’ve done and then add to it every three years to see if your taste in television shows has changed drastically J I don’t think mine has changed that much.

The Selfie Decade

The 1920s were famous for the Charlston and Jazz whilst the 1940s and 1950s are sometimes known as the Rock & Roll period. Most decades are famous for one thing or another and so I’ve spent the past few days wondering what this decade will be famous for. My conclusion… SELFIES.

hellogiggles.com

In the early 3000s someone might discover a long forgotten device and with a quick electric shock this device may turn on. The scientists of this time may not know that the device is what we call “a cellphone” or maybe they will know that. But, I’m pretty sure that the scientists will be rather shocked when they scroll through the photo albums stored on the phone and see dozens, literally dozens, of photographs of the same people.

These scientists will probably come up with theories of why there are so many of the same type of photographs. At least one will suggest that the cellphone was used by a creepy stalker, whilst another will suggest that the cellphone belonged to a model whose photographs were plastered on billboards.

Many selfie-takers might hope the latter will be true for them one day; but if that’s not the current reason why they are taking selfies, then what is?

Some say the Selfie Revolution began as a lazy way of taking photographs; instead of asking someone else to take the photograph one person could snap the picture and still be in the photo. All the person needs is some skill. And if he or she does not have that, thanks to the many photo editing apps the selfie can be enhanced to look perfect. The next step in this process is to post the photograph on a social media website and see what everyone else thinks of your Selfie.

The Selfie is a tool used by children, teens and even adults somewhere in the world every day. Partly because of this technique’s success, in 2013 the word “SELFIE” was added into the Oxford Dictionary.

But, is this Selfie Revolution as innocent as people suspect it to be?

As time flies by and the number of Selfies posted on the internet grows by the thousands, I cannot help wondering if this obsession is a healthy one. You see, the search for the “perfect selfie” can damage one’s self-esteem; for instance if the photograph of the cat next door gets ten more likes/hearts/favourites than a photograph of you eating your cereal in the morning, you may wonder why people are more interested in the cat than they are in your photograph. Some may argue that this situation is far-fetched; even if it was, this selfie obsession will probably make you vainer.

In spite of this, the Selfie Revolution appears to be a success. We’ll have to wait a few years to see if it passes.

In the meantime, why don’t we … take a selfie?

A Crash Course in Rugby

By now almost everyone knows that on Friday the 18^th of September the Rugby World Cup began in Great Britain. This weekend the two semi-finals will take place and so in less than two weeks’ time we will know who the Champions of the 2015 Rugby World Cup will be. I’m really excited about this but some people are not, this is probably because they don’t usually watch rugby matches. However, since so many people are going to be watching the final I think it is about time for a crash course in rugby.

Although I’ve never actually played the sport I consider myself as an almost-expert-fan because I have watched many rugby matches over the past few years. I have also called on the advice of experts so you will be well prepared to watch the semi-finals or the final.

A brief history:

Legend has it that 16 year old William Web Ellis was playing football at his school in Rugby, England when he caught the ball and ran with it towards his opposition’s goal line. At the time this was against the rules which stated that the ball should be caught and then kicked; however, not long after this incident the rules changed and thus rugby the sport was formed.

Objective of the Game:

The objective is to get more points than the other team. Points are earned by scoring tries, this is when the ball is carried over the opponent’s try line, which result in 5 points and can be converted to an extra 2 points with a successful place/drop kick. 3 points can be earned by a successful penalty kick or drop kick.

Basic terminology:

A scrum: occurs when there is an accidental infringement

A lineout: occurs when the ball goes out of bounds

A ruck: a loose scrum formed around a player with the ball on the ground

A maul: occurs when three or more players, including the ball carrier and at least one other player from either side, are in contact together (unlike a ruck the ball is still in hand and has not been grounded.

Length of Game:

The game consists of two 40 minute halves with a 10 minute break in between. Remember to use this break wisely so you don’t have to miss too much of the match.

Now that you know a bit more about rugby you’re more likely to enjoy the two semi-finals and the final!!  

For more information visit: http://www.rugby.com.au/tryrugby/Playing/RugbyExplained/History.aspx 

A Different Perspective

Living through the same routine over and over again can ensure that you always view the situation in the same way. When you walk to your work you probably will not notice the beautiful leaves above you or the colours of the flowers in the gardens next to the road. But, if you were able to notice all these small things they would remind you how beautiful this world is and cheer you up.

Here are a few optical illusions to help you change your perspective:

Now that your eyes have been trained to notice different images and see images in two different ways, you can enjoy these photographs:

Did you realize this photograph is upside down?

Remember to keep an eye out for the beauty of nature in your life that you often take for granted. 

Youth Against Extinction

When we think of the voice of all animals we imagine the thunderous roar of a lion. That sound echoing through the Savannahs kept man away from poaching and trophy hunting for several centuries; and yet now the king of the Savannah’s voice, is hoarse. No matter how many times he yells man only snaps a photograph and drives away.

Our lions are suffering. Once 200 000 freely roamed the earth and now the estimate is below 30 000 wild lions. There are two main reasons for this horrid decrease in population numbers, the first is the increasing demand for lion trophies and the second is the demand for lion bones mainly in Asian countries. In order to profit from these demands the “Canned Hunting” industry was formed.

In this industry female lions are used to breed as many cubs as they possibly can. When they can no longer reproduce they are either used for trophy hunting or are killed for the bone trade. At the same time, the cubs are torn away from their mothers soon after birth, so instead of their mother’s tongue gliding across their fur they are petted by complete strangers who think this is a true African experience. Unfortunately, when these cubs grow up they will be trapped in an enclosure and shot at by trophy hunters. Once they are dead their heads will be mounted on walls in foreign countries or even here in South Africa and their bones will be flown to Asia. This is what people are doing to our King of the Savannah.

Because of this tragic greed thousands of lions have died. The ones that remain are by no means fit to be the voice of all animals like they once were. And so, this role needs to be resumed by a group that is prepared to change the minds of those around them, to succeed when so many want them to fail and to save these beautiful animals from extinction. Plenty of generations could have accepted this task, and in 1960 Ian Player and his team did. But now is the time for a new group of conservationists to step up. It is the youth of South Africa, of Africa and of the world who will take up this challenge and will save our animals. 

It is we who have the power that is needed to swing this fight in our favour. We are motivated and prepared to use our talents in every way possible to educate the rest of the world. We will stop at nothing to protect our beloved animals. 

If you'd like to watch my speech at the Global March for Elephants Rhinos and Lions click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFg91HVQHDw&feature=youtu.be