A person hasn’t truly lived until you’ve been on a South African safari, and then, you’ll better understand these words …
“When a person leaves the South African bushveld, you’ll come to better understand the realization that the sun shines for all, or in the words of an African proverb, “The sun does not forget a village just because it is small.” The sun doesn’t forget about our individuality just because we’re one speck in life’s ever-expanding hand of creativity. The same sun shines for all of God’s creatures from the rhino beetles to the leopard tortoises. We’re all included under the bushveld’s home of breathing spaces. A home with many dwellings…and frequent visitors, especially from far off lands such as Colorado.”
Furthermore, the South African bushveld speaks to the vulnerabilities of our own hearts sadness…
“Driving home from our safari experience, I was grateful that I could find my son’s legacy in the places that he loved…
- The smell of the bushveld after a fresh downpouring of rain…
- The sound of a Piet my vrou, as it calls to life while sitting on a thorny branch of an acacia tree…
- The warmth of the fire, as the flames dance spontaneously, pirouetting like little ballerinas on top of the burning logs…
- The flutter that we feel deep inside of our heart with the realization that we are somehow connected to this intricate puzzle called life. A puzzle that asks nothing of us, except for us to live our lives with a deep sense of awareness, the type of awareness that makes the time to see the small details in everyday moments…
In all those places, we found him, and in all those spaces, I also found a piece of my own soul just like the elephant’s memory, guiding one deeper and deeper into the heart of our life’s story, which is really a story of webs — a messy, intricate, yet divine muddle of unconditional love that starts with a single story — our story. By learning more about my own story’s worth, I discovered my son.
Now, I know for sure that God lives in the bushveld of South Africa, a place that allows God to be God, wild and free, or in the concluding words of Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa, “When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find out that it is the same in all her music” — including that of God’s music simply called little echoes of unceasing grace.
My life, a single note in the script of Amazing Grace…”
(excerpt from All Roads Lead To Cape Town, traveling novel about the magic of South Africa).
‘5’ For Sanity, 5-minutes stories of hope inspired by South Africa’s unique culture ….
Now [adverb]: South Africa’s most confusing perception of time that consists of three unofficial time zones of expectations: ‘right now,’ ‘now now,’ or ‘just now.’
South Africa may have one time zone; however, what people traveling to South Africa don’t always understand is that we have three unofficial time zones of expectations. Although they may appear to be the same from the outside looking in, they are completely different entities in how we express the expectation of time.
These unofficial time zones to express time are…right now, now now, and just now.
Initially, they may all appear to be related to the concept of now; yet the expectation of each differs in degrees, and that is where the confusion comes into play, if you’re not accustomed to the culture’s unspoken innuendos.
This is also where the world can learn something from this particular South African tradition since time at its root is simply a perception of how we experience the world through the social norms of saving face.
Let me explain…
The first perception is right now, it means…that something will be done shortly, and out of the three perceptions, it is rated with the highest sense of importance. The something will be done right now, meaning within the next hour — then again, possibly within the next few hours? Regardless, it will be done — soon.
The second perception is now now, it means…that something will be done, an exact description of time can’t be given in this moment, but it will be done within today’s context of time. Usually, after the speaker of now now has completed whatever, the person is currently working on — however long that will take? The guarantee resides within the next 24 hours. This word comes from the Afrikaans words nou-nou, which has the same meaning as the English translation.
The third perception is just now, it means…that something will be done; nevertheless, the when, remains a mystery. It can be done today, or then again, maybe tomorrow? It’s a nice way of saying, I see your need, and it will get done in time [in time, being the abstraction of this perception’s expectation]. If you’re the recipient of this statement, grab a seat because you’re in a long wait…
What the world can learn from this tradition is that time, and how we associate expectations of time, is truly a culturally derived outcome. Therefore, when you hear a South African use any of these expressions of now, remember that right now means very soon, now now means today, and just now means whenever I get to it in my lifetime.
Next time, you’re in South Africa, try using any of these three statements of now. Weave it in into your everyday conversations with South Africans to sound like a local, and when you do — remember that time’s gift to us is to remind us to be brave enough to try something different, even if we think we’re going to appear clumsy at it. The new way of using the words of now may initially feel a little unnatural. Do it anyway — dare to fail at something new.
In the process, you’ll discover something new about yourself…may it be right now, now now, or just now, it’s all part of the joy of discovery, through South Africa’s three unofficial time zones of expectations: The Rainbow Nation’s contribution to diversifying the English word of — now.
A lesson in the art of telling time, South African style.
(excerpt from 5 For Sanity, 5-miute stories of hope inspired by South Africa’s culture of hopefulness).
picture: the world’s smallest tortoise — Speckled Padloper (around 3 inches in total size).
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