JUST got back from two delicious weeks of African therapy at home in Namibia where the clean air is thick and sweet and smells of damp earth...and the unspoilt nature wraps itself around you all ways, whether you'd like it to or not.
I'm back with ample inspiration to share with ya'll, starting with these here 4 wisdoms of the wild:
1. Slow gets more done
“Nature never hurries, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu knew the bizniz.
Despite us all knowing by heart the story of the slow-poke Torotoise and the hyper-active Hare, somehow it’s still considered cool to be in a caffeinated multi-tasking frenzy all day. Nature shows us that everything has its inevitable place and time and there is nothing you can do about it. So calm down, go through all the ropes with undivided awareness and maybe you too will achieve something impressive like an anthill.
2. Animals are smarter than us
Birds have brains the size of a lentil. But they fly many miles towards the nearest water without google maps and build nests that Frank Lloyd Wright himself couldn't design. With their BEAKS! We're stupid man. What if we can achieve all kinds of cool shit if we let go of all this "intellect" and trust whatever it is that helps ants be so awesome.
3. All you need is less
In big cities like New York we’re constantly bombarded form all angles with messages that we don’t have or do enough. You NEED those f*cking trainers if you want that butt and the boyfriend with the white teeth to run with you. You need 6 different kinds of seasoned himalayan salts, 7 varieties of scented candles, and 8 colours of that PURRRFECT cotton tank top and YOU MUST try the new organic smoked walnut butter at Wholefoods if you care about your health and want to live.
Nature says, “That’s bullshit bambis”.
Things don’t ever get us all the way there. Ad agencies do a super job of scaring us into thinking we need to part with our hard-earned monies to get more and more stuff that will finally make us happy and healthy. Consumption is grossly overrated. On this visit home I took things back a gear: I sat outside on the lawn with the sun on my skin, laughed with friends and family, picked and prepared whatever veg was in the garden, and was surprised at how satisfied my mind and body was with so much “less”.
4. Your tribe matters
In the age of information overload and endless possibilities (merci internets), there is little excuse not to be awesome and achieve great things with great success in every area of our lives. ASAP.
But I bet my bum that my final reflections before kicking the bucket one day won’t be delight that I owned and sometimes wore that overpriced Miu Miu anything, or that I got my ass into a size 2 after having kids or that I took that selfie on the f*cking crowded Arc de Triomph that earned me all that approval on “social” media.
Apparently Love is everything. Anyone over 60 who's done some living says it : Time with your tribe is priceless.
That's it.
Fin.