My first day

First days are filled with intrigue; excitement; titillation; a sense of expectation - and that's exactly how I feel embarking on a new life-choice. There's such a sense of liberation in the anticipation of what's to come. It feels like lying on green green grass, legs in the air on a warm sunny day, giggling and giggling and giggling. Your stomach aches as the tears cascade down your crow's feet. (Sigh!) A sense of wonder!

I walked down the prom to a little coffee shop for breakfast a few says ago. For a moment I remembered work, just a few metres further. The thought dissipated as soon as my Berry Blitz smoothie arrived.

I want to say 'I used to be a teacher' yet that doesn't sound quite right. 'I am a teacher'? That doesn't sound quite right either. The first one is too much in the past as if you are totally removed now from what you have been doing for so long. The latter is too static in how it defines and posits you in a very specific space.

For the past 12 years I have taught (sounds better!) in various contexts. I had the privilege to teach in a rural hamlet, Jane Furse, in South Africa; at an international school in England; at 3 different private schools in Istanbul; and, for the last 4 years, at a university of technology in Cape Town.

Teaching can be an extremely enriching and most profound experience. It requires courage, integrity, strength and tenacity. It demands love, patience and kindness. We are authors constantly reworking a script yet trying to maintain the true essence of the play so that its truth is not compromised by externalities.

In his autobiography, Gandhi described his life as "my experiments with truth". My first day is a continuation of my experiments with my truth. In 3 days time I will attend my first formal class as a student of Therapeutic Massage Therapy. Green green grass, sunny skies, giggles, achy tummy, cascading tears - YES!