We each have a responsibility to live our individual stories to the fullest. I am best placed to tell my story, after all, I have seen all my versions through the years and I am still here.

From absolute lack to abundance, from deep hurt to pure joyful moments, I am still here. Friends have come and served their time and have gone, family members have been around and now are no more, I am still here.

From thoughtful moments that are rich in reflection, to passive movements in life through motions. From moments of absolute hopelessness and frustration to moments of tangible clarity, I am still here.

All of this is not because I am wiser than the ones who are no more or even more deserving, not that I am stronger than those who have been decimated by such experiences, I am here because my Jehovah is still here.

We each have a light to shine, whether to two people or a thousand. We each carry a plug for for the next person whom we meet or randomly smile at in public places. We are all libraries, there is a lesson in one part of our lives for the next person. Each one of our chapters caters for those who take pleasure in long reads, novels, fiction, wild content and more.

It is an unshakeable responsibility that we all carry that however long or short a chapter we need to put together for the next person, each chapter needs to fully live up to the needs and demands of those who are destined to pick lessons from such chapters. The best chance we give ourselves at writing and narrating the best chapters, is when we become fully authentic, embracing our differences and celebrating in front of audiences large and small, private and public.

I am grateful for my gift of life.

Welcome to the library that I am. I look forward to picking a book from the library that you are.

Photographed by Kwanda Photography