Trisha Cornelius

Figuring it out as I go

Say Ah

One of the thing that living in Costa Rica cured me of is being afraid of getting laughed at if I mis-pronounce a non-English word. As I mentioned in a previous post, South Africa, has eleven official languages. I haven’t checked the census figures yet, but I’m pretty sure more than that are commonly spoken.

I only speak two of the eleven fluently: English and Afrikaans. While I took Zulu in university, it focused more on the academic portions, and my Zulu is not much stronger than the other nine languages. Thankfully, every trip to the super market presents another opportunity to either learn or practice some new vocabulary. At a mi:nimum I would like to be able to say

  • hello
  • how are you
  • fine thanks
  • please
  • thank you
  • goodbye

in all eleven of our languages. At the moment, I have about four of the words across six of the languages (including English and Afrikaans).

Today when I was paying for my groceries the cashier’s home language was Venda, and so I learnt how to say “hello” in Venda. It’s aa, but pronounced more like ah! Which is great fun and I don’t think I will easily forget.

Love and learning,
Trisha

 

Things I love about South Africa

South Africa is an incredibly complex country, and it will always be the land that I grew up in. South African blood runs through my veins, and here are some of the things I love about my current country:

  • The colours, South Africa is an incredibly colourful country. We have vivid sunsets that can only be described as beautiful, although the colours are possibly tasteless. We dress in bright colours, like red and orange and purple too.
  • The people, most people that I have encountered are incredibly friendly. We have the occasional chop, but they are in the minority
  • We have eleven official languages, going to a supermarket is an opportunity to tune your ear into the musical tilt of languages
  • Our weather (especially on the Highveld), sunny blue skies with afternoon thunderstorms in the summer, our winters are short and generally still filled with sunshine.
  • The tourist attractions: We have eight world heritage sites within our borders, a gorgeous coast (with Sodwana and Aliwal shoal being ranked as two of the top sites in the world to dive) and amazing game reserves.

Love,
Trisha

Don’t confuse me with a felon

The U.S presidential election is approaching with great rapidity, it seems that just the other day we were debating in the student center at university about what John Kerry’s policies actually were, and suddenly, it’s eight years later.

I don’t live anywhere near the United States but the nature of the beast is such that regardless of where you are in the world, you are, to some degree affected by who is in charge of the United States. (I’m not going to split hairs and nitpick about the separation of powers, that is a blog for another day.)

The other day someone shared a link to iSideWith.com a site which polls your opinion on a number of policy issues and then gives you a result about who you align with in this presidential election. I think that it is a very well done site and I urge my United States readers to check it out.

But, there was one question that irked me. For the question “Do you support increased gun control?” One of the options was “No, only for individuals with mental health issues and convicted felons.”

Um, excuse me, there seems to be quite a conflation here. Having a mental health issue and having been convicted of a felony are two distinct things, I acknowledge that there is a small level of cases where a convicted felon also has mental health issue, but these are in the minority of cases.

Society needs to take a stand about this kind of conflation because this is part of the reason for the stigma attached to mental illness. Mental illness for the most part is not a choice, it’s a reality that people live with. Committing a crime that results in a felony conviction is the result of a series of choices. (I’m working on the assumption here that there was a competent defense and an ethical prosecutor.)

I understand that this question is framed against the backdrop of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, but it does not excuse the conflation and increase of stigma.

Hopefully, one day this stigma will become a thing of the past. In many ways having a mental illness can be likened to having a condition like hypertension or diabetes, no one would propose stricter gun control on that basis.

Love and hope,
Trisha

The Nature of Sin

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about religious matters. I am comfortable with my eclectic spirituality, made up as it is like a quilt with different pieces of wisdom from various sources that fit me in the here and now. I don’t believe in a vindictive beard in the sky waiting to condemn me to eternal damnation. But every once in a while, I will end up considering a psuedo-religious question such as what is the nature of sin.

Once upon a time when I was a teenager someone who shaped my life ins such a way that can only happen when you are young, postulated that if there is a God, the ultimate blasphemy, would be the failure to use our mental faculties, since that is the thing that makes us completely unique from the animals. This notion has stuck with me and later when I read Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, I internalized Granny Weatherwax explaining that the nature of sin is when you start treating people, including yourself, as things. This coupled with parts of Pratchett’s other works has shaped part of my morality, and I strive not to identify people as them. Because once you start thinking of people as them, it is that much easier to start thinking of them as things and treating people with less kindness, compassion and respect.

I’ve just finished reading The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck and he argues that the nature of sin is laziness. That as spiritual development takes work it is laziness that pulls us away from our potential and encourages us to stagnate. I don’t quite know whether I entirely agree with this sentiment or not, but it seems to be both logically and morally sound.

For me, I think it does not come down to what you profess to believe, but how you treat people, especially yourself. Because the person who you practice your habits on the most is yourself, if you are kind and compassionate towards yourself as a default behaviour you are much more likely to treat other people with compassion and kindness.

Love and philosophy,
Trisha

The Pretoria National Botanical Gardens

The rushing water subsiding

South Africa is a beautiful country and a nature lover’s paradise. Today Riaan and I ventured to the Pretoria National Botanical Gardens, one of nine gardens run by the South African Botanical Institute. The natural vegetation present in the garden is classified as Marikana Thornveld.

We had set out pretty early and so arrived at the gardens around eight-thirty, and this turned out to be a good thing, because it was a warm morning in sunny South Africa. Since we had other things to do later in the day we decided to only focus on two attractions, the Tree Route showcasing indigenous trees and the waterfall, planning to return to walk the Dassie (rock hyrax) trail in the near future.

The waterfall is interesting because it is man-made, and it is a very impressive water feature. Initially it is quite disconcerting when the water flow slows to a trickle before coming gushing down again but this provided some interesting and fun photography practice.

Ana Tree

The Tree Route is a self-guided tour of fifty of South Africa’s indigenous trees, an interpretative booklet can be purchased at the garden’s ticket office for R20.  Most of the trees on the route are clearly numbered but every so often a number was obscured. The map in the guide contains approximations of the tree locations which encourages you to look more closely.  The booklet contains both tree information including the scientific and common names, general information about the trees and the occasional bit of trivia and local lore. Each entry is accompanied by photographs and symbols denoting their requirements and additional information (such as whether it attracts birds or butterflies, has medicinal uses, is edible or is poisonous).

photograph of Trisha Cornelius (me) lying flat on my back after taking a photograph of the first tree on the Tree Route in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden
Looking up an Ana Tree

Good to know:

  • Entrance to the gardens is R24 per adult, free for botanical society members
  • Take hats and sunscreen
  • Wear comfortable walking shoes
  • Bring your own water bottle (there are water fountains).

Love and gardens,
Trisha

P.S. I posted more photos of Pretoria Botanical Gardens on Facebook.

 

Disclosure: I am a member of the South African Botanical Society but have no other affiliation with the garden and this post represents my opinion of the Pretoria Botanical Garden.

For this post:

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

Horror, fantasy and science fiction author.

I don’t owe you an explanation

As a society we are encouraged to say yes and if we say no people try to make us feel guilty about it. But the thing is, no is a complete answer, and it should not be accompanied by guilt, nor does it need an explanation.

Saying no does not make you a bad person. Saying no is not a bad thing. And yet, it comes with a huge guilt burden, especially for the female population.  From the time we are little girls we are primed to think that we are responsible for other people’s behaviour and happiness. The image that a woman is supposed to ensure that everyone is fed, cleaned and clothed is insidious. The role of a mother is projected onto all females, and heaven forbid, a young lass bucks the trend. Girls are supposed to be feminine and want to be pretty. They should not have fun climbing trees or be geeky. Nor should they ever confess that they don’t want to have children.

This week I went shopping for a little boy and a little girl who I knew absolutely nothing about apart from their ages. It was an enlightening experience because I found myself noticing biases that I did not know that I had. For instance, why did I dismiss the puzzle with a picture of a rocket as being inappropriate for the young girl. Perhaps if this young lady ever goes to space she will have a similar sentiment to Sally Ride:

The thing that I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun I’ll ever have in my life.

The thing is if you had asked me about this bias I would have strongly disputed its existence. Yet, it clearly influenced my behaviour. Logically, I should not have such a bias, I am a highly educated female with a professional degree.

I also found it fascinating about the fact that I was asked about my children, and when I replied that I don’t have any I was subjected to an interrogation regarding why I don’t, and when I’m planning on changing this. But the important thing is that really is nobody’s business except mine and Riaan’s. I don’t owe anyone an explanation, and yet I needed to fight the urge to justify my decision to other people. It’s my life and I have every right to live it my way.

Love,
Trisha

For this post:

I write like
Douglas Adams

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

the author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Seriously cool!