Are you scared to make JOB change? Maybe my story will give you some hope…

I had a really crap job as a dog’s body at an insurance company in Rosebank many years ago. It was right upstairs from Fournos — a fast-food-style deli and bakery. 

One of my jobs was to archive old claim files. From my spot on the dirty grey carpet, the faces of the happy people who had just bought their takeaway coffee and croissants were not really visible, but I saw the way they walked and that’s what I wanted! Freedom. 

I remembered this chapter of my life this morning while sitting at the very Fournos. I’d say it’s about 18 years later. I can still picture the unsure girl that used to hate her job and the grey carpet. 

My dream was to move into my own office at the insurance company but life took me in another direction. One morning, I took the risk of meeting a recruiter at Fournos. She offered me a temp position at a new IT firm for triple the salary. The only catch was that it was not permanent. I would stand in for someone going on maternity leave. 

My instinct is always to say YES. So, I did. 

The next thing I had to do was talk to my boss. I was sure I could catch him before his “secret” (not so secret since she told everyone) lover closed the door for their daily meeting.  

“Can I be honest with you?”, he said.  Ah, those famous words I hate so much; usually a pre-cursor to some bullshit. 

“Sure,” I replied. 

“I would not hire you. You are too young and…well, you are not good enough.” 

I prepared a resignation letter the next day and asked HR to let me use my leave in lieu of notice. 

“That won’t be necessary,” HR told me. “Here are the calculations for your retrenchment package.” 

 I did not know it was coming. 

I used the cash to buy a new car and drove into my new job like a mother-bleep.

xoxo Lee

Loss of Smell because of Covid 19?

Hey Friends,

Here’s a fun fact for. you: I could not smell or taste for 2 years. Two whole years.

I wanted to write about this again, on this gorgeous self-care Saturday because I’ve been meeting so many people over the last few weeks who are feeling absolutely distraught about their loss of smell because of Covid19.

I understand their feelings of fear and anxiety.

Here’s an article published in a local magazine in South Africa, detailing my personal circumstances around this loss and how I coped with it: https://www.magzter.com/article/Lifestyle/Your-Family/I-Experienced-Life-In-A-New-Way?fbclid=IwAR0fyn4PosFdTJY0ZyT7uZKt4zjlcZ8k3yIkCg7wW1_3ExqdUs9iuqJv8mk

Perhaps you or someone you know needs to read it.

I’d love nothing more than to reinforce the FACT that, it is not the end of the world, that the tide does turn and that there is indeed light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Besides, EQUILIBRIUM is the natural state of the universe.

xoxo

Lee

Warning: Kindness is Dope

I met someone recently who thanked me for something I did for her 20 years ago.

I kid you not.

To be quite honest, I did not recall the detail or that act of apparent kindness at all. She tells me that it came at a time when she desperately needed a strong mother figure and that young-me stepped up.

I must say, our exchanges back then never did feel like “rescue” or “help” to me. In fact, I reckon I was the one who felt good. I was the one who felt useful. I was probably the one who felt high from the endorphins that make us drunk with purpose. That’s really all I remember about our interactions ~ how lovely I felt around her.

How cool?

Her testimony has since inspired me to write some random “Thank You” notes of my own. Because the stars know that there are plenty of people who have touched me over the years. And just like that, I’m part of an energy that keeps the magical vibration of GRATITUDE in motion.

Perhaps you feel inspired to hop on the train and thank someone today too? If so, I can tell you without a doubt that the wise ones were right: It is indeed GIVING that we RECEIVE.

Try it. Thank me (29 years later).

Lee Mayimele

Chief Storyteller

Dear Kids (A reflection from a greying Mama’s Heart)

Dear Kids

Whilst no parent has all the answers and whilst this mama is constantly, still learning, know this for sure:

1. You are never alone
2. Travel is the best teacher
3. “No” is a good word. Use it often. It’s particularly lovely when there’s a dead silence and you offer no explanations
4. “Please” and “thank you” never goes out of fashion
5. Water heals. Oceans. Tears. 2 litres a day
6. You have a built-built in “people” radar. Please listen to its beep beep beep when something feels offish
7. Sleep is medicine
8. Play, play, play. Never stop playing
9. Less sugar, less screen time, more grass, more laughs
10. God is inside you and no one one has a special hotline that you need to go through
11. Betrayal is painful. Nothing can prepare you for that kick in the groin
12. Go out and explore. You can always come home to cry
13. Try and remember who you were before the world started pinning its labels on you
14. Your body is beautiful. Exactly as is. Explore it. Admire it. Treat it right and it will reward you so much
15. No one knows it all
16. Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family
17. Believe in magic. Those who don’t, never find it
18. Your word is your honour. Do what you say you will. Always
19. A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles
20. Give freely. Of what you have. Of your time. And quietly please
21. No one likes a show-off
22. Learn to listen. To God’s voice in the early morning. To yourself. Certainly to people who you trust
23. Shortcuts never work
24. People will forget what you say but they will never forget how you made them FEEL. Be kind
25. Books, music, thunderstorms and tea are good for lonesome days when you need your mama
26. Abundance and prosperity are your birth right
27. Look beyond the labels of race and religion, gender and social standing. How people treat people from whom they need nothing is where you should focus your scoring and grading
28. Jealousy is when you count other people’s blessings instead of your own
29. Love does not need to hurt
30. Speak your truth. Even when your voice shakes
31. What sets your soul on fire? Go there
32. Learning is constant
33. Messing up is okay. Intentionally hurting someone never is
34. You teach people how to treat you
35. You may have one “true love” or many or even none. Remember that you are whole anyway
36. You have a story that only YOU can tell

 

xoxo

Mama

 

© Aluta continua, as they say.  A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

I remember the day I was born (A “crazy” story about a memory)

Guess what?  I have the very vaguest recollection of something said to me on the day I was born.  I kid you not.

 

Yes, I know that sounds crazy but just today, while I sat up at 5am waiting for the sun to rise, I sort of remembered it from 40 years ago. Honestly, I did.

Now, there were quite a few people present at my birth (it was a home delivery with a house full of people) so it could have been anyone. I recall an actual whisper of something into my ear.  I also know for sure that it was sweet and that it told me of the blessings that would lie ahead for me.  Perhaps it was a prayer? Perhaps it was simply a “welcome”?  I mean, it could even have been angels, ancestors or my own soul’s voice saying “oh hi” because it had been here before?

 

Now, I get that you’re thinking that I’ve truly lost the plot this time  (and that’s always a possibility) but I implore you to trust me on this one. So, please do listen to my story a little while longer…

 

Of course it could have been a dream. Of course it could just be something I saw in a movie.  But, have you considered that it could totally be true?!  That I remember?

 

Isn’t that magical?

 

Isn’t that just why we’re on this planet?

To crack open the magic?

To listen to “wild” stories?

To experience miracles?

To explore the various aspects of “possibility”, both of things we understand and accept and then more importantly of the things which are not widely understood and accepted but are certainly no less of a “truth”?

 

I thought you’d say YES!

 

Because here’s the thing. That’s what we ALL want:

To engage the MAGIC,

To understand our PURPOSE,

To explore all aspects of the mystical, spiritual DIVINE and to excite one another with our unique expressions of what we see/feel/taste/sense/remember as we go along.

 

YES, there it is! I see that little light flickering in your heart’s memory too. Go there…it’s your work!

 

© Aluta continua, as they say.  A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

 

 

 

 

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Whilst we don’t know the origin of the pic above, all respect and due credit are hereby given where appropriate. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lee-Ann Mayimele and A Heart Full of Stories with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All media rights and copyright for the words reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

Energy Don’t Lie (A reflection on how people make you feel)

I always remember how people make me feel.

I feel full of energy, light and vitality when I’m around some people.

I feel full of anxiety, fear, nervousness and lethargy when I’m around other people.

And, this month I’ve been paying close attention to those feelings.

I’ve noticed that it has nothing to do with the circumstances I meet those people in.  I could meet a woman who just lost her home in a fire she’d still have a calming energy.  Conversely, I could meet a holy man carrying meditation beads exiting a church and only feel anxiety after our exchange.

This fascinates me.

Quite intuitively then, I have been spending lots of time in introspection about this. It’s a perfect time too with the last days of Lent, the falling of brown leaves, crisper mornings, and the closure of a year-long period of mourning for me.  I am grateful that I have the time to go at this unusually slow pace (for me).

The penny really dropped on my morning walk in a nearby park yesterday when I went so far out that my sensibilities screamed red flags in many colourful languages, begging me to return to my car. Just then, a man approached me from the side and startled me.

Still, I felt calm. I felt energised.  Happy to walk, talk and share the path leading back to our cars, I was grateful. (I must admit it took way longer than I would have liked because he was…umm…rather heavy). I drove home feeling energised, happy, grateful for that energy exchange.

In gratitude, I thought I would write about it this week, looking to assure you that if you go slowly, listen attentively, allowing your intuition to guide, you will also gain insights into what and who lifts you, and who and what drains you.

Are you feeling me?  If so, I urge you to move softly, paying close attention to the energy of the people around you.  Where you can, surround yourself with the ones that make you feel like you’ve just eaten your favourite warm pudding.  

That energy is life.

Reflections of Lee-Ann Mayimele, All Rights Reserved

What’s YOUR story (Mine is about GRATITUDE)

Every heart has a story to tell. My story is about Gratitude.

 

….You see, I used to be a selfish girl.  I wrote stories but I did not share them. In 2009, Lady Fate – in all her wisdom – decided to change that.  I suffered a major concussion that resulted in me losing my senses of smell and taste.   During the reflective days after that curveball, something in my soul stirred.  My selfish girl days were numbered.

 

I tuned in to the soulcall to share and was rewarded generously: I developed superpowers. Yes, superpowers!  I realised that:

My loss of smell forced me to use my ears more.

So, I started to listen.  Really listen.

My loss of taste forced me to use my eyes more.

So, I started to see. Really see. 

It occurred to me that on the road to recovery, I had developed a special set of skills using instinct, intuition, vibrations, feelings, nuances. My 2 dull senses heightened the 3 fully functional ones.  Those superpowers were my biggest gift as a writer.  They made for some powerful storytelling.

 

So began my journey to publishing my writing.  My stories translated into emotions.  The emotions connected hearts and magic began to happen.

I followed the magic.

I let my heart guide me.

I had no idea where the road would lead me.

I simply put one foot in front of the other and kept writing.

 

Before I knew it, I had penned my soon to be published debut novel. I screamed “thank you!” and then sat down to write some more.

 

And, you know what?  It’s true what they say!  All the universe does conspire to help the one who dares to follows their heart. I believe this 100% and so should YOU!

 

Aluta continua, as they say.  I wish you the courage to tell the story that only YOU can tell too.

 

!NEWSFLASH:  In the next few weeks I will FINALLY be able to share with you the dates for my book release and I am beyonddddddddddddddddd excited.   Thank you for listening with open hearts, for connecting, for engaging. Thank you for helping make my dreams come true.

 

© A Heart Full of Stories, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lee-Ann Mayimele and www.aheartfullofstories.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Let your “feelings” guide you home (Sister Stephanie)

I really started to trust my “feelings” when I was about 14.

I was tucked away in a catholic convent school far away from everything I knew and loved. I learnt fast to develop a “feeling” about people.  I also learnt to trust that feeling.  It was part of my survival kit. 

The “feeling” I had about my angry room-mate was spot on.  She had undiagnosed dyslexia and her anger was really just frustration.  When they discovered her wrists covered in blood, my “feeling” was that more trouble was headed her way.

I also had a “feeling” about the nuns.  One nun in particular. Her name was Sister Stephanie.  In stark contrast to her colleagues, she was full of life!  Whilst the other nuns were obsessed with discipline, routine, suspicion and punishment, Sister Stephanie was more relaxed.  She was an avid photographer and delighted in her art.  She told me that she was not a trained photographer and that she used her intuition extensively.  I knew exactly what she meant when she said “you just learn to trust your feelings, to let them guide you”. 

I got to know her when I contracted mumps.  She nursed me and I helped her sort out her printed photos.  I could not shake the feeling that sorting the photos would change my life, and once more, it took me two days to know that my “feeling” was right.  The boy I was in love with had been spending lots of time with one of my “friends”. The photos told me everything I had not known before.

The same girl offered me some new shampoo. Thank goodness that my “feelings” warned me against using it.   It was laced with hair remover.  When I turned up at the sports day with my lovely, shiny locks in-tact, she proceeded to dream up another plan.  And, it worked.  I woke up with no eye brows!  I must admit, I did not see that coming.

You can imagine my “feelings” when more than 20 years later, I read about Sister Stephanie on the front page of the newspaper last week.  To read about murder was horrible enough. To hear that she was raped too turned my stomach!  There are no “feelings” that could adequately correspond with the words I was reading.  There are indeed no words that I could use to describe my feelings either. 

I had to dig deep.  I had to find the words to write this story.  I had to learn to let my “feelings” guide me back to the words.  And I had to let the words guide me back to my “feelings”. 

Aluta continua, friends.  That road is long (for me).

I wish you well as you listen to your feelings this week, and allow them to guide you home.

© A Heart Full of Stories, 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lee-Ann Mayimele and www.aheartfullofstories.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.