Author: phumzile qwaqwa

  • The Privilege of Owning Yourself

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    Have you ever read Plato’s Allegory of the Cave? I was reading it for the umpteenth time this afternoon… sipping tea, sighing at my ceiling, occasionally shaking my head into my journal trying to figure out what any of it means to me. It’s one of Plato’s most famous works and it keeps pulling me…

  • The birds were always singing

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    When I was a kid my only goal was to leave home and live somewhere far away. Not that I hated my family. But we were subjected to a lot of hard labour and the holidays, which are supposed to be the best time for most kids, were the worst for us. December was the…

  • What’s the Point

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    “I’m done writing my book.” “Ohhhh o-k-ay…” That was not what I expected. But what do you expect when you tell the person closest to you that you’ve just pulled off your childhood dream – and she had no idea you were even chasing it? I spent 2 years writing Silent Laws. Nobody knew… not…

  • Is this a door or a window?

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    Back in primary and high school my mates and I had a tendency of being super excited on matchday. If I’m honest, much of the excitement had very little to do with the game. We were mostly excited by the prospect of seeing beautiful girls we weren’t familiar with from the visiting school. We’d have…

  • I just don’t mind looking foolish

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    Last night I was sharing testimonies with my cell group from church, and I kept getting the same reactions. “Wow.”“No way.”“Are you serious?” I get these a lot. And I understand why. There’s the story of a stranger who paid R95 000 for my university fees in 2019 – someone who, to this day, wants…

  • The luck feels earned

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    I am typing this on my phone at about 20 000 feet, staring out the window at the sea below… we have maybe 15 minutes before we hit the tarmac at Cape Town International Airport. A young woman next to me keeps pressing her phone against the window trying to capture the view. I am…

  • Am I Even Playing to Win?

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    I am typing this exact sentence in the wee hours with only my right hand. I have a fleece over my thighs and a dodgy-looking black beanie… because the streets are cold. Why only one hand? Because my left hand is resting on my cheek, deeply disappointed and annoyed by a football result. I’ll be…

  • My new baby

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    I recently had a baby. I’ve always wondered what kind of parent I’d be one day. As much as we all love our parents, I think we sometimes punish them harshly for their mistakes and forget that it was also their first time. Yes, you may not be the firstborn… but you are unique compared…

  • Ten steps behind

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    When I was 8 years old my mother enrolled me in an English-medium school in town… a school where everything was taught in English, including English itself. I was coming from a village school five minutes from home where we even learned English in IsiXhosa. This new place was a different world. You were even…

  • The purpose of life is a life of purpose

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    by

    phumzile qwaqwa
    in

    I recently came across a stat that stopped me mid-scroll. People in their first year of retirement have a 40% higher chance of getting a stroke or heart attack than people who are still working. That’s not a small number. And it made me wonder… what exactly happens to a person when they stop having…