Life can be summed up as time...

I think one’s feelings waste themselves on words, they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results - Florence Nightingale

I love Florence Nightingale’s way of thinking! Too much of life is wasted in that place between ‘feelings’ and actions called procrastination. Procrastination is a place where too many people live… they procrastinate about jobs, home moves, investments, symptoms of illness and more often than not, in relationships… 

“Procrastination is the thief of time”. This statement is all the more powerful when we consider that life is essentially made up of time…every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year we spend, angry and refusing to forgive, hurting and refusing to ask for help, in love and refusing to admit it or commit, in denial and refusing to admit the truth of our situation…all that time is not just time procrastinated…but life lost…once the time passes, we can never have it back or re-live those moments… If we go through life not addressing the issues that need to be addressed, not forgiving where we have been wronged, not apologising when we were wrong, not stepping out and trying something new, not giving a chance to those things that are just outside your comfort zone or not opening your heart to love for fear of rejection, we may find that we come to the end of our lives and look back and realise that it was not just opportunities we lost along the way, but life itself!

Sometimes it is as if we are so paralysed with fear at the prospect of failure or rejection that we choose not to do anything, unwittingly choosing not to live… Consider the number of opportunities that you have passed up because you were afraid to take a chance and be wrong or get hurt? Consider the number of relationships you have lost along the way because you refused to forgive, to try and in some cases you would not even dare to introduce yourself… Sometimes we write people off without giving them a chance or allow bad relationships to prolong when we know that the best thing to do is walk away but we don’t because it is easier therefore more comfortable to maintain the status quo… 

When did we get afraid of living? Children are an excellent example of how to live! They are unafraid and will try anything. Children make friends easily because they are uninhibited and not worried about what others think about them. They are unrestrained in their inner dreamer and have the greatest ideas about what they want to do and who they want to be and they are not afraid to declare it or indeed have a go at becoming it (though usually through playing acting doctors and pilots etc). Children never seem to hold grudges and make up really quickly so they waste no playing time. We could really learn so much from children when it comes to living without fear or any other such inhibitions and enjoying life fully by acting on our ‘positive’ feelings, putting away fear and rejection and living every minute as if it were your last…

Procrastinate - To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness; To postpone or delay needlessly. [http://www.answers.com/topic/procrastinate]  

Fear - A state or condition marked by this feeling: (living in fear); A feeling of disquiet or apprehension (a fear of looking foolish); A reason for dread or apprehension (Being alone is my greatest fear) [ http://www.answers.com/topic/fear]        

Rejection - The act of rejecting or the state of being rejected. Something rejected. [http://www.answers.com/topic/rejection]

Silently Denying Christ by Rudo Nyangulu

As my mouth opens a flood of silence proceeds;

My thoughts drowned out by the deafening stillness,

My determination wilts under the rays of shame emanating from my face;

My pupils dilate as the magnitude of the scene I am making

Sweat drop from my brow with a crash as they become acquainted with the ground;

Jump starting my mind which begins to compete with my heart like a 100 meter dash…

My mind wins as flashes of those final hours come to me;

The cat of nine tails plundering his flesh as it meets His back;

Blow by blow met His chin like old friends yet he recoiled not;

Rip…rip…resounded as they tore his beard from his face;

Crash… clank…was the sound of wood meeting the ground as He fell,

His eyes blood obscured as the thorns dug deeper seeking His skull;

Knock…clank went nail by nail as the fixed him to the cross… 

Like reawakening from a trance I come to myself almost in shock;

Mouth still open, silence still deafening, yet shame washed over me like a cold shower;

There I stood too proud to identify myself with He who suffered and died for me…

How could I not bellow from the roof tops, “I live because He died?”

How could I bare to stand silent when they take His name in vein?

How could I not eagerly sing of His love aloud in the streets?

How could I not be desperate to proclaim His gospel to the world?

How could I deny Him with my silence yet call Him my Lord?

Copyright (c) Rudo Nyangulu 2010. All rights reserved

Little bundle of joy...

‘Love is consciously given to some yet effortlessly attained by others almost without one knowing…children are one such beings who achieve the latter’. This is a little tribute to an incredibly special little lady called Praise who inspired this note and all its sentiments.

Love is defined here as a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship. [http://www.answers.com/topic/love]

Praise is my friend’s daughter, she was born about five or six weeks prematurely and I recall seeing the first pictures of her, so tiny, so pale with so many tubes coming in and out of  her, it was a sight that would break even the hardest of hearts and move the very coldest… She had to fight from the very beginning so brave yet so small…a true beacon of hope for all who wish to prove the evil insanity of abortion! Thank God, she developed well in the time she was incubated in hospital and she is perfect! (That is no long lasting health problems).

Premature birth is birth less than 37 weeks after conception. Infants born as early as 23 – 24 weeks may survive but many face lifelong disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness). Premature infants account for 8 – 9% of live births but two-thirds of infant deaths. 40 – 50% of cases have no explanation; other cases can be attributed to such causes as maternal hypertension or diabetes, multiple pregnancy, or placental separation. With good care, about 85% of live-born premature infants should survive.

[http://www.answers.com/topic/premature-birth]

When Praise finally came out of hospital and I got to meet her and hold her for the first time, it was such a magical moment! She was so small and beautiful and amazingly uncomplaining for all she had been through and just like that in the first moment, she walked into my heart and ‘effortlessly attained’ my love.  There are few such moments like it when you involuntarily form a bond with another, not based on what you can gain or your responsibility to them, but simply because of whom they are… I think the purest form of this is with children because children are innocent, defenseless and unable to have ulterior motives so in turn, we let our guard down with them and it is easy to love them.

“Love is consciously given to some yet effortlessly attained by others almost without one knowing…children are one such beings who achieve the latter”– Rudo Nyangulu

A case for the Vernacular...

  I am in the process of undertaking a magister Scientiae (Master of Science) degree in ‘Intelligent Buildings’. Intelligent Buildings can be defined as being; ‘An intelligent building is one which provides a productive and cost-effective environment through optimisation of its four basic elements; structure, systems, services and management, and the interrelationship between them. [Intelligent Buildings: Concept, Strategy & Management - paper written by Rudo Nyangulu]. I chose this program because the course sounded interesting; I have always loved architecture, (particularly old church buildings) and I was working in the industry at the start of the course and wanted more formal knowledge. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made! I love my course and have really enjoyed expanding my knowledge base to include the sciences when I have historically been one for the arts.

 As part of this study I have to carry out a research project of my choosing, the question is, what do I feel passionate about???? After much deliberation (not to mention flirtation with two other topics); having found a cause I am passionate about I have decided on the following;

The concept of ‘Sustainable Communities’ in relation to developing an international principle or (minimum) standard / criteria for a home dwelling

I have not as yet settled on a title but I have embarked on the journey of researching my subject area to ascertain its feasibility and if in fact such a standard already exists and if so how well it is delivered…there is certainly much to consider…What I do already know is that any such principle / standard would only be successfully achieved if vernacular architecture plays a central role.

Vernacular architecture refers to common domestic architecture of a region, usually far simpler than what the technology of the time is capable of maintaining. In highly industrialized countries such as the U.S., for example, barns are still being built according to a design employed in Europe in the 1st millennium BC. Vernacular structures are characterized by inexpensive materials and straightforwardly utilitarian design.

[http://www.answers.com/topic/vernacular-architecture]

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorise methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it exists. It has often been dismissed as crude and unrefined, but also has proponents who highlight its importance current design.  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernacular_architecture]

I am convinced that by adapting vernacular architecture successfully, through the participation and approval of local people, who will be able to manage, repair and occupy these dwellings, we can eradicate poor housing standards and their associated health risks around the world…watch this space…