My name is Royal Chundu.
These are my thoughts, through the rain and sun, in the quiet and noise.
I’ve been on a path of learning this year. Three months of epiphanies. Perhaps because I’m fifteen years wise. Maybe it’s something in the water.
Some years start as they end, in a slight blur and before you know it, you don’t know if you’re Aggie or Hessah, Arthur or Martha.
This year is different.
There is something exciting about looking age in the eye and deciding what kind of future you want, what in your past you’re proud of, what you’d like to do more or less of.
Some years it’s been about bigger, brighter hats and fearless pride. But it’s not about hats this year, it’s about trees.
The baobab in particular — a symbol of standing proud, standing out, and standing the test of time. A symbol of abundance and providing for others.
This is a year I’ve dedicated to seeking stillness, through the trees. This is a year for watching ants carry morsels of fruit or leaves across a forest floor, letting the monkeys chatter and jump even when they get too close to my breakfast table.
I am watching, grateful for the fish eagles who sit close to me so I can find my heart in theirs. I am looking up at the baobab’s branches as they touch the sky — yoga sessions for trees.
I’ve been taking morning walks along the island’s paths and seeing what new shoots and roots appear, what flowers grow on the banks and how long they give their dance before the curtain closes.
In these moments, I find calmness and realisations occur. It can be difficult to find that your old shoes no longer fit, but how exciting it is too to search for new ones to allow for your growth.
That’s where I am, 15 years along the path, in a year of discovery, letting my branches touch the sky.