I have a lifelong friend. This is not something I take for granted.

We were both born into devout Mormon families in Pretoria and were besties from the get-go.

Both great lovers of the performing arts, we loved the stage and went on to teach, Natalie in Dance and me Drama.

Then as teenagers we were split up when she moved to Ecuador. We were later reunited when I studied at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah.

One of my most precious memories is of how I had but one tragic potato left on my shared kitchen shelf in smelly student housing. I was feeling desperately out of place in this new culture and waiting on my first paycheck from my legally allowed minimum wage 20 hour a week on-campus job, sucking the revolting food waste from the University cafeteria drains. I wasn’t sure where my next meal would come from and was too proud to ask anyone for help.

I came limping home from another endless night shift to discover two fresh baked loaves sitting on my kitchen table with a little note from Natty who was then working at a local bakery. I sat down in the morning light and wept. My friend had my back. She didn’t know, but she knew. Isn’t that friendship in a nutshell?

When I was pursuing my graduate studies at New York University she came to stay and we got to meet up one last time in person in Washington DC where she was house sitting for her eldest sister and I fell in love with her firstborn Byron, who is now 23.

It is midlife that has brought us back together with almost daily conversations that are honest and helpful. We value our love so much that we wanted to share it with you.

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I hope you enjoy our chat. We did. And if you are keen to have a little natter with me on Musings, please just let me know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charisselouw.substack.com

I had a meeting with my brilliant student Shakeelah Ismail this morning.

She had given a(nother) presentation that blew me away at our Burning Down the House Symposium earlier this month and I wanted her to teach me her ways.

In the end we spoke about so much more than that.

This is a snippet of her impromptu wisdom for the benefit of us all.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charisselouw.substack.com

I tried to start a podcast (again) at the beginning of the year.

It’s now 4 months later and my bestie from childhood is egging me on.

So here’s Take 1 from the first week of what has turned out to be a proper shitshow of a year (Is it the Dragon? Eclipse? Late Capitalism? or simply Life…specifically the middle passage…?)

The idea is to engage in friendly conversation with my lovelies about how the hell they keep on keeping on in the face of the madness. There may be a few soliloquies, because who doesn’t love a ruminater (don’t answer that!). I’m hoping it will help.

The people I love are VITAL, they are really living.

So let’s let them inspire us, shall we?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charisselouw.substack.com