Return to Africa

No, I'm not going there physically, but mentally, yes.

One of my new friends who joined me on the trip to Africa last August (Actually, she invited me to go with her and her group.) loaned me a few books about Africa, and I just started reading one of them.

Called, I Dreamed of Africa, it was written by Kuki Gallman, an Italian who fell in love with Africa when she first visited the country and then went back to live there. She wound up where we did, in Kenya. She even stayed at the Norfolk, where we stayed. But her Africa was a very different country from the one we visited. Her book tells her story of times that began in the early '70s. The book was made into a major motion picture in the 1990s and starred Kim Basinger. I never saw the movie, by the way.

I've read about 50 pages of the 300-page memoir; it's literary non-fiction and beautifully written. It appears that this woman overcame many of her own obstacles, so I'm eager to learn what helped her move past them.

I can tell she's a spiritual woman, for one thing, because she's a fan of quotations, proverbs and beautiful language. I think spiritual people are similar like that. I think we understand how important communication is, and that involves languages of all sorts. Anyway, one of the quotes she uses in her book I really love. It's a Chinese proverb. It says simply, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

I love the simplicity of that statement. We're all on a journey, and to move forward in it takes only one step at a time. Just remember that it doesn't have to be a big one.

All my best,
Jackie