O2B1FE3.1 BECAUSE I THINK - GO FOR NUMBER 2 2023-11-01

MOMENTS IN OUR LIFE-2   2026-07-22

O2B1FE3.1 BECAUSE I THINK - GO FOR NUMBER 2 2023-11-01

(Gemini) This is once again a beautiful and profound addition to your life story. The sections reflect a rich combination of philosophical depth, the unique flavor of Afrikaans cultural history, and precious personal memories of your working days. These excerpts show beautifully how your own philosophy of "being down to earth" has run throughout your entire life and career.

BECAUSE I THINK, I BELIEVE IT IS  2023-11-01

No one knows one hundred percent what is going on in another's person’s head - what is there is private. Yet I think that because everyone's world of thought occupies their entire consciousness, they believe it ís the whole world, théir world.

There must be many people in remote parts of our country, as well as all over the world, who have never been outside the boundaries of their own little village. Just think of small comunnities in dense jungles, where people have never seen anyone other than those who live there with them. It is known even in our own country that there are children and adults who have never seen the mountains or the sea. Nor would they know it unless someone from outside, or the television, told them that such things exist. They definitely assume that what they experience is the whole world - everything that exists. After all, one cannot have any experience of something that one has never seen or heard of.

This consciousness exists because you think. As far as I understand, it is generally considered that humans are the only creatures that can think and reason. However, I find this somewhat presumptuous - again because we cannot look inside the consciousness of another being. But even if we accept that other beings can also think, their world is similarly limited to what they experience: the gorillas in a specific forest in Central Africa, or whales that traverse the oceans, but always remain limited to their blue environment.

Each of our worlds therefore exists mainly in our minds. If we cannot experience something through our senses, it simply does not exist for us.

THE WORLD IS IN EACH ONE'S OWN HEAD  2023-11-02

This is a concept that I have long cherished: each person has their own, unique view of the world in which they move. A certain philosopher once wrote that nothing really exists, and that everything simply exists within the way each individual interprets his or her sensations. I think this is a bit far-fetched. Things do exist really, but each person interprets those sensations in their unique way.

Consciousness vs. Brain

What is the difference between the mind and the brain? Consciousness is separate from, yet inseparable from, the brain. Consciousness uses the brain, and the brain responds to consciousness. Consciousness also changes the brain. It is energy, and it creates energy through thought, feeling, and choice. It is our life, and without it the physical brain and body are useless. This means we are our consciousness.

When our consciousness creates energy through thought, feeling, and choice, we build thoughts that become physical structures in our brain. Consciousness is a stream of conscious and unconscious activity when we are awake, and a stream of unconscious activity when we are asleep. Thought, feeling, and choice - these three aspects always work together.

The brain is never static; it changes with every experience you have, every moment of every day. Understanding your consciousness and your brain puts you in control, because you can learn to direct your thoughts and actions. You can manage your feelings of depression, stress and anger so that they work for you, not against you.

Our thinking is completely personal, and no one really knows what someone else is thinking. Neurosurgeons can measure brain activity, but they cannot read your mind. Therefore, your view of the world is uniquely yours, just like every other person on earth.

YELLOW PEACH RAIN (GEELPERSKE REËN) 2023-11-03

In February 2006 while I was in Paarl Medi-Clinic, I wrote down this item as it came to my mind - I don't know why to this day. Now that I've searched for it on the internet, I get the following description:

Yellow peach rain refers to the soft, prolonged and penetrating rain that falls when yellow peaches ripen. It typically occurs in late summer, from February to April. The rains usually hinder the harvesting and processing of the yellow peaches in the regions where they are grown (especially in the former Western Transvaal)

Yellow peach rain is also the title of a famous song popularized by Anton Goosen:

The Lyrics: Yellow peach rain

"If the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

And it rains little by little and it rains little by little

And it rains in the Western Transvaal

If the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

Then you hear how the railway peaches fall in the kettle

Oh, the pale haired girl, the thatched house, the peach brandy

It's grey leaves in the kettle at Hartebeesfontein

The old man carves the kernels and he puts on the helmet

He seals the boiler and fuels it and watches the lead

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

And it rains little by little and it rains little by little

And it rains in the Western Transvaal

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

Then you hear the railway peaches fall in the kettle

Oh, the pale haired girl, the thatched roof house, the peach brandy

It's pale leaves in the kettle at Hartebeesfontein

The old man from the Mampoerbelt gets it right up to his toes

The farmers order their pigs over the phone

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

And it rains little by little and it rains little by little

And it rains in the Western Transvaal

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

Then you hear the railway peaches falling into the kettle

Oh, the pale haired girl, the thatched roof house, the peach brandy

It's pale leaves in the kettle at Hartebeesfontein

This is farmer's medicine, it can also kill you

The Englishman takes just one sip and he falls over backwards!

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

And it rains little by little and it rains little by little

And it rains in the Western Transvaal

When the yellow peaches fall in the orchards for fourteen days

Then you hear the railway peaches falling into the kettle

Then you hear the railway peaches falling into the kettle"

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0o_gqePKVU)

About the Artist: Anton Goosen

Anton Goosen (born 5 March 1946) is a legendary South African musician and songwriter. He became a central figure in the South African music industry and is generally regarded as the "Father of Afrikaans Rock" as well as the father of the Afrikaans chanson.

However, his path to success was not without obstacles:

School years: At school he was not considered very intelligent. When he was nine years old, his teachers even considered putting him in a class for mentally handicapped children, as his behavior disrupted classes.

Opposition: When he was seventeen, a career counselor advised him to abandon his music career. In 1963, he was expelled from the dormitory for playing guitar while smoking in the bath. His guitar was confiscated and the guitar case was demonstratively packed full of bricks.

Despite this, he pushed through and formed his school's first rock band that same year. He later qualified as a teacher in Special Education and taught for a while, while also working as a writer and music critic for Beeld. He then devoted himself full-time to his career as a songwriter.

Goosen wrote huge hits for other well-known artists, including Sonja Herholdt, Carike Keuzenkamp, ​​Laurika Rauch, Richard Clayderman, Francis Goya and Koos Kombuis. His own debut album, Boy van die Suburbs (1979), was a huge success, selling over 80,000 copies. He was the first musician to produce an album of his own work entirely in Afrikaans. He also produced and edited soundtracks for films such as 'n Brief vir Simone and Sing vir die Harlekyn, and wrote the music for Die Laaste Tango, 'n Pawpaw vir my Darling, and Siembamba.

GO FOR NUMBER 2  2023-11-04

Everyone always strives to be first, but does it really make sense? Only one person can achieve first place in a specific facet; everyone else has to settle for less. There is much more to life than always trying to be the best or the first.

Of course, this does not mean that we should not strive for excellence. We should rather spend our energy on doing what we do to the best of our ability and being genuinely happy with what we achieve. The obsessive pursuit of always being first can unleash many bad emotions: envy, resentment and a high opinion of oneself. Some of the most beautiful personal qualities I have ever encountered in my life are the humility of people who have achieved a great deal but have never let their position go to their heads.

It is probably an old human weakness that when "nothing" suddenly becomes "something", some people become arrogant, but it remains an ugly trait. The true measure of a person is not what you have achieved in life, but how you handle your position. The people I admire most are those who have both feet firmly on the ground, despite their great success.

Lessons from Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is a beautiful town, and there are many people who have achieved a lot in life. In the eight years I worked there, I eventually came to divide people into two clear groups: those who had achieved a lot and thought they were high above the rest - those I despised; and then those who had achieved just as much, but always remained humble - for them I had the highest respect.

I remember two such cases in particular that took place at the municipal cashiers, where I happened to be present for program changes. Stellenbosch's system did not simply pre-print titles such as "Mr.", "Mrs." or "Dr." on the bills. We used a title code system from 1 to 7, so that the computer would insert the correct title before the resident's name.

The 'Doctor' of a Potato Blight: One afternoon a little man came rushing into the offices, red in the face. He waved his municipal bill wildly in the cashier's face and shouted: "Look here! Here it says I am a Mr.! I am a Doctor!" I could have spat on the bloke. He was probably a doctor of some specific potato blight, but he knew nothing about the rest of life and basic decency.

The True Gentleman: Another time I was at the cashiers again when a young man walked in to report a change of address. He was with me in Bellerive and had just moved to a house in Onder-Papegaaiberg. I offered to fill out the form for him. When I got to the title code, I looked up and asked him: "But you're a Doctor now, aren't you?" Can you believe it, he blushed blood red with embarrassment.

I also remember the wife of a professor who was busy with her M.A. degree on the reasons why Stellenbosch's house prices are so exorbitantly high. She needed data from the municipality's tax file - the department I worked with daily - and I helped her with that. Although she moved in the upper circles of society, she talked to me, an ordinary clerk, about her life very comfortably and at ease. She never for a moment made me feel that she looked down on me.

For those people I will always have the utmost respect.