The hardships we face

And we're back! This past week, my wife and I took a break for our honeymoon—a much-needed escape from everything and everyone. It was the perfect opportunity to recharge, relax, and regain some energy. During our time away, I decided to revisit one of my all-time favourite books, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

Trevor masterfully reflects on experiences from his childhood that makes the readers feel as if they had been right there with him at the time. I hope to emulate his writing prowess one day, drawing in my readers with each word as he does.

Where it all began

My love for writing I guess started in primary school, and in a rebellious way - by writing on the wall. You read correctly, ON THE WALL!

I viewed the walls of our house at the time as large canvases, empty, waiting to be filled with my brilliance. The only problem though, was that my mother did not share my artistic vision as it were. I produced several works and on occasion, I would write “sorry for writing on the wall”. An admission of guilt some may say, but for me, it was a meta moment and a true testament to my brilliance. My mother had very little appreciation for “modern art” and after very boisterously expressing her opinion of my work, her slipper met with my behind in a not-so-pleasant manner.

I was a naughty little shit growing up. My brother too. Honestly, I’m pretty sure part of the reason my parents went grey so early was because of our “genius” ideas. Take this one, for example, one time, a friend and I decided to empty some rooibos tea bags, roll the leaves up in newspaper, and try to smoke it. Because, you know, that’s what brilliant minds do.

So, my parents came home after running errands, and we had to quickly hide the evidence. We figured the safest place was the bin. A couple of minutes later, we realized our mistake. The smoke coming out of that bin was legendary—it was like a scene from 7de Laan or something. To this day, I think that bin might still be haunted by the smell.

Another one of my brilliant ideas involved creating light in a dark storeroom in our house—by pouring paraffin against the window pane. This required a lot of trial and error, because one splash of paraffin just wouldn’t cut it for "adequate lighting." Turns out, the heat from all those attempts cracked a huge chunk of the window. Long story short, my dad ended up having to replace the whole thing.

My grandmother always used to say, “If Euan is quiet, he’s up to something.” Looking back, she was basically a fortune teller.

These days I’m still quiet and up to something but in a very different way.

As an adult, I can look back and recognize that while my childhood had its fair share of challenges, it was also filled with those unforgettable moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Despite the hardships, I was fortunate enough to create some truly special memories with my friends and family. I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously along the way as well.

I’m certain as you’re reading this you can take a moment to reflect on your childhood and pinpoint all of the difficult and harsh times. In the same breath, you can also identify all of the lessons that you have learnt from those hardships.

As for lessons regarding writing…turns out the best place for my writing is on the screen and not the walls!

Euan