MarynaSmuts.com

Art for Madiba

– Posted in: Inspiration

It’s been almost a year since I signed up for Art classes at the beautiful Art Gallery in the tiny Simons Town open air mall not from from where I live. I’d seen the classes on Tuesday mornings when I stopped by the mall for groceries and since I was looking for something to edge [...]

Listening to my Inner Guru

– Posted in: Personal Growth

Last week my shipment of a few mostly sentimental personal effects arrived. Shipped all the way from Phoenix, Arizona to Clubview, South Africa.  My brother and sister-in-law took care of my few remaining earthly possessions after I left Phoenix in April 2014 and after all the issues around verifying my South African Residence Status had [...]

Perspective

– Posted in: Inspiration

Almost a year ago, I moved back to South Africa.  I was born in Cape Town, 63 years ago, and after 22 years in the USA, it felt like time to listen to the whisper of Africa tugging at my heart strings, and come back “home”.  Mom turned 90 in May, my business is virtual [...]

Spring Yearnings

– Posted in: Personal Growth

My earliest memories are tied to a mission station in Kenya, on the equator on the West Coast of Africa. The climate was fairly mild all year round with no clear demarcation between winter and summer. There was a rainy season and sometimes we needed sweaters at night, but I don’t recall any mention of [...]

Finding the Key

– Posted in: My Journey

I’m an instant gratification junkie and for as long as I can remember I’ve been looking for the right key that will instantly unlock the door to everything that I want: love, approval, a sense of belonging, joy, material things… Over the years, I’ve told myself countless happy ever after stories about what that key [...]

The Broken Mug

– Posted in: My Journey

I’ve been a fan of Martha Beck’s ever since 2002 when a South African girlfriend recommended Finding Your Own North Star. I instantly fell in love with her wisdom and was charmed by her whacky sense of humor that’s always had me laughing out loud. Though I’d read all her books since North Star, it [...]

Message from a Tree

– Posted in: My Journey

Now that I’ve completed sixty orbits around our solar system, the youth-bias messages in our Western Society seem to be knocking on my door more often. I look in the mirror and find it hard to turn away from the voice on my shoulder pointing out the lines and age spots, telling me how unattractive [...]

Discovering my inner artist

– Posted in: My Journey

I’ve spent my whole life advertising to the world in general, that given a recipe, I can do anything.  But.  Don’t ask me to improvise or be creative. Not so long ago, I discovered that wasn’t true.  I can be creative when I let go of the logical part of my brain that tends to [...]