January 11, 2026
We’re now in the Phinda Private Game Reserve.
Our travel company, called “&Beyond”, purchased the land to return it to its original owners, and to provide a home for the wild life that once roamed freely here.
Phinda is actually a Zulu word that means “return”. Over the past 20-plus years of “rewilding”, &Beyond has successfully reintroduced the animals that exist here today.
Somehow, I too am being prompted to return, to revisit, to go back, to pick up where I left off, and to make things new.
I’ve never been one who announced New Year’s Resolutions, but in addition to Jazzercise and Pilates, I’m thinking about taking African dance when we get back home. There’s a class in Santa Fe on Sundays.
I am also giving more thought to exploring ways I might return to acting and modeling (now as an aging “senior citizen”).
Suddenly, I feel the need to expand my creative expression, to deepen a commitment to joy and authenticity. Writing will probably also play a more intentional place in my life. If not now, when?
To return and reclaim can be as important as going forward. Going back is often a necessary step in the dance of life.