BA-BOOM

The ba-boom-ba-boom-ba-boom of my rapidly beating heart thumped me abruptly awake. Panic. Confusion. Fear. What was that noise? A gun-shot? Where am I? A shout....and I strain to search with sleepy eyes into the inky-dark of another world...a chocolate-skinned woman with a turbaned-head shaking a broom at a figure retreating backwards, who stumbles over a low stone wall, his hand raised, clutching something that clinks metallically as his hand comes down to stabilise himself on the wall..is that a gun? Where am I?

My racing heart slows with realisation....I'm safe. I'm in my bed up in the mountains above Positano....a long, long way from South Africa, my birth-place; a long way from being 'on-alert' all the time; a long way from Then....

....Now I walk freely, using my God-given limbs to move me. I climb almost 400 steps to reach the road above, or 1300 down to the centre of town, passing stalagtites - roughly-hewn columns seemingly supporting the limestone-mountain - and terraced groves of lemon-tree's .... I'm free! No gyms for me! No need for a stepping machine here.  No need for big walls, electric fences, security alarms and armed patrols either.  No need.

I love this about living here in Positano - it's an oasis contained by the mountains behind us and the sea in front...beyond lies another story...but here, although not untouched by modern-day evils, still exists a liberty to Be.

And to Be a part of this dreamscape is to wake up every morning with Pleasure, with Delight, with Thanks...that I can step out and Touch the World .. with Peace, with Love, with Joy.