Lorena died. A plane with 144 passengers crashed – with no survivors. A friend called me, to ask if I can help source medication in the Netherlands, for a friend of her with very aggressive cancer. There are days, where you need to take more than one deep breath.
Writing is like taking a deep breath as well for me lately. Yesterday, when I finished posting my thoughts, I looked at my phone and saw I had a new message. A message that made my heart go WOOOOH.
One of my dearest friends gave birth to her 3rd Son. Mother and child were doing well and the parents send out a proud SMS. I just had to post this great news on Facebook. You must know, that this friend also travelled with me 20 years ago. She was my closest friend throughout the entire year. We did not see each other often the last few years, but we share so many precious moments together. Our friendship will last our entire life. Last time I saw her, the baby was still so tiny that the people around us did not even notice she was pregnant. But she could not hide it for me…and now he is already there.
Welcome to this world Laurin Noël!
Immediately I thought about The Circle of Life. When the first responses on Facebook were posted, it was clear, I was not the only one thinking this. A song kept playing in my head. The song from Elton John called “The Circle of Life”. I have so many connections with this song. The movie “The Lion King” came out in 1994 – the year we were on road. One guy in our cast was singing Hakuna Matata for days in a row.
It wasn’t until the very end of that year – after saying goodbye to everyone I travelled with – when I actually watched the movie. I was still full of emotions. Having to say so many goodbyes at the same time. I had spend an entire year travelling from city to city, with 3 buses, a giant truck and 150 young people from all around the globe, and now this year had come to an end. I left behind what had become something like a “home”. Many of these friends I would never see again. We shared our path for 365 days and now we were all going to go separate ways.
The day after we had our final banquet, I was invited to the cinema. At first I wasn’t sure, we were still in France and I speak hardly any French. Watching a French Movie, where I would understand near to nothing, felt a little silly. But she convinced me to join her and we watched “The Lion King”.
It was wonderful. It was a combination of the music, the beautiful life affirming story, perhaps even the fact that I could not understand what was being spoken. I can remember sitting in this cinema hall and feeling that everything was going to be ok. Life was going to go on – new things would come – new friends would be made – and others would become fond memories.
The Circle of Life.
Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
Sithi uhm ingonyama
Ingonyama
Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama
Siyo nqoba
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala
From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round
It’s the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
It’s the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
Songwriters
Timothy Miles Bindon Rice & Elton John
Official lyric video for “Circle of Life” from THE LION KING
