Found via Andrew Sullivan. Beautiful or what.

We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves.

I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography — to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience.

- Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough. – Ernest Hemingway

Zimbabwe’s youth getting active … from Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT) latest newsletter:

A group of about 30 young people from Gweru have painted potholes white in protest of council’s slow pace in fixing them.

“We have painted the potholes white as they have become an eyesore and it helps to ensure their visibility so that at least if they are not fixed then drivers can be able to see their presence from a distance so that accidents are minimized,” said Nyaradzo Madzikura, one of the participants in the exercise.

“It gave me a great pleasure when I went into town the following morning and heard a number of rank marshals talking about it and council officials were debating the motive of the exercise as I could feel that people had noticed hence such activities should be carried out regularly,” she added.

Information is distributed to educate us all. It’s up to us how we decide to use this information. I was so devastated when I heard that The Color Purple joint in the City of Harare, a place where some people go to relax and braai, was gutted down by fire. A fire caused by human error too. The Color Purple Club has suffered a great fall because of a woman who decided to burn rubbish, the fire got out of control and things ended up in tragedy. The owner is so distraught by this and worse still she had not insured her hard earned work.

It’s so much appreciated how Kubatana has been distributing and being so relevant with the Good Neighbor cards. The cards simply encourage people to live together as neighbors. My work is not in vain as my task has been distributing these cards carrying important information. I just hope that people take heed and practice what is written therein.  I urge those that have received the good neighbor cards will share this information with others. It not only helps you and me but the communities we live in.

Source: Brainpickings.org