Through My Eyes

"Perhaps the most isolating and frightening part of your grief journey is the sense of disorganisation, confusion, searching and yearning that often comes with the loss. These experiences frequently arise when you begin to be confronted with the reality of what happened. As one grieving person said, "I felt as if I were a lonely traveller with no companion and worse yet, no destination. I couldn't find myself or anybody else." By by Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD.

Thereare many inspirational people around us. Contrary to public perceptions, thebrain drain has not taken all the good people and there is still a glimmer ofhope in this chaotic egocentric world we live in.

One of these people is Jo Rushby; she ownsand runs Ike's Books and Collectables in Durban. Jo's bookshop is not just astore where you buy reading treasures, it's an institution where, lovers ofliterature converge and hang out in a safe space of love and kindness.

Jo has been contributing to our Bugle pagesfor over two years, but she has been in my life for over a decade, half of thattime, we never spoke and hardly even greeted because when I escaped to Ike's, Iwanted that time to be my own without any interruptions or disturbance.

One of my favourite pastimes is sneakinginto Ike's, finding a space somewhere in a dark corner, preferably with a smallstool and immersing myself in one of Jo's literary treasures. And for thatmoment I could be anywhere in the world, sailing the seven seas, flying on amagic carpet or hiding from some Nordic Noir serial killer.

Oh but for the love of reading... the worldopens up to me.

Ike's is a place where magic happens. I seethe sweetest things. Children, adults, people from all walks of life come tobrowse the rooms filled with books, shelves from floor to ceiling. Authorsoften launch their books here and get an opportunity to hang out withlike-minded people. We all have one thing in common.

In the world of fake news, ChatGPT andblind commercialism, Ike's Books Store is a Shangri-La that begs to bediscovered.

Talking about discoveries; my latesttreasure is the Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and ArchbishopDesmond Tutu... what joy to behold this book and delve into the minds of thesegreat men.

Each book has a message and each book hasthe ability to teach and inspire us. No matter what your genre, each book hasthe power to change lives.

A perfect example of this is a book I foundat Ike's, expounding on the purpose of the Four Noble Truths I learned from theDalai Lama.

A purpose to notice the cycle of pain thatcomes from grasping onto things, or avoiding inevitability's that, by theirvery nature, are transient, impermanent, and uncontrollable.

The first Noble Truth - suffering isinevitable because of our human organism's propensity to chase that which givesthe body pleasure, as the instinct aligns (usually) with survival.

The second Noble Truth is our desire tograsp those pleasures, grasp a semblance of control, and avoid pain, whichbrings our suffering.

The third is a way to become aware of thistrap and the possibility to become free. Had this not been possible, the Buddhawould not have tried to teach this. But because it is, he taught only sufferingand the end of suffering. The release of desire, attachment, and craving. Thisis known as the Sure heart's release.

And the last Noble Truth is the 8-fold pathto enlightenment. Study the 8-fold path and start to become free. So tosummarise the four noble truths is to realize that life is full of misery andchallenges. Change what you can, accept what you can't. Or just visit Ike's andsay 'Hi' to Jo for me.