Verity's Blog

Celebrating Life...

I was overwhelmed by the support I received after writing about my mum being ill and really grateful that I chose to share what we are going through at the moment. It continues to be a rollercoaster of denial, grief, fear and acceptance for all of us. In the middle of it there is my mum - unbelievably serene and happy despite the terrible pain and discomfort she is in. She keeps turning to us and saying that she feels like she is in heaven on earth and I am being humbled by her grace and wisdom daily.

I am really present to how lucky we are to have this time together and the last week I have been fortunate to have late calls on set so I that could spend each morning with her. My brother and his family arrived today and this weekend we are going to have a family celebration of the colours of her life. We want to acknowledge her for her journey, her wisdom, her patience, her love, her lessons, her support, her courage and her amazing grace. This will be a time for each of us to really honour her and for her to also say what she needs to say to each of us.

I know it is going to be an emotional day for us all - but it will be filled with the emotion that counts - love! What a blessing to be able to honour her for everything she has achieved in her life and to stand as a family and celebrate her! I love you mum!

'Shining' in Las Vegas

I received this email from a Future Owner in The States the other day and was blown away to hear that my songs are getting heard by so many people in such unexpected ways! Never underestimate the continual forward motion of a dream and the fact that the work you put in now will keep popping up much further down the line than you can ever imagine!

"Recently I was asked to speak to about 600 women in Las Vegas. I was thinking of what I could do to get them pumped up - since I was scheduled to speak at 9AM after a long evening of dinner, drinking and dancing - talk about a tough act to follow!

I have your music in heavy rotation on my iPod so when "Shine" came on, I thought it would be PERFECT to play the chorus and a few verses to get everyone up on their feet - it worked! Beautifully!

The audience loved it and the women were buzzing for the rest of the day about the song as they walked around humming, "yes, I intend to SHINE..."

The next day I remembered that I still had 2 CDs that I'd purchased from you sometime ago - for one reason or another I never gave them as Christmas gifts as intended. So I decided to hold a raffle to give them away! It turns out that this was a true gift to these women. The two winners were just the most perfect people to receive a "Lucky Packet."  I'm still getting emails about it!

I'm trusting that you are more than OK with me spreading your "sun-SHINE" here in America to women who really needed the rays of your hope!  I have given the participants information about you, your fantastic CD and your "Journey" (it was a group of budding entrepreneurs who are up against some "impossible" odds) and I also let them know about your website (iamverity.com) where they can purchase a full version of the song and get the lyrics as well.

I know that from my sharing of your most wonderful song with these women, that you have gained even more FANS as you spread your message of hope and possibility!

I'm excited about the new music you're making and I'm look forward to becoming a future owner of your next CD too! Keep me posted.

Sanyika"

Now for a call from Oprah... : )

Calling all friends for some fun in the sun...

We are going to be playing out at The Cape Farmhouse in Scarborough (Junction M65 & M66) this Saturday (20th Feb) as part of the FARMHOUSE ROCKS concert series.

Having heard that there is some glorious weather on the way we would love to have truck loads of friends ditch the rugby, baby showers, afternoon naps, lawn weeding & extreme mountain biking and instead come through and join us for the afternoon that we will jam-pack with music and fun.

The show kicks off around 3.30pm but you can arrive anytime from 1.30pm and tickets cost R50 - or R40 if you can produce a student card that hasn't passed its sellby date :)

It is really lovely there to chill on the lawn and basically have a gorgeous day with family & friends so if you are free then I promise we will make the drive worth your while! We will provide the musical inspiration (old & new tunes) and all you need to bring is fanatical adoration, loud cheering, infectous dancing and support we love ; )

Please spread the word to one and all. Would be amazing to have a bumper show!

 

This is one of those things I don't want to write about. I feel like if I don't put it down on paper then its not really happening. But the sad thing is that it is. A month ago our family got turned upside down with the news that my mum has stage 4 lung cancer. It has been a surreal experience of coming to terms with it all and we are having to just take each day as it comes. I have found my whole life thrown into harsh relief of what really matters and what doesn't. Suddenly work is a hard thing to do when I could rather be with her enjoying each moment. All the chasing of material gains seems incredibly futile when faced with losing my mother - it is a loss I can't fathom right now.

I was unsure whether to share this news, but the truth is my work is a journey and my journey is my life and in my life right now my mum is really sick. The next few months are going to drag us all through the fire of life and there is no way that wont impact on who we are and what we do going forward. I am so grateful for this time to just be with her and celebrate her and for us to be able to say everything we want to say. I know that it is a precious gift to have this time however painful the reality of the outcome may be. So for now I am going to take things one day at a time and love my mother with every drop of emotion in my body and pray that whatever is to come is as gentle as can be hoped for.