I first starting writing blogs over three years ago with my series entitled, 'A Spiritual Journey To Find A Home'. Quite a few different series then came and went, culminating in this latest installment of 'An African Adventure..'
'ASJTFAH' ended with my final blog 'Enlightenment' which was written in March 2011 (please see link attached below), where I appeared to accept that my journey would be an ongoing experience.
However, my latest 'African Adventure' series of blogs have brought my search for my spiritual home ever closer. In order to tie-up the original theme, I thought it would be a good idea to add two further 'chapters' to my original journey:
Epilogue (to 'A Spiritual Journey To Find A Home'), and...
Postscript To The Epilogue.
Basically, the epilogue briefly covers the three years between March 2011 and March 2014, and the postscript deals with my Kenyan trip in April 2014 and the beckoning future...
Please read on & enjoy...
Epilogue
"He's seen too much of life. and there's no going back...
But there's a fighter in his heart and his body's tough
The years have been unkind but kind enough..."
Since my final 'ASJTFAH' blog in March 2011, much time has passed, and many things have evolved. The stability that the IVA approval brought me, made it possible to start to plan ahead a little, as well as make some changes to my life.
But not everything was positive…
March 2011 was a tough month as a very close friend tragically informed me that she had developed terminal throat
cancer, and subsequently broke off our friendship. She couldn’t bear to allow me to see her
fading away, so rather reluctantly, I respected her wishes, and I later found
out that had she gently passed away in the comfort of her family, to finally be at
peace. I felt totally helpless so I decided to organise a charity event to
raise funds and awareness, so in April 2012 myself and three colleagues from
work embarked on walking the entire length of The South Downs Way in
aid of Cancer Research UK, and we raised more than £3,500 – a feat of
which I hope she would have been proud.
In August of that year I also achieved another
significant milestone…I was finally able to move into my own apartment once
again. I badly needed my own space after sharing homes with others since my
flat in Cheltenham, which I vacated at the end of 2008, so finding an
amazing batchelor pad in the quiet area of Summersdale, was just what the
doctor ordered!
The other major development occurred in 2013, when my
sustained performance on a big project at work brought me substantial
rewards…and I made plans to go travelling once again, but this time my intended
location was Kenya in East Africa! This was entirely due
to a chance meeting on-line with the lovely Nancy Tubah…we
started out as friends but our relationship quickly escalated into a full-blown
romance, and all that was left was for one of us to make the move! Once the
aforementioned rewards were confirmed, it was a case of booking my flight to Nairobi
as I was once again in search of my spiritual home. At the time of writing
this, it is March 2014 and I am eagerly awaiting my ‘African Adventure…’
Postscript to the Epilogue
It is now one month further on (April 2014) and I have
just returned from an amazing trip to Kenya. Everything that I hoped for
came true, and not only did I finally find my spiritual home, but I also found
the true love of a special woman who I wish to spend the rest of my life with.
As I’ve stated previously, ‘home is where the heart is’,
and I can honestly say that this is true. I feel so blessed that such a
wonderful girl has entered my life, and this whole African adventure has
completed my journey.
What needs to be decided now is how to proceed to make
our lives complete, as we are currently living over 4,200 miles apart. I will
definitely be returning this Christmas, and will remain in Dunga, alongside Lake
Victoria with Nancy and her beautiful daughter Jojo
to partake in the New Year celebrations too. Then I think 2015 will be taken up
with planning for our permanent future together, as once March 2016 arrives,
this signals the completion of my five year IVA commitments…and I will be debt
free once again!
To enable me to make all of this possible, I have also
given up my luxury batchelor pad in Summersdale, and I will be shortly moving back into the
flat share I previously resided in with Josie & Glen. This small
sacrifice is worth it, as it allows me the opportunity to save for our future,
as well as giving me a better quality of life in the coming months (once I confirm the funds are in place to book my Christmas flight to Kenya!). Although I feel my journey has reached its end, I know
that there is still much more to come…but at least I have the comforting
thought of knowing where I truly belong, and I feel so happy to have finally
found some peace within myself. This is all because of Nancy, so like I say…’home
is truly where the heart is…’
Asante Nanshu’!
If anyone is interested, there is a pdf version of all of my 'Spiritual Journey' blogs edited into one defining document, including the epilogue & postcript which nicely concludes my story. Please contact me via the e-mail address below and I will gladly forward it on:
Until next time (whenever that may be?), stay safe & take care.
If anyone is interested, there is a pdf version of all of my 'Spiritual Journey' blogs edited into one defining document, including the epilogue & postcript which nicely concludes my story. Please contact me via the e-mail address below and I will gladly forward it on:
stevemuskett@yahoo.com
Until next time (whenever that may be?), stay safe & take care.
Steve Muskett ~ April 2014
