When I hear the word balance, I do not first see a scale or a yoga picture or somebody sitting very quiet with candles. No, no. For me, balance is much more practical. I see my kitchen. When I have had a hard working day, when the head is full and the body says, “Okay,…
Welcome to another episode of Fruitloop World, where the “catastrophes” are plentiful, the logic is questionable, and I am currently surviving on caffeine and sheer willpower. This week was officially Nail Week. Usually, this is the holy grail of self-care—the one thing I look forward to—but this time? It felt more like a scheduled chore…
Some Thursday mornings begin with deep philosophical questions. Others begin with my hair. This week’s Lunch started exactly where many of our lunches seem to start: with Mr. Mayor questioning whether my morning hairstyle truly deserved to be called a lion’s mane. For more than two years, he reminded me, I have been promising to…
Sometimes the boring things in life are not so boring when you give them a little game. The Mayor told me about this yellow car game. When you drive a long distance and you see a yellow car, you must say, “Yellow car!” Even when you are in the middle of a sentence with your…
Janita I came into Issue 49 with a plan. Not a gentle plan. Not one of those “let us have a nice little Friday chat and maybe peel one emotional potato” plans. No. I came in with a proper Fruitloop University plan, the kind with medieval marketplaces, shiny useless bank cards, pet rocks, prehistoric butterflies,…
There was once an old bookseller who owned a tiny shop at the end of a narrow street in a crowded city. His shop was easy to miss. It had no bright sign, no expensive decoration, and no modern shelves. Dust rested quietly on the old wooden tables, and the smell of paper and rain…
There are weekends that feel long before they even begin. By Friday evening I was already carrying towels from one room to another, opening doors, closing doors, checking who was sleeping over and who was suddenly staying for lunch without warning me first. Fruitloop laughed when I told her about it, but by Sunday I…
A Lunch Tale of Yoga Knees, Yellow Cars, and the Mayor’s Ongoing War Against Forgotten Laundry Some Lunch meetings begin with philosophy. Others begin with technical difficulties. This one began with The Mayor accidentally announcing his own old age before breakfast. “Sorry, I forgot,” he said halfway through the conversation. “You see, I’m so old.”…
I dress in the dark these days – winter in South Africa. Some mornings, my socks are upside down and inside out because I’m trying to beat the sun to the finish line. It’s a quiet, clumsy start to a day that I already know will feel like a race with untied shoes. I used…
I usually spend my time here talking about the “real talk” of life—the inside-out socks, the cold coffee, and the responsibilities we all try to juggle. We focus on the grounded, everyday truths because those are the things that make us feel seen. But sometimes, the most human thing we can do is step away…
