How do you eat an elephant?

It’s a funny saying, isn’t it? I don’t remember ever being asked that question growing up, yet recently I just can’t seem to get away from it. What’s that about? I know that I’ve been a bit restless lately, and being an Aries, I don’t like to sit still very long. I’ve been craving a passion project to really sink my teeth into, but I haven’t quite found it yet.

Then, something clicked around 3am this morning. I was wide awake and just couldn’t go back to sleep. Not even those soothing rain music videos on YouTube could quieten my brain, who had clearly latched onto a time zone where the sun was already up. I gave up fighting it, sat up in the dark and had a conversation with myself.

What’s the elephant in your life, Ronna?

Exploring the space in between

The last time I was at Karaponga Falls, I was on a date. Sounds romantic, I know. We spent a few hours sitting by the waterfall just talking, eating fresh berries from a local farm and me endlessly wondering how you would actually kiss a man with a beard the size of his. Unfortunately, I never did find out. His beard was glorious, and I often found myself mesmerised how he managed to keep it clean when he was eating.

We clicked intellectually and spiritually - I have a thing for intelligent men after all. He was in his thirties, though still a few years younger than me. What he lacked in years, he sure made up for in height. It seems tall, intelligent men is my favour. You can’t help what you’re attracted to, right?

P.S. I love you.

“You look like you’re dancing,” that’s what my friend John told me after he took that shot. Whose great idea was it to walk barefoot in the middle of the road anyway? Oh, it was mine...damn it. We were only 15 minutes into the shoot and my feet were already sore from the loose stones on the road. There was nothing graceful as I scuttled out of the way from oncoming traffic. That’s why when I decided to no longer teach hip hop at the end of 2020, I knew that I wanted to take up belly dancing again.

He was right, I was dancing. For some reason Cold Chisel’s “Flame Trees” began to play in my head like that nostalgic radio you keep in the shed. The kind that collects dust for years, waiting faithfully for you to appreciate that familiar crackle as you turn the knob to tune it into the right frequency.

Dance and I have had an all-consuming relationship for most of my adult life - to be honest, I think that says more about my slightly obsessive nature. It’s well and truly imprinted in who I am. But there’s no denying that it has shaped me as a woman. That’s why when I decided to no longer teach hip hop at the end of 2020, I knew that I wanted to take up belly dancing again.