How I Live Now

Dedicated to mummy & deddi, with all my love

A few years ago, I was given a book as a Christmas present from my high school sweetheart's family (Shoutout to the Masekos!) Being an avid reader and bookworm, needless to say, I was delighted.  But to be honest, I don't really remember what the book was about (something about life before, during and after World War II as seen from the young heroine's perspective and so on and so forth...) but the title "How I live now" and the theme of adapting to constant change has stayed with me since.

As part of my job as presenter, I am constantly learning and developing new skills. Besides the obvious, these skills have grown to also include MC'ing and delivering motivational speeches at events. I enjoy this fresh new opportunity to interact with people, and to share some knowledge and experience with others :)

For my first engagement as a motivational speaker, I was invited to the Paarl Campus of Boland College for their annual Welcoming Assembly for new and returning students. I was particularly excited that I would be making my so-called debut in a place I've called home for 24 years. A homeground advantage if you like!  I decided on the theme of "Success" and how our generation defines it. I didn't want to come across as some phoney wanna-be by reciting a CV-like speech. I wanted to keep it real. I wanted to speak frankly about my experiences with supposed failure, expectations and disappointments and most of all, the need to be able to adapt to change. As young people, we live in difficult times, faced with more opportunities and challenges than any generation that came before, and making a decision about the future can be daunting. I like to compare it to a "Multiple choice questionaire", except where previously one had the option between 2 choices, one of which was right and the other wrong, there are now perhaps 10 possible answers, of which many could be inviting. Among our peers, there seems to exist a constant race to not only achieve, but to do so in the shortest time-frame possible (youngest Grammy Award-winning star, youngest billionnaire... can anyone keep up??) Add to this the pressure and expectations from parents, relatives, teachers, the community, and it is easy to feel TOTALLY overwhelmed. I mean, these are all people who care about our well-being and we don't want to let them down. When I asked around how the youth define success, I had answers like "when I graduate" or "when I have a good job and earn X amount of money". Good answers perhaps, but answers that make it seem as if success is something one can only achieve in the future. Which would suck if that were true!

I grew up in a musical community and fell in love with classical music at an early age. I'm fortunate that my parents have always supported my passion; I remember them going out of their way to pay for piano lessons, singing lessons, violin lessons. Driving EVERYWHERE for rehearsals and concerts and competitions. Buying a new instrument when I decided (on a whim I might add) that I preferred the cello to the violin.  They supported me when I changed  schools and went to live away from home at the age of 16 to be able to sing in the national Youth Choir. I knew then that I wanted to make music for the rest of my life. After school, I enrolled at the UCT Opera School and 4 years flew by. I was a good student, and graduated top of my class. And then came the inevitable question: WHAT NEXT??? Like many other young singers, I dreamed of "making it abroad". I auditioned in London for a post-graduate performance degree and didn't make it. I felt like I had disappointed anyone who's ever believed in me. How could I be as good as everyone wanted to make me believe, and still fail? At the time, I also had to deal with the severe heartache of a relationship coming to an end when my then-boyfriend moved back to Ireland. It was tough, down-in-the-dumps, rock bottom tough. After 8 years of independence and freedom, I was forced to move back home to face the reality of my mum's illness. Of seeing her in pain every day, struggling to have a normal life. I was shattered and more than just a little depressed. I decided to get some help, and through divine grace and the love and support of my friends and family (my heroes, SERIOUSLY!), I slowly started coming to grips with reality and began putting my life back together again. The turning point came when a teaching opportunity opened up at the local Frank Pietersen Music Centre, and I threw myself into learning and rediscovering the magic of music with my students. I finally felt that I was contributing and making a difference, and that feeling gave me a renewed sense of purpose. Truthfully, I knew that maybe it wasn't what I had wanted initially, but I remembered the vital role that my various music teachers had played in my life and I strived to do my best for as long as I was able to. And then came the infamous Top Billing presenter search. By now, I trust you all know the story. The exposure was priceless. The (presenting!) competition gave me a once-in-a-lifetime musical opportunity to do a duet with classical Superstar Katherine Jenkins, as well as perform SOLO in her sold-out concert (yes, I am still pinching myself even after all this time!) And then best of all, following my on-screen "reality internship", the Afrikaans lifestyle program Pasella hired me as their newest presenter (TV titbit sidenote: Top Billing and Pasella are both produced by Tswelopele Productions, so they kept me in the family lol!) What makes this appointment even better, is that it's freelance. This gives me the time and freedom to simultaneously pursue my love of performing, something I could never ever give up. To make a living and do what I love, I didn't have to pack up and move to a different country and leave my friends and family. Instead, I packed up and moved a mere 90 km to Muizenberg (where Tswelopele is based). Now, at the young age of 24, I'm blessed to live the life of my dreams; a life some people work a lifetime towards and are only able to enjoy after their retirement. A life of living right next to the ocean, time to go for walks on the beach, hikes in the mountains... Where I wake up grateful EVERY day. No, it hasn't always been easy, hell, sometimes it's still a struggle (ask any freelancer, we can write a thesis on the matter!) But I wouldn't change a thing because, as they say, "the juice was worth the squeeze!" The point I'm trying to make: Let's stop being so hard on ourselves by trying to "figure it all out" and just let go and let be! :) After all I've been through, success ended up being nothing I was expecting but everything I could have hoped for. Yes, I'm still dreaming, engineering my life one day at a time, and enjoying every second! I can't wait to see where the journey will take me next... The eternal adventurer! And hey, as far as success goes, that's enough for me, for now ;)

If you have a similar story or anything you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it so please let me know!

Til next time, Love and light!

Lynelle ♥

Just going with it! With aunty Pauline and mummy at my 21st birthday celebration :)