It’s Christmas day here in Cape Town, and it’s the first non-Melbourne Christmas that Chris and I have had in our time together. It’s also his 36th birthday today. We’re certainly aging slowly but surely.
We spent the morning on video chat with his family in London and Melbourne, then spent the afternoon going up Table Mountain. From almost wherever you are in the city of Cape Town, you can see Table Mountain; it’s quite a sight to see, and has an incredible view of the city from the top. When we reached the summit and stared down at the city flanked by water, I realized how similar Cape Town felt to Rio when we went up Sugar Loaf Mountain there. These two cities have mountains and water surrounding their cities. It’s no wonder we both enjoyed these places so much.
There were informational signs throughout the top of the summit, and one of them included a quite from Nelson Mandela on the beauty and hope that Table Mountain brings to Cape Town. And as I thought about this, I looked out into the water at Robben Island, where he once was imprisoned for 18 years, and thought how ridiculous it would be for a human being to be imprisoned that long and still make it out alive, being both optimistic and hopeful. He saw Table Mountain from Robben Island as his “beacon of hope,” that one day, he’d be back on the mainland and making change happen for humankind.
The human psyche is quite powerful; it is often one’s disposition rather than life circumstances that determine how happy or hopeful one is. The fact that Nelson Mandela was able to get through his horrific imprisonment, as well as all these other former political prisoners of Robben Island, are a testament to that statement. Seeing the natural beauty of Table Mountain and using that as his reason for hope for the future is inspiring, and after having visited it today, I can definitely understand why. Although he was imprisoned, he probably felt lucky to be able to see this mountain every day. When I think of the oppression he faced, it always makes me sad to think of how miserable and negative people like my mom or my cousin are, and how they always think their circumstances are so much worse than others when in fact, they are so much better off than most people. They cannot realize that it’s their own minds that are preventing them from being happy, not to mention the poor choices they themselves have chosen to make. On days like Christmas when most people are celebrating or happy about life, they dwell on how terrible the world is. Their dispositions need a change, but unfortunately never will.