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Embracing my simple but beautiful dreams and learning to celebrate myself **Flashback May 2023** "Do you think I should cancel? Is the guest list too much? Aren't people busy with their lives? WHY DID I DECIDE TO THROW MYSELF A BIRTHDAY DINNER???!!" I rattled off, at my younger sister Phindi who was trying her best, to listen to me ramble for the umpteenth time, about my reservations of celebrating my birthday. You see I've had the dream to host a dinner party, since I was in high school when my friend's big sister, hosted a birthday dinner party at a restaurant. At the time, I thought it was the most fun adulting event I'd ever been to and soon enough it became my dream. So why did it take me, until the last year in my 20's to do it? Well besides, overthinking it, resources and missing my time... but ultimately I just didn't feel worthy enough to stop people's lives and say "HEY HEY, LOOK OVER HERE, CELEBRATE ME" - while I know my loved ones do not feel this way, I did, but this year I finally over came. But then I did it and here are 5 Easy steps to Celebrate yourself as a Late Bloomer!! Dream it, make it plain, write a list and just celebrate yourself! Tell your simple beautiful dream to those who love and support you Let go of your fantasy 'Timeline' - Yes I wanted this dinner on my 21st, but that never happened and the moment I let that go, I found this was the perfect time! Save, save, save and however quaint or simple, swallow your worry and celebrate yourself. Once you start celebrating, don't be shy, you deserve love and to stop and be grateful for every milestone. That's how I celebrated my birthday May 2023 and It was one of the best birthdays of my entire life <3 Thank you to all my lovely friends for the love and light, i am blessed, especially my sister Phindi for helping organize this special intimate dinner. So to all my late bloomers, who struggle to celebrate nice, simple accomplishments or dreams, who feel behind in this area, it is never too late, we may Bloom late...BUT, when we bloom it's soooo beautiful, wonderful and you won't want to live any other way. Till next time loves, Samu's Extra Birthday :) -Samu

A short story series based on my life stories, with a dramatic twist. Part 2 - Living Like A Free Birdie! Continued... STRESSED!! I was sooo Stressed and felt like I had no way out!! The minute I arrived at school I was, STRESSED! I mean how could I not be? I'm a terrible liar, plus I easily overthink and for the most part, I derived no joy from trying to be Sherlock Holmes, a 13-year old could only do so much to keep track of all the dumb details of my story. *What school did I say he was from? *How long were we together? *Did I make-up the break-up story? *What if they want pictures... Oh NO! I spent all day feeling stressed and trying to "ACT" natural in front of my friends. God must have heard all the prayers, I prayed that day, it seemed as though my friends had forgotten about the whole 'fake primary school boyfriend' little lie, or so I hoped. We were all painting in art class and my mood was starting to lift, because I enjoyed painting quite a bit. Everyone was chatting while painting and as I took a large sigh, I knew I was not a gangster, I wasn't slick, and the most exhausting thing I'd learned was trying to pretend to be 'cool' when I was a born and bread goofy nerd. "I LIED!" I blurted out. "I've never had a boyfriend...sorry, I lied." SILENCE... Then laughter from EVERYONE! "Grrrl we know, we were going along with it for fun, but we all knew it's not true." - one of my friends' spoke up. Although humiliation tried to creep up, a feeling more powerful trumped it... RELIEF! I was so relieved, I felt free, seriously like a butterfly, nope a bird in a cloudless sky haha! To this day, over 15 years later, me and my high school friends still joke about my 'fake boyfriend story' but in hindsight I'm glad I learned early, that I'm bad at lying, lying sucks and most importantly, show up as yourself. I only realized later on in life, that this would prove an advantage for me and as an adult I soon found words, for this life lesson and I'm keeping it with me, through every season in life. ~The END~

A short story series based on my life stories, with a dramatic twist. Part 1 - A Buffet of Lies I visibly gulped and tried to look as natural as possible. Never in my life, did I pray for super sonic hearing, than when watching a group of my friends, hovering in the corner of our class room, whispering and stealing glances at me. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest, no one's going to find out, right? I groaned internally feeling overwhelmed as the thousand horses galloped inside my chest, as my heart threatened to jump out. I'm in big big trouble, they know. My white lie has become the classroom gossip…I looked up, blinking constantly to keep the tears that threatened to fall at bay. My grade 8 heart simply could not take the pressure of such a lie. Everyone knows! What should I do?" So you’re probably wondering how I got here? Well like any ordinary kid, I wanted to fit in. That’s right. In the 'Real' harsh corridors of High school, different lent itself too close to weird, so I preferred to fit in. I was 13 and I was doing my best to fit into my new surroundings. A few months ago I had lived in a different township, going to a rural primary school where everyone walked everywhere and we spoke my native tongue of Zulu. Suddenly when I was accepted to what we term a ‘Model C’ or effluent high school, I had to leave my township and start using whatever little English I knew, every single day. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Whenever someone spoke of their primary school, I would hesitate, because the reaction was always “Oh, never heard of it.” awkward silence and then a change of topic. So one of those days in grade 8, me and a group of my classmates were talking about our dating lives. Well they were talking and I was listening intently. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have any interest in guys yet, so the topic was very foreign to me, however… I was tired of feeling different. So when everyone had shared their boyfriends or past experiences, one of my classmates turned to me. “So, wena? Do you have a boyfriend?” I looked around and figured, this conversation would never leave our little group and I thoughtlessly went for it. “Nope. Well I mean, not anymore, of course. I had a boyfriend. His name is Danielle, he’s mixed. We met before we got to high school and we were together, not for long and then we broke up sadly.” I rattled off a whole melodramatic fictional love story. - Lie number #1 My classmate’s eyes all perked up, after hearing me speak up. “Really, which high school does he go to?” A classmate next to me asked. “One in Newlands west, you wouldn’t know it if you don’t live by my house.” - Lie #2 “Okay, so you broke up, you wouldn’t mind if any of us dated him?” What? I whipped my head around and found the classmate, who had asked this absurd question and they had what I could only describe, as a slight upward quip to their lips, in a taunting manner, as if daring me to keep up this façade. I let out a breath, keep it cool Samu, you did well, you said, ex-boyfriend, so you don’t have to keep up the lie. I told myself. “Yeah sure, go ahead.” - Lie #3 “Wow okay, can I have his number then?” The same classmate, miss absurd, let’s call her, doubled down. I let out a slight awkward chuckle, already feeling the weight of 3 lies. I couldn’t keep going, but I trusted that after one or two more lies, it would be a thing of the past. “Okay, but ask me for his number after school, since it’s in my diary.” - Lie #4 I was terrified… so many lies. I had gone from 1 or 2, to a whole buffet of lies, in a matter of seconds. To be Continued...

Welcome to MY Spare Imaginary Hour A space to be genuine, to explore, to dare to dream, to be loud & proud and where 'Extra' is the norm. San'bonani, Hi everyone! My name is Samu, short for Samukelisiwe Mkhize. I am a young adult living in South Africa. I am a writer, a social media manager, and a k-drama enthusiast hehe. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, sushi, and singing with my family. Here's My WHY... It's my dream to create a community of daydreamers, peace seekers, and those who do not limit their dreams to their current circumstances, but find a way to sneak in an hour or two every now and then to explore whatever makes them feel alive. Look forward to 'EXTRA-ness' Blog posts, Short stories, Poetry, Quotes, Memes, Shout outs and so much more. I've made some pretty big declaration since the start of 2022. From declaring on LinkedIn that I will 'Bet everything on my self' to my twitter writing 'I will finally have my own blog', all these declarations, were to motivate myself, to stop procrastinating, because there is no growth in the comfort zone. So while I battle my own limiting thoughts, I took the plunge and it feels so so good to be here. A final note to Self... So you've read everything above and you're still confused, asking yourself, what is this blog really about? Well some paths are best walked, not told. I will not be explaining a lot because as an adult in the rat race, I explain plenty in my life. I explain when I clocked in, how my work is progressing, I explain where I'm at, I explain when I'm giving a lesson in church, I explain to my mom where I'm going and when i will come back...yes at my big age...and on and on and on This blog is my extra imaginary 'hour' my space to rest from explanations and just BE. If you too need a break and can spare some time, please do join this adventure of leisure and fun and sometimes we'll laugh, sometimes we'll cry, but we will always be authentic and truthful to ourselves. If you had just one extra hour in your day, what would you do? Feel free to leave a comment under every post and Instagram and share the goodness :) Valorously, Samu