When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Written by Dr. Roze Phillips on October 12, 2020
It is said that words are the clothes our thoughts wear. It is day 200 of lockdown in South Africa and I am reminded of my thoughts on Day zero, when I ventured with the rest of South Africa into unchartered territory.
I wrote then: “As I leave the office, President Ramaphosa is on television, dressed in full army gear, having exchanged his office attire for his new role as Commander-in-Chief of South Africa. How fitting. The war against COVID-19 is in full swing. It dawns on me – this could be the last time I see the office for a while.” A 200 day while it turned out to be. Working remotely is my new normal now. And that is but one of the ways in which life has changed. The world is not the same. I am not the same. Today I start a new thought. Not about what Roze of 200 days ago would think of her today, but what Roze 2000 days from now would think of today’s version of her. Tomorrow’s empires are built on today’s actions. The thing about the future is that no one has experienced it yet. It was true 200 days ago. It is true today. The territory ahead is just as unchartered as it was 200 days ago. And like the rest of South Africa and the world, again I venture forth in the hope that like with COVID-19, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
