Danie Botha's Blog, page 5

These 10 things will happen when you learn a second or a third language

I met a thirty-something gentleman last year who arrived in North America five years ago. We conversed in English—his fifth language. He was born in the Middle East, and grew up with Kurdish, Arabic and Farsi. Ten years ago he moved to Cyprus and mastered Greek. When he crossed the Atlantic, he conquered the Queen’s […]

Images of New York City: looking at life and work with new eyes

Reflecting on the lives we live, the question remains—how can we look at it with new eyes? Are we able to look beyond the obvious, the mere physical objects that our eyes, optic nerves, and visual cortexes—our brains, register? For many of us, even that is a haze. We are too busy with our manicured, […]

Learn how to look at life and work with new eyes

When we look at life—what do we see? Have we become so busy, so numb that we slide through our daily existence, go through the motions, in automatic mode—registering little, seeing even less, and fail to be inspired—emotionally blind? Oh, we see the physical objects—the sky, the clouds, the airplane, cars, buildings, bridges, people, animals, […]

Peek inside my new novel, Be Silent

The first time! Everything in our lives has a first time—from the day we were born till our last breath, there will be ‘first times.’   Many of the firsts we don’t remember: our first breath, our first cry, first smile, first time staying upright, not toppling over, first words and the first steps. We […]

Breaking the silence

Abuse blossoms in silence. That is why it thrives. Why are we surprised when people stand up and speak out to end abuse? Is it because so few do? Only by speaking up can we ever hope to break the pernicious cycle of abuse that is embedded in our society. From our bedrooms and the […]