Growing up in South Africa was extremely stressful. Even as a child, Vivien could tell that something was “off.” There was always a tension in the air, a looming threat. As she got older, Vivien understood more and more about the threat and its inevitable fate, but even from the age of five, Vivien knew that one day she would need to leave South Africa and emigrate to another country.
After they met, it took twelve years for Vivien and Neil to get their green cards, attaining permanent residence in the USA. Upon consideration of various factors, they chose to live in the Midwest, and this turned out to be a very, very happy choice. It was such a relief to get out of the heated atmosphere in South Africa, and enter a period of peace and calm.
From 1991 to 2013, life was good. Of course, there were the usual ups and downs, including the challenges of dealing with teenagers, but one could say that the move from South Africa to the USA was a big success. Then on January 4, 2013, disaster struck. Vivien and Neil’s oldest son, Aidan, passed suddenly of ventricular fibrillation.
This event burst the happy bubble and sent Vivien and Neil on a sharp downward spiral. Grief doesn’t only affect emotional and mental conditions; it also affects physical health. Within a year, Neil’s health suffered several major setbacks, requiring a series of major organ surgeries over a period of seventeen months. Vivien and Neil were once again deeply in the stress zone.
Although Neil recovered from the surgeries, and they both were progressively healing from their loss, the valuable sense of calm did not return. There seemed to always be yet another reason to feel stressed – an ugly bust up with a once dear friend, an overly complex and demanding project, a constant feeling of pressure in the air. These years of restless discomfort culminated in the lockdown, incurred by the pandemic, and Vivien and Neil had to close their businesses … and start again. Even that mountain was successfully navigated, yet the feeling of inner peace remained elusive.
“Why am I so tense and anxious all the time,” Vivien asked herself. “Something has changed. What is it?” Vivien decided to observe her life to discover the answer.
It only took a few weeks to ascertain the answer – something in the world had changed! When Vivien looked out the window, the street was as calm and peaceful as in the 1990’s when they had first arrived, but when Vivien looked inside herself, there was inner turmoil, just like when she lived in South Africa. What was the source of this inner turmoil? The internet – the phenomenon that had come into existence, with ever increasing dominance, a phenomenon that defies the saying “there’s nothing new under the sun.” “It’s no use blaming the news,” Vivien reasoned with herself, “that’s following the same patterns as ever. You need to blame yourself for bombarding yourself with too much.”
Indeed! When reflecting on the beginning of the 20th Century versus the beginning of the 21st Century, we do seem to be doing better now than one hundred years ago. Yet it all feels so bad. And it feels so bad because instead of getting a daily or weekly report, we’re getting minute-to-minute updates. Additionally, it’s impossible to know how biased, how alarmist and even how fake the news has become, but this is for certain: It’s designed to stir us up.
What’s the antidote? This year, Vivien’s New Year Resolution is to declare a news-free zone around her, and a return to the natural world. She is letting everyone know that she no longer wants to engage in the current brand of madness that is the 21st century. Welcome to Vivien and Neil’s oasis!
Vivien Schapera is an award-winning Teacher, Practitioner and Writer living in Cincinnati, OH USA. In private practice for over 40 years, she is also the founder of three schools, and the author of numerous blogs, vlogs, and books, including Everyday Magic and The Complete Guide to Crystal Surgery.
Find out more at https://crystalhealingtechniques.com/.
Article published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - January 2025.
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