Madiba. Mandela. Father. Husband. Leader. Grace. Hero. Spirit. Humanity. LOVE.

All words to describe the one and only Nelson Mandela.

In 2009, I travelled to South Africa to learn about a country that enchanted me. For whatever reason, I was fascinated with the history, the landscape, the culture, and to some extent, the history and the heroes behind the Apartheid struggle.

I read a lot to prepare for my trip - about the gold, the Dutch, the history, and about the greats: Oliver Tambo, Steve Biko, and of course, of Mandela.

Just before I was to leave, my buddy gifted me with the best present I could ask for - A Long Walk to Freedom - Mandela's autobiography.

I remember reading the book on the flight over, curious as to how I could feel in his home country. I can recall being so excited and highlighting all kinds of inspiring words and messages from his book, somewhere over the ocean.

He possessed diligence, patience, and major discipline, which was so opposite of everything I was up to that point. It inspired me. Messages like, "your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty" prepared me for what I was embarking upon. In looking back at the tattered copy of that book that I still cherish, I flip open to sentences such as these:

• "It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another," 
• "Courage was not the absence of fear, but triumph over it," 
• "Love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,"
• "I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps for just a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man's goodnes is a flame that can be hidden, but never extinguished,"
  and
• "Perhaps it requires such depth of oppression to create such heights of character." 

I realize these words and ideas have stayed with me in silent whispers as I've lived out many other adventures since then in my life.

In Chapter 77, he talked of his home at 8115 Orland West in Soweto - the home he shared with Winnie Mandela before going to prison for 27 years. I told myself I would see Soweto if I could (later, I did).

Once I landed (in the Oliver Tambo airport in Johannesburg) and got to the conservation I was working on, I can recall eating breakfast looking out over the serene bankenveld, wondering what his veld had looked like. Wondering how he felt about life and love and all the issues you have when you are a 23 year old.

I can distinctly remember how over the top excited I was when I finished the book the very morning that I was to go on my Soweto / Apartheid tour.

Other than the fact that I got lost for three hours driving the highways of Jo'burg prior to finding the tour guide (scariest moment of my life to date), it was the most extraordinary day. We visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum (from the 1976 uprising), we saw the South Africa Bill of Rights, we toured the Apartheid Museum, and we visited Mandela's home, #8115 Orlando West. I can still feel the pulse of Soweto in my veins.

I arrived home to the conservation so excited and glowing about that day that I was nicknamed "Mandela lover" by the other volunteers.

In my opinion, not the worst nickname one can receive.

This summer I have talked about getting a tattoo of the word UBUNTU. It is a word that means so much to me and it all I am who I am because of who we all are." It is the African concept of humanity. It means that I see others struggles in my struggles and I love others for all of their imperfections. That if I have one dollar and you have nothing, I share my fifty cents. It is more than a word; it is a spirit, a sense.

To me, Nelson Mandela is the symbol of humanity. He brought light to so much injustice. He suffered greatly, more than most of us could ever know, yet he always forgave. He was humble. He worked hard. He loved deeply. Isn't that what we're all here for?

He inspired an entire nation to freedom and showed us the true meaning of forgiveness. He inspired the world.

And in doing so, he inspired me.

Madiba, you are one of the true great inspirations of this modern world. And you will continue to teach me lessons and inspire me over the course of my entire life. As the world gathers at your bedside, we inspire you to live well or let go freely. You've left this world an entirely different - and better - place.

 -xo