Working with rhinos inspired SA-born screenwriter to heal her broken self
SA-born screenwriter Helena Kriel finds herself in a deep personal crisis, forced to ask: Where do I belong? Who do I belong with? What is family? What is tribe? Where is home?
The memoir opens in Los Angeles, where she's an A-list screenwriter, married to the man she thought was “The One”. When the writers' strike renders her useless and her marriage falls apart, she travels back to her childhood home in SA.
Little does Kriel know that she'll find her salvation in the heart of the SA bush, as she volunteers to work with baby rhinos orphaned by poaching.
The rhinos have also lost their sense of belonging and family - they are shattered by the violence of their circumstances.
Using meditation, Kriel finds she can access these sentient and emotional beings. They inspire her broken self to look for a connection to all of nature.
Kriel ultimately finds her sense of belonging and learns from the rhinos that “you grow where life puts you down”.
- Article provided by NB Publishers