Some names carry stories long before the people who bear them fully understand their meaning.

For Sinelizwi Mbidana, that story only revealed itself years later, and changed the way he saw himself and the world around him.

His name, Sinelizwi, means ‘We have a voice’ in isiXhosa. Today, the author and musician believes he is finally growing into the meaning of that name through his music, spirituality, and, now, his writing. “I was surprised when I discovered how beautiful my name actually is.”

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Growing up, the name was not commonly used around him. It was only later, through conversations with his mother and his own research, that he learnt where it came from. He said he was named by the late Justina Nozihamba, his grandmother.

Nozihamba was a deeply spiritual woman, who attended the Wesley Methodist Church. That is where the inspiration for his name came from, a church hymn that begins with the words: ‘Sinelizwi lika Thixo sinobomi ngalo’, meaning ‘We have the word of God and life through it’.

For him, it felt like more than coincidence. “It made me realise that maybe my life was always meant to speak for something.”

Speak it does, not only through music, but now through his book titled The Innocent Present Moment, inspired by the many places and experiences that shaped him. Instead of keeping those experiences to himself, he decided to pour them into writing.

“A song only lasts four minutes. There are stories you can’t fully tell in that short space of time.”

Writing a book gave him room to unpack his thoughts about life, healing, identity, and spirituality in a much deeper way, but the journey towards writing was not easy.

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In December 2018, shortly after releasing his first music project, sponsored by the Eastern Cape department of sports, arts, and recreation, Sinelizwi was involved in a car accident. Suddenly, plans to market his music came to a halt.

In January 2019, he was lying in a ward at Far East Rand Hospital, carrying both physical pain and anxiety about his future. “One of the guys in the ward had a pile of books. I started going through them and found The Power of Now.”

The book, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, would completely shift his mindset. Instead of obsessing over what he had lost, or worrying about what would happen next, he began learning how to simply be present.

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“I realised I needed to stop chasing the future, while ignoring the moment I was in. I needed to heal.”

That lesson became the heartbeat of his own writing. One of the chapters in his book, titled The Actual Breakthrough, challenges society’s obsession with fame, status, and material success.

Sinelizwi believes many people spend their lives chasing external validation, while never truly getting to know themselves. “The real breakthrough is finding yourself. That’s the hardest journey anyone can ever take.”

He hopes readers who pick up his book will stop putting their lives on hold while waiting for some perfect future. “I want people to appreciate where they are now, even the small things. Gratitude is the gateway to abundance.”

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