Beloved muso is enjoying her new lease on life
Local muso, Ilse Maré, of Havanna, has been back at work performing for the last couple of months.
MBOMBELA – Lowvelder reported in June 2018 about the horrific accident in which she and her sound engineer, Dewald Scheepers, were involved, after a Dutch tourist veered into the oncoming lane.
The accident ultimately led to the death of the tourist. His wife, Maré and Scheepers were all seriously injured.
Havanna performed at Urban House Café for LimeTime’s sixth birthday celebration this weekend and gave Lowvelder a chance to catch up with Maré.
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She said Havanna started performing again around December 2018.
“As a performer, you have to lug around heavy equipment and after the accident, I am just not able to do this like before. Wynand, my husband, and I and the other half of Havanna had to find a new way of operating – this has been a journey and is still a challenge.”
Maré said although she has healed very well, physically her whole life has changed. “I have had to change a lot about my lifestyle and had to learn to pace myself.”
Not all of the changes are negative for her, though. “The accident made me realise that I had to slow down and not sweat the small things in life. Before, I was a busybody – always pushing to do greater things and living life at an intense pace.
“Now I have learned to take things as they come and to intensely love life. My family and friends became my priority.”
During their performance she quoted Prof Richard Beck: “When life is treated as a possession that can be taken from us, damaged or lost, our lives become infused with fear, causing us to cling, protect, hoard, defend and aggress. The antidote to this fear is gratitude, and viewing life – the whole life – not as a possession to be defended, but as a gift to be shared.”
She also mentioned that she is extremely blessed that her hands and her voice, the tools of her trade, were not damaged in the accident. “My greatest gift is that I am still alive to share my gift as a musician with others, and to be grateful every day.”
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