Hulisani Ravele celebrates 30th birthday with portraits and poetry

by Bridgette Matjuda
Hulisani Ravele

Hulisani Ravele recently turned 30 and she chose a unique way to celebrate her milestone. She took to her social media to share details of her special project which commemorates her 30th birthday.

Here’s what she had to say about her reflections and beautiful birthday.

Dear 30 I always wandered about you What you would feel like What you would taste like What you would look like And so today, 23 January 2018, you arrived to much anticipation and fanfare Dear 30 MY 30 You feel like peace You taste like freedom You look like grace Dance with me Laugh with me Grow with me Dream with me I know we just met But I love you already I know you haven’t said much But I want to have endless conversations with you I know I don’t know you fully yet But I trust the One who does Dear 30 It’s not a given that one will meet you Hello and thank you for choosing me. Love Me

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I will be releasing a series of 30 portraits reflecting emotions of what 30 years of life experience has brought with it and built in me. Each portrait will be narrated with poetry written by talented writer Sizakele Phohleli, @her_mentality, in a collection she has coined ‘Blues for Hulisani’.

My emotion: Peace Her words: Hulisani an oasis, a place of rest.  a ceaseless chain of prayers,  of tongues wet in song, of arms stretched out to the blue skies in reverence, feet tangled in a dance of honour, you are all that your name suggests, a quiet place,  an empire of indestructible empresses who wear devotions around their wrists, around their bellies. mother of all mothers, they come to you for water but careful,  love them, let them in with caution,  let them in with your door half closed,  kiss them with your eyes wide open,  you are not here for love that takes without replenishing,  you are not here for hands that have mastered the greediness of taking without giving. . Written by: @her_mentality #30PortraitsAndPoetry #HulisaniRaveleAt30 #PurposePowerImpact  #InAllThings . —————————————————————————— About #30PortraitsAndPoetry To celebrate her 30th birthday, Hulisani Ravele is releasing a series of 30 portraits reflecting emotions of what 30 years of life experience has brought with it and built in her. Each portrait will be narrated with poetry written by talented writer Sizakele Phohleli, @her_mentality, in a collection she has coined ‘Blues for Hulisani’. . Credits: Jewellery – @afrigarde Styling – @lee_sebolao Make-up – @royal.mogul Photography – @tsholo_photography

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30 is a big milestone and I wanted to celebrate it in a unique way. Bringing #30PortraitsAndPoetry to life was both exciting & nerve-wrecking. I started off by writing a list of 30 emotions I felt my life journey has brought with it so far. That meant stripping myself bare and being vulnerable and comfortable with listing the bad or negative emotions alongside the good, happy ones.

Also See: Hulisani Ravele’s balancing act

My emotion: Faith Her words: You are a song  a praise song, a worship song,  a poem, you are a holy place, no matter how dirty you feel at the face of your sins, no matter how little you feel when your worries tower over you, do not forget this. you are a song.  a dance.  a holy place. . Written by: @her_mentality #30PortraitsAndPoetry #HulisaniRaveleAt30 #PurposePowerImpact  #InAllThings . —————————————————————————— About #30PortraitsAndPoetry To celebrate her 30th birthday, Hulisani Ravele is releasing a series of 30 portraits reflecting emotions of what 30 years of life experience has brought with it and built in her. Each portrait will be narrated with poetry written by talented writer Sizakele Phohleli, @her_mentality, in a collection she has coined ‘Blues for Hulisani’. . Credits: Styling – @lee_sebolao Make-up – @royal.mogul Photography – @tsholo_photography

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The images that will be released are untouched and unedited. A decision I intentionally made because being famous does not mean that I am perfect nor do I have to be. I accept and love myself; freckles, flaws, scars, stretch marks, and all; and I hope that those seeing the images are inspired to feel the same about themselves too. I had a terrible break-out on my face leading up to and on the day of the shoot, and that’s exactly how I am going to release the images, as they are.

My emotion: Wisdom Her words: You are not of this time,  you come from a time beyond logic,  beyond mortal understanding,  a time of manna falling from the wide blue yonder and separated seas, you come from a legion of prayer warriors,  from the wombs of brown skinned women who have walked on water and split monstrosities into a myriad of shards,  open your eyes, there’s nothing ordinary about how indestructible you are,  how every morning, every night, these days come in and out of you and still leave you standing. see yourself for what you really are,  only then will you stop crying from these pedestrian miseries that only add a short-lived memory and a song or two to your Friday night playlist. . Written by: @her_mentality #30PortraitsAndPoetry #HulisaniRaveleAt30 #PurposePowerImpact  #InAllThings . —————————————————————————— About #30PortraitsAndPoetry To celebrate her 30th birthday, Hulisani Ravele is releasing a series of 30 portraits reflecting emotions of what 30 years of life experience has brought with it and built in her. Each portrait will be narrated with poetry written by talented writer Sizakele Phohleli, @her_mentality, in a collection she has coined ‘Blues for Hulisani’. . Credits: Jewellery – @afrigarde Styling – @lee_sebolao Make-up – @royal.mogul Photography – @tsholo_photography

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2018 is a big year for me. Not only do I turn 30 but this year also marks my 21st year in the industry. I am looking forward to sharing this special project with those who have followed and supported my career for the past 21 years. I truly hope that this honest introspection and the portrayal of it inspires others to not only do the same but to also be accepting of the results of that introspection. We are all just doing the best we can at this life thing. It will come with its ups and downs, its mistakes, its trials and triumphs, but for as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, it will be YOUR story to tell. And it will be beautiful.”

My emotion: Insecurity Her words: where it hurts the most,  where you feel most ugly,  where you are most afraid,  all the places you keep away from the sun, out of shame, out of guilt, out of fear, because you feel unworthy so much that you rush yourself to the night so you can curl into yourself, eating the inside of your mouth, drinking your own sweat, love yourself there,  passionately,  rowdily,  gently,  vociferously, gracefully.  you cannot be full until you have opened all the windows and doors to your soul unflinchingly and let the sun and fresh air in,  until you have loved all your ugly parts,  all the parts that make you cringe,  all the parts you would usually spit at, all the parts you only speak of when you cry, all the parts you have named after your blue days, even a house in ruin deserves to be loved tenderly. . Written by: @her_mentality #30PortraitsAndPoetry #HulisaniRaveleAt30 #PurposePowerImpact  #InAllThings . —————————————————————————— About #30PortraitsAndPoetry To celebrate her 30th birthday, Hulisani Ravele is releasing a series of 30 portraits reflecting emotions of what 30 years of life experience has brought with it and built in her. Each portrait will be narrated with poetry written by talented writer Sizakele Phohleli, @her_mentality, in a collection she has coined ‘Blues for Hulisani’. . Credits: Styling – @lee_sebolao Make-up – @royal.mogul Photography – @tsholo_photography

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A special thank you to the talented creatives who helped me bring my story and journey to life:

@lee_sebolao
@afrigarde
@royal.mogul
@tsholo_photography
@her_mentality
.
#30PortraitsAndPoetry
#HulisaniRaveleAt30
#PurposePowerImpact
#InAllThings