When and how did Sibo-Lifestyle Magazine come to life?
Last year in May I did a vision board of a project of an idea I had been thinking about for a few months. One of the things I put on it was a picture of a magazine. When I did that I had no idea how or when it would come about. I was doing my usual dreaming. A year later, May 1, 2020, the first Issue came out. Below are pictures of the vision board:
You will notice I was calling it Cleopatra-Lifestyle. I wanted that name because Cleopatra was a queen who was a flawed human being who was still perfect as she was. I thought I would start from scratch but a few months later I remembered my blog ‘Inspiration By Sibo’ that I had abandoned for a year and some months. It was a dream/vision blog. I went back to it and revamped it to add a wellness section, a features section and more recently a travel section. I started running the blog again and in April this year I thought, maybe I can start that magazine I dreamed of. Less than a month later, the first issue came out.
So Sibo-Lifestyle was birthed from Inspiration By Sibo. I didn’t go with the name Cleopatra because I didn’t want to start over but wanted to build up from what I already had. I’m sharing this with you to show you that your dreams are valid and even if you don’t know how, you will find yourself living some of those dreams and achieving what you set out to do.
What is a Sibo-Lifestyle? (The lifestyle we promote and hope to achieve)
- A holistic life where you take care of your spirit, body and soul.
- You accept and love yourself as you are.
- Even though you accept and love yourself, you value personal development and continual growth.
- You dream big and have a vision for your life.
- You live a conscious life. You are self-aware. You are not afraid to tackle the hard soul searching questions or the answers you don’t want to hear.
- You live a passion filled, purposeful life.
- You take time out for you so you can be filled to serve others with the overflow.
- You take time out to relax, to travel, to have fun and to laugh.
- You define success on your own terms.
- You know you matter, your life has meaning and you are a beautiful and worthy human being.
Why are you, as a reader, called a diamond?
In a world where being like everyone else or fitting in is the norm, I wanted a name that made you stand out and affirm you for who and what you are. You are a diamond, a rare precious stone. Whether or not the world recognizes it, you are a diamond. Give yourself permission to shine and shine brightly. Don’t ever feel the need to dim your light to fit in or to make other people feel better about themselves. With that said, let me share with you a letter I wrote to my daughter-to-be (that I’m now dedicating to you) on not shrinking next to a great man. To our male readers, I use ‘she’ in the letter because I’m putting it here as I wrote it to my daughter-to-be so feel free to read it in a way that applies to you:-)
Dear Diamond,
You don’t have to shrink next to a powerful or great man. Sometimes people will expect you to do it but you don’t have to. Look at Eleanor Roosevelt. Her husband is the one who was President but she still shined next to him. Even now her name is still known.
You can achieve a lot on your own. The world sometimes makes it seem as though to achieve great success as a woman you have to be single. You don’t. If you want to you can. Marriage can sometimes seem like it stifles women. In some cases it does but only if you let it. You can be married and still shine your light bright.
Consider Eva Peron. Everyone knows who she is. Movies and plays have been made in her honor. She could have chosen to be the meek stand-and-look-classy kind of first lady but she didn’t. She pursued her own causes and gained her people’s love, trust and respect. She didn’t conform to what was expected of her. You don’t have to either.
Don’t let the world define how you should act in order to succeed. Let that be up to you. Whether you do it on your own or next to a man, shine from where you are. Don’t feel the need to dim your light. If you find yourself needing to then maybe the man you’re next to needs to let his light shine brighter. That’s his problem, not yours. So let your light shine and brightly at that!
With love,
Sibo Hlabangana.
