Selah - Encounters

From the author, CCCU student Chantil:

It was during the first lock down in 2020 when the world was thrown into this space of isolation and restrictions that this book was birthed. I’ve always been writing, never really published but always writing something. I always have my journal with me wherever I go. Writing has become a space for me to lean into when I am happy, when I am feeling a bit low or when I am processing something. Words allow me to delve into the unknown, that part of me that holds my truth. That part of me that stands with me.

My writing often centres around spirituality and healing and how I as a person I fit into this space and how we engage with this dynamic.

So, when I sat down writing during the lock down it was not that I wrote to publish or anything like that but that I just put to words what I was going through. I was, like the rest of the world trying to make sense of what was happening. I was trying to become quiet so that I could maybe hear what my response to this pandemic that should be had engulfed humanity. It was a scary and confusing time.

It was during this same time as I was reflecting on what was happening that I landed on this thought “why don’t you check out Media courses”. Again, I never thought about going to University, this was a dream when I was much younger. This was not something on my mind. I have a passion for the Media and a history in this area. My love is for human interest stories and sharing those stories with the rest of the world to encourage people. So, I responded to this suggestion of Media and looked at University courses. I landed on Canterbury Church Church University’s Media and Communications course. With much trepidation I started to fill out the applications forms. Totally anxious that I may not qualify and how long it would take to graduate. I went ahead anyway. It seemed the perfect time!!


About the author:
My name is Chantil Thomas, I am a single mother of a seventeen old young man, who would soon be off to university himself. I am South African by birth and now live in Kent. I remember being a little girl and writing my first poem and since then I realised that I have something special with words. I love using words, singing, speaking, and writing, its my “happy place”.

The book was birthed from this place of uncertainty and seeking a refuge, a space where I could feel like its safe. My whole family is in South Africa, so not to be able to even get to them has been stressful. With elderly parents and the concern around their care and well being was making it even more difficult. My dad has since passed on last year, at the ripe age of 95. Not to be at his funeral has been a challenge.