“When I was spending my July holidays in the Kalahari Desert as a child, I didn’t imagine I would be doing high fashion in America in my 70s. #AWomanMakesAPlan Yet your life changes, and you need to make another plan. Aim for happiness @IMGmodels #ItsGreatToBe71“
Maye was a guest on a podcast by Vishen (The Mindvalley podcast with Vishen) and he called her a force to be reckon with. I could not agree more. Just couldn’t.
As getting to know her story and read the book, you cannot help but wonder HOW on earth did she manage that? For example, I now think about situations like: ‘How would Maye do this?’
In short (well you really need to get to know the story, so far), her mother and father were Canadians, where her father bought a plane. Then they moved to South-Africa, and with five kids explored the world, so to say. As Maye and her twin sister Kaye were so little, they often didn’t participate in the travels. Maye’s father searched for lost cities.
Except for the Kalahari desert trip they all went. The family spent weeks sleeping outside with lions and hyenas coming close to the camp.
That right there is why Maye and all her children (Kimbal, Tosca and Elon) are so fearless. Because Maye’s parents were, and when you grow up in a family like that…Well… Their motto was and is: “Living dangerously–carefully.”
“We never lit a fire and ate only canned food and bread. Sleep was limited, because at night, the cattle kept trying to lick our faces or steal our blankets. Perhaps that’s why it never bothered me to share a small apartment with my children.” (About the experiences in the Kalahari Desert)
“At fifteen, I had been told I’d be done by eighteen, and at seventy-one, I’m the biggest I’ve ever been. What I’ve learned is that you can always find a way. You can always make another plan. Of course, it took time for me to learn, and I’m still learning!” (Maye about modelling)
Going back to Canada, the family had barely nothing. Tosca (15) had sold pretty much everything, while Maye was out of town. Tosca was heading to Canada because Elon was already there. Living from a pay check to a pay check, eating lots of peanut butter sandwiches and bean soups to survive (Maye herself is a dietitian/nutritionist and Kimbal of course became a chef). This ‘roughing it’ was nothing new though. Elon said he lived a dollar per day on a podcast with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
What a first Gem book of the year to kick-start 2022 with! O.m.g. Now, how would Maye spend 2022? Off to find out.
X Johanna
GEM 