Gugu Mbatha-Raw Instagram – Felt compelled to pick up my paintbrush and capture the Joy of Desmond Tutu. ❤️ Before he joined the church, Desmond Tutu was a teacher and taught my Dad at school during the Apartheid era. My Dad always remembers his charismatic readings of Oliver Twist when they studied Charles Dickens in his South African high school. The power of lively storytelling left a deep impression. I’m still learning from Tutu’s words today… here are some of my favourite things he said: We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family. We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew. Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful.… and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things. If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Discovering more joy does not, save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily too. Perhaps we are just more alive. Yet as we discover more joy, we can face suffering in a way that ennobles rather than embitters. We have hardship without becoming hard. We have heartbreaks without being broken. Transformation begins in you, wherever you are, whatever has happened, however you are suffering. Transformation is always possible. We do not heal in isolation. When we reach out and connect with one another-when we tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, and renew or release the relationship-our suffering begins to transform. 🦋 #desmondtutu #joy #art #transformation