Growing through
Do you REMEMBER who you were 20 YEARS Ago? I was 13, full of early teen angst, mixed with fear of the looming threat of y2k. It was a strange mix of dreaming big, while thinking about what light might look like given the imminent disaster we were trying to fortify ourselves against.
What I’ve continuously found is that it’s those strange moments of inner conflict that make you realise what’s worth celebrating and what’s worth preserving – and when you learn what you can live without.
For me, 2019 has had a lot of similarities to that late-99 fear, and raised many of the same questions: How did we get here? What’s coming next? Will we survive if everything goes pear shaped? I don’t know a single industry or person who hasn’t undergone some sort of shift, struggle or crisis this year; no one seems to be having it easy. It’s been one full of fear, of heartbreak, of suffering for many people – there’s no sugarcoating that.
My mother was full of one-liner pearls of wisdom, and one of her favourites was this: Going through something is just that: going through.
It doesn’t mean you’ll get stuck there. The goingthrough results in the growing-through. Along with the lessons learned along the way, the most valuable part the journey is looking back to where you started, and how you’ve changed since then.
And that’s what we’re celebrating with this 20th anniversary issue. It’s a chance to look at notable moments through our history, but also to see how we’ve grown and adapted to suit a different world.
So what better way to celebrate 20 years of GQ in South Africa than honouring that which gives us the ability to navigate whatever the next 20 years may bring: each other. When we unite, whether in protest, in sport, or even just in song, we fully unlock our power to change the world and change the worlds of those around us. You’ll find this issue full of people just like that, encapsulated in our first-ever GQ Men of the Year (page 81), proudly produced in association with Hennessy VSOP Privilège. No matter what’s next, it’s through celebrating who we are, and who we choose to be every day, that we’ll be able to survive – and thrive.