less hui, more do-ey: but remember to rest as well.

If I’d have written this a month ago, the next line would have been ‘ha jk, rest when you’re dead’ and if you had a quiet chuckle to yourself just now, you can relate. Haha I was in the thick of it, on auto-pilot, at my level of consciousness at the time - doing what needed to be done.

I know rest is important, I know the value of it, the effects adequate and inadequate rest - I know it! Yet I would still not prioritise it. This is an observation of the whakaaro (thoughts) in my head one day, recently:

Aaahhhhhh damn I’m starting to get sick… but I still have this, that and the other to do..’

- Oh well, you wanted to commit to all these kaupapa (causes, initiatives) and try and do everything, suffer.

Constructive self-talk, right? Haha it’s a fun time and I’m 99% sure it can be attributed to a lack of sleep, go figures.. However, the awa (river) that is my life has taken a turn and the workload has eased up a bit, allowing more time to rest and replenish the energy stores. Finally. And it’s during this time, I’ve also decided that going full tilt, on auto-pilot and ‘doing whatever’s necessary’ til I burnout isn’t sustainable. It’s not the process I want to rinse and repeat, exhaustion and having Whiro (atua of misfortune, disease) isn’t a fun time and I don’t like being tired, irritable and low energy as the ‘norm.’

So I’ve been reflecting on how to increase my capacity to get mahi done; sustainably, efficiently and effectively and I came across kōrero pertaining to

Tāne-te-waiora

Tāne who bathed in the life-giving waters (wai-ora), the waters of Tamanuiterā (atua of the sun / wai-o-rā).

When I commit to kaupapa, it usually means I sacrifice my time outside in the natural environment, which thanks to revolutionary new Western research, might have health benefits.* Before working on the book, I’d be getting out on the daily either to run in the forest, or swim with Tangaroa (atua of/the sea), and since working on the book and other mahi, it’s a miracle if I get out at least once in a fortnight to just bathe in the water/energy of these spaces.

Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be looking to earn the title of ‘Hana-te-waiora’ once again and incorporate time with our atua (elemental forces, celestial beings) into my routine once again as I begin new undertakings, before the awa bends once again. I’ll be looking to break the whakapapa (process) that results in burnout after burnout and in my case, that means more hui (meeting, planning) to prepare myself and organise the various kaupapa I choose to commit to.

I describe myself as a ‘shoot first, aim later’ type of person and self-awareness tells me I need more hui in my life, before the do-ey haha and then more effective rest strategies too, but I’m confident that making time to get out into the taiao (natural environment) is a good starting point.

Tēnā koutou,

Hana.

*Sarcasm, as our tupuna (ancestors) already knew this and mastered life and connection with the environment some hundreds of years ago.