When Tāwhiri blows your waka in a different direction
Last week we touched a little bit on how eons ago, the atua (elemental forces, deities) battled it out and amidst his frustration; Tāwhiri plucked his eyes out, crushed them and cast them up to his father, to Ranginui*.
Good one, Tāwhiri.. kei te pura koe inaianei, you're blind now.
That's why the winds blow from all directions at any time, because Tāwhirimātea is trying to feel his way around, trying to see where he's going. Put this whakaaro (idea) on the back element to simmer for a sec while we continue..
Have you ever had that feeling, like you're hot stuff? Like everything is going right for you, confidence is peaking, you look good, feel good, your energy is so pure nothing negative comes anywhere near you? First of all yass go you, BUT! Then all of a sudden, it all gets turned upside down and everything turns into a 'shit show', if you will. Oh you don't know that feeling? You're missing out, it's a treat.. anyway..
It's as if the waka (canoe, also a metaphor for your life) you're on, the waka that once had a fixed destination and a pretty straightforward path to getting there, has been blown off course by none other than Tāwhirimātea.
The biggest moment like this that I've experienced, happened just over two years ago. I was working at a job I loved, with an awesome kaupapa (mission) and quality people. I was playing high level sport with aspirations and support to go to the next level. I had good quality people around me, I had a lot of savings and no debt, my skin was good - life for Hana was great.
Tāwhiri must've been like, 'I know what you're missing?!!' and sent a hurricane my way. Then boom. I blew out. A few things imploded all at the same time and I ended up leaving the job I loved dearly, I got injured and played it down (which made it worse) which meant high level anything was out of the question.. my skin was still good, but didn't have the same vibrance, you know? I had become a shell, lifeless on the inside. I didn't know which direction to sail towards, I was disoriented in what I wanted, where I was going, how to get there..
I was blind, like Tāwhiri.
Only unlike Tāwhirimātea, I couldn't see the bigger picture..
Fast forward to today and it's been a journey and a half even to get to where I am now and I'm sure the next phase and the phases after that will be challenging, character building and push me to limits I can't even fathom at the moment.. but I trust that although Tāwhiri may be blind in terms of looking with his eyes, he sees the vision, he can see the bigger picture and so adjusts our sails and the direction of our waka accordingly.
If Tāwhirimātea had never adjusted my course, there are no guarantees, but it's highly unlikely that this blog would exist today. That any of the vlogs would have happened, that Te Urupū Media would exist, that I'd be sharing a life with my darling, that I'd be on the runway at Melbourne Fashion Week next week.. that I'd be sharing my story and the way I see the world with anyone else.. that I'd be living out my passion.
I'm thankful to Tāwhirimātea for blowing me off course, or should I say 'correcting' my course..
“Everything happens for a reason,” bet you've never heard that before.. when everything clicks and it's all happening, embrace it! And when Tāwhiri comes to say hey, and lines up a new path for you.. have your moment to process wtf just happened?! Then let that go, and embrace the process because based off my own experience.. it takes you to the most amazing places within yourself that you'd never find otherwise.
Tēnā koutou,
Hana
*Tāwhirimātea's eyes are what we know today as Matariki (Māori new year, Pleiades)