if you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together.
I really liked this line from last week’s post, “what is it in a seed that when planted in the earth, isolated and in darkness — it becomes undone, it breaks and stretches itself beyond its means and reaches for the light? What is it in us that inherently reaches for light in our own way?” just quickly imagine me (as I’m writing this) doing little finger snaps, trying to etch a little bit deeper into the wānanga about why that is…
Maybe Tāne (atua of the forest, light) can help us out as we continue to build and add new whakaaro (ideas) to the puna (pool) around the sequence of optimal health and wellbeing according to how we interact with our tupuna (ancestors)/the atua primarily associated with each domain i.e. weeks without food, days without water, minutes without air, nothing without light — in all its forms.
We covered him last moon cycle, when we were on air” you might be thinking. You’re not wrong, but keep in mind that assigning atua to one domain and neglecting the presence of all atua in each moment, place and space is colonial and we should seek out opportunities to unlearn that and remember our intrinsic outlook and experience of the world, ASAP.
Anyway, Tāne as an atua of light.
Tāne, who separated Rangi and Papa (heaven and earth) to bring about Te Ao Mārama (the world of light, physical manifestation) and phase out the creation stage of Te Pō (the darkness, unknown, confusion). Tāne, who descended from Tikitikiorangi (Uppermost Heaven) with baskets of knowledge to enlighten the atua and also further down the track, te ira tangata.
None of which he could have accomplished on his own.
He’s the poster boy, for sure ! But in each of those stories, Tāne calls on someone/something else for support, or his efforts are in addition to the contributions made by others. Tāne realised his potential as a result of collective contribution and community care.
I’m a 100% believer that us becoming the best versions of ourselves is our greatest contribution to life.
Us reconnecting to ourselves (and in turn to our tupuna and mokopuna because #whakapapa) and enriching that connection, remembering our greatness and really refining our connection to it and harnessing it — to do, be, have and give all the things we choose to? that’s the work, and we can’t do it alone.
Why would we?? Why would we want to go it alone? We might accomplish the thing faster and probably with a bit more of our sanity in tact lol but what’s the point?
There’d be no reason to create anything if there was nobody to share it with. There’d be no significance to doing or being anything, really. So yes, fulfilment and purpose comes from how we contribute to and serve others and to being part of something bigger than ourselves…
But….. your life is about you and what you want it to be. It’s about figuring out why you’re here - you, specifically. Why you were born with the skills and abilities you have, what fills you up with excitement, joy and purpose. It’s about you deciding what type of impact you want to have and making it so.
Or, plot twist.. it’s not about any of that!
You get to choose. It’s your life — it’s about whatever you decide it to be and the more we sip from this puna, the more we realise how and why that means our lives aren’t about us at all.
And I think there’s light in that for each of us to lean into and allow to guide us through what may come and lead us to others whom we can support and be supported by.
Ultimately, we do it, together. We take Tāne’s lead and put ourselves in a position to see the world from a different perspective (the separation and transition phases), we ascend farther beyond we’ve ever been before and bring something back to positively affect the lives of others (kete o te mātauranga).
We be whakapapa in action, we be light.
Tēnā tātou,
Hana.