Growing kaupapa: doing what's necessary

In her physical form, Papatuanuku is represented as the earth, while her metaphysical being is the energy of sustenance, nurturing, grounding and unconditional love. This is most commonly demonstrated by our māmā, who care for and nurture their pēpi. Although I haven't yet had the pleasure of experiencing childbirth, and I don't have any tamariki (children) of my own, I do know something of nurturing and growing something.

I have a baby, but not your usual..

The extension of myself for the world to see, read and feel; the videos; the stories; this blog and this space we share together. A platform connected by whakaaro (ideas), beliefs, whakapapa (process, origins) and the wonderful power of modern technology and the internet.

This kaupapa was conceived from an idea, a desire to share stories, a perceived responsibility to my tupuna (ancestors) and my mokopuna (grandchildren), passion and concentrated effort. It's been nurtured to grow in as ideal of an environment as possible - a safe space to experiment (fail), learn and make an impact. 

I laugh to myself as I write this because I'm speaking as if the blog, the videos and the rest; as if 'my baby' is separate from me... It is, but it isn't? By whakapapa (connection) we're one in the same like how my parents and tupuna live through me, but like how I'm my own person -  this kaupapa has a life of its own too. 

It's grown in ways I couldn't have imagined, and it's only a year old! Only just learning how to crawl... and it's teaching me a lot about myself and the world we live in, all the time.*

Anyway, my baby is growing!

And there are things I need to do, decisions to make and leaps of faith to jump if I want it to continue to thrive and contribute to something bigger. 

Let's just say baby is about to outgrow it's current spot and needs a bigger space to develop and reach it's truest expression. When I could see how this thing was growing and how I wanted it to grow, I knew what it would demand from me (bare minimum) - and that was that.. sacrifices = made, for the kaupapa.

But it's not the blooming phase yet, so you're gonna have to wait (end of the month) to see what's in store this baby! Haha but thank you for being part of my baby's life up until this point, nei te mihi ki a koutou katoa

Hana.

*I'm not taking away from māmā and pāpā out there who are doing their thing and raising their pēpi and all the responsibility that comes with that. My baby and I are an online beginner course compared to what parents live for their tamariki and whānau.