What kills motivation? Whiro
I dunno about you, but summer’s been pretty epic. Lot’s of travelling, time in the sun, out in the water, a couple of gigs here and there, time with whānau and friends and cool kaupapa to keep me outta trouble. More or less.. ha then, work back at the station started up - which I loooove and the only part about it that feels like ‘work’ is going into the office/station building Mon-Fri.
Anyway, leading up to summer, I started a new routine with early morning wake ups, meditation, listening to audiobooks, getting study in, prepping kai for the day, you know - getting a good flow going… then, mahi wrapped up for the year and there was no office to be at by a certain time and eventually, #byebyeroutine.
It worked though. And basically, my routine over summer didn’t fit my routine at mahi and vice versa. Howeverrr, guess who’s back at mahi, but still stuck in a summer and office-less routine?
Pretty sure I’m not the only one too…
Second “I dunno about you”, but the need for routine and structure back in my life is becoming more and more apparent - and as you might have guessed, my attempts so far have been unsuccessful. I’m just trying to live my best life and do all the things to make that happen - why’s it so hard? Why do I find myself succumbing to temptations, sleeping in, staying up late, eating kai that’s no good for me etc. when just a few weeks ago I had this all on lock? Why’s it harder to start or get back into routine, than it is to maintain one?
First of all, physics. But what about something close to home, something/one that manifests as misfortune, disease and evil*…. something/one that sabotaged Tāne’s pursuit of excellence and knowledge?
Whiro.
A quick summary: Tāne (atua of the forest, pursuit of knowledge) ascended the heavens to retrieve the baskets of knowledge and realise his potential. Whiro wanted that for himself, so sent his army, Te Aitanga-ā-Pēpeke, after Tāne. Tāne called on Tāwhiri (atua of the winds) to have his back - they defeated the army and Whiro, Tāne got the knowledge. Fast forward a couple thousand years and here we are.
Remembering that stories are the most powerful mode of knowledge transferral, what metaphors might we be able to draw from in this particular story? How does Whiro manifest to attack or sabotage your pursuit of excellence, knowledge and ‘living your best life’?
Here’s some examples from my own life ha just in case you needed some inspo… where to start!? Ha, not making time to rest; eating unhealthy kai (kai I know isn’t good for me); inadequate sleep… putting myself in situations I know aren’t good for my already poor ability to stay focused… I’m sure you get the idea now? Haha there’s hope though.. because we know how that story ends:
Tāne overcomes Whiro.
With the help of his brother of course, but the blueprint is there for us in our tupuna kōrero, in our ancestral knowledge. Our ability to overcome distractions, to continue our pursuit of excellence - whatever that looks like for you, is possible because it’s already been accomplished by our eldest tupuna.
There’s your inspo, tēnā tātou,
Hana.
*According to some pūrākau.