the ascent changes you: the journey will require more from you
You can’t expect not to be changed by an experience.
You can’t expect to stay the same.
Now now, let’s be mature about it. There’s a difference between growing and evolving, unbecoming what you’re not, living into your truth and maturing as a person — which is still attuned/in line with your values and who you are — there’s a difference between that and completely changing who you are, what you’re about for whatever reason.
In this post, for hopefully obvious reasons — we’ll be referring to the former.
Whether it be a pursuit of passion, community advancement, expanding your whānau, improving overall health, career, high performance sport, romance, self-awareness or a million other things…
- it’s gonna change you.
Sometimes in cool, aspirational, exciting, feel good ways, sometimes in really harsh lessons from the universe, character building type ways but changed nonetheless.
Tāne left for Tikitikiorangi and came back different.
How do we know this? For starters, upon his arrival to Tikitikiorangi he received a new name; Tānenuiarangi - Great Tāne of the heavens. Then we can look at elements of the pūrākau, like his battle with Whiro and co, and obvious conflict resolution tingz with Tāwhiri (because he came to Tāne’s rescue and helped him defeat Whiro).
These are just a few changes we can identify from pre v post ascent and retrieving ngā kete o te mātauranga, the baskets of knowledge.
“We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used
when we created them.”
— Pāpā Arapeta Einstein
Now let’s bring it in nice and intimate and personal. Whatever pursuit or journey or part of it you’re on right now — how has it changed you already? What do you do differently compared to before you embarked on this adventure?
What do you think the next phase of the journey might require from you and how can you prepare for that?
I think an exciting wānanga (internalisation) to kickstart this is to think of what name you’d receive upon its completion.
Tēnā tātou,
Hana.