It’s day one of the mandatory level four self-isolation here in New Zealand (Aotearoa) which means we’re all sitting at home as we’re supposed to be.
I was out having a break under the stars fifteen minutes after the 11:59pm compulsory lockdown here NZST, and one of the things I felt when I looked up to the stars was immediately feeling the overwhelming impact of emotions, fear, anxiety and just plain uncertain questions circulating in my universe of whats going on with COVID-19.
At the same time as I’m looking up into the stars I’m aware of the magnitude of the impact this is having across the globe in other countries where infected numbers are in the 1,000’s and how similarly this is, if not worse, for others out there.
The questions were simple really… but large by impact. Will we be alright? Are we going to succeed through this? When will it be over? Will the rest of the nation participate? Just question after question.
I was trolling through my Facebook posts last night and came across a man who owns a small business and obviously worried about the prospects of what will happen to him, his staff and the financial burdens about to hit with the streak of all this disarray. Unfortunately his post wasn’t very welcoming to the wider public when it accused the amazingly brave Prime Minister of our nation, who has done an amazing job to maintain our nation through some extremely horrific and horrid times New Zealand’s ever faced, however this man portrayed as someone more worried about money and himself than the larger problem – or playing a part towards the solution of isolation.
Well unfortunately the local Facebook community was not going to have that and he got attacked, bullied and ridiculed.
So I reached out to him. I explained I have three businesses, Manage my public profile as a celebrity, Chair three organisations and trustee on three others. I went on to explain that I’ve had to make some of the biggest and hardest decisions with the effects of staff being possibly made redundant if I couldn’t help it. (Thankfully I didn’t have to and we found a way for the next eight months). I further encouraged him to keep going and be a leader of change not the stickler. That Showing and Leading through leadership examples and serving this purpose of something that is bigger than ourselves that we can conquer this problem.
One of the difficulties of this time and space, in reflection, is the lack of strength we have within ourselves to hold it together. People are scattered, frightened and just loosing it. But the last two weeks have been absolute hell with the nation panic buying toilet paper and just utter crap in general – especially with conspiracy theories and junk!
What is needed in these times is pure patriotism, united fronts and participation to help this move and that usually means pulling together and doing what it takes to make things better…
I was also trolling through Facebook (because there is ample time to do that) and saw a poem that resonated with me and the deeper foresight understanding of whats going on and it brought me a lot of peace called: “Rest Now, e Papatūānuku”.
A poem by Ngāti Hine/Ngāpuhi writer Nadine Anne Hura.
Rest now, e Papatūānuku
Breathe easy and settle
Right here where you are
We’ll not move upon you
For awhile
We’ll stop, we’ll cease
We’ll slow down and stay home
Draw each other close and be kind
Kinder than we’ve ever been.
I wish we could say we were doing it for you as much as ourselves
But hei aha
We’re doing it anyway
It’s right. It’s time.
Time to return
Time to remember
Time to listen and forgive
Time to withhold judgment
Time to cry
Time to think – About others
Remove our shoes
Press hands to soil
Sift grains between fingers Gentle palms
Time to plant
Time to wait
Time to notice
To whom we belong
For now it’s just you
And the wind
And the forests and the oceans and the sky full of rain
Finally, it’s raining!
Ka turuturu te wai kamo o Rangi ki runga i a koe
Embrace it
This sacrifice of solitude we have carved out for you
He iti noaiho – a small offering
People always said it wasn’t possible
To ground flights and stay home and stop our habits of consumption
But it was
It always was.
We were just afraid of how much it was going to hurt
– and it IS hurting and it will hurt and continue to hurt
But not as much as you have been hurt.
So be still now
Wrap your hills around our absence
Loosen the concrete belt cinched tight at your waist
Rest.
Breathe.
Recover.
Heal –
And we will do the same.
If there is anything I could encourage you to do during this time is sit, reflect, listen to the little voice and hear whats being said to you, whether by God, papatuanuku or whoever you’re hearing from and unite in prayer and in silence against the hustle and bustle of Coronavirus…
Stay safe, be well and look after one another at this time… #LoveYaBye