I am exhausted, somewhat frazzled, yet have survived week 2 of my first ever teaching practicum. Praise be. No kōrero teka - student teaching is the wild west, and I'm the cactus: prickly, conspicuously green and always full of water. The kupu Māori for immersion also means 'to drown'. It is simultaneously both poetic and… Continue reading Rumaki i te Rāwhiti | The Cactus Chronicles
While the word 'humanist' makes up half of my namesake on this blog, I realise that I have never directly discussed or addressed Humanism, what it means to me, and how I interpret and identify with it. Again, I'm not going to do the movement justice, so here is a good resource if you want… Continue reading Religious Diversity & What It Means to Be Human
On Karen Carpenter When I was about six or seven, I learned that my favourite singer in the world at the time had passed away at a young age. In age appropriate language, my mum explained anorexia to me: about how Karen Carpenter (vocalist of the 70s brother sister duo The Carpenters) got told that… Continue reading Karen Carpenter, Fatphobia and Cultivating Self-Love
I owe a huge part of my music education to the choir I was involved in at high school - in the opportunities it gave me, the self-confidence it instilled in my musical abilities, the plethora of technical and theoretical knowledge, as well as the musical diversity it exposed me to and the friendship I… Continue reading Ode to Choral Joy: Choir Tours and Hauora
I have extremely fond memories of music nerding it up on a Friday or Saturday night: hitting Michael Fowler with my high school music pals for NZSO concerts followed by gelato-laden debriefs. We started doing it around year 12, when one friend was offered discount tickets through her piano teacher. Quickly performances extended to NZ… Continue reading I’m a Shostakobitch (But in a Good Way)
Idk about you, but in my classroom, I'll be out here doing my best to create thinkers and celebrate their diversity, for it is the spice of life (#stolen - oops). I know a spectrum of people: diversity is enlightening, brilliant and phenomenal. I have friends who are queer Christians (amazing). I know people who… Continue reading Thinking About Weird Things, Philosophy for Kids and A Symphonic Soundscape (Part Four)
Turn and Face the Strange As a young teenager, I was very timid, very awkward, and very in love with words, sounds and songs. I was fascinated by the lyricism, poetry and prose of the bible. My favourite verses are probably: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for… Continue reading Leading Kids to Christ, Youth Groups, and Teenhood with Jesus (Part Three)
So I'm now saving my discussion of teenhood with Jesus and leading kids to Christ for part three, just because it makes more linear sense - and there is a colossal amount to unpack. Philosophising at Twelve I begin with an excerpt from my 2016 blog post, The Beauty of Religion. "The unraveling of my… Continue reading Hillsong Music, Twelvie Me and Decolonising God (Part Two)
This is my first of what I hope will be more bilingual posts to come! Shout out to my te reo Māori lecturer for the prompt of writing a letter for my grandchildren - I'm so down with that kaupapa. Whatever your level of reo, I hope you get something out of it, and I… Continue reading Navigating Pākehā Identity Part Two: Letter to My Grandchildren | Reta ki āku mokopuna
The older I get, the more I realise that identity is extraordinary complex. In my own context, I have a lot of questions of myself, my friends, my whānau, and the communities I am involved in. Shock horror - Abby has more questions? Such is the life of a philosophy major, a poet, a writer,… Continue reading Navigating Identity: Being Pākehā in Aotearoa
