Despite numerous drafts on the back burner, none have quite made it live for quite some time. I would say must do better, but this is my playground, not homework. There are no deadlines, quotas or gradebooks. I'm not letting anyone down by not posting - at most I'm just barn-egging my free range-destined ideas.… Continue reading Qualified, Medicated, Elucidated.
Category: Health & Wellbeing
On Aging, Climate Change and Escaping Nihilism
You might think I’m a little young to be preoccupied with the passage of time, but I have acquired both an appreciative fascination for it and a vague uneasiness about it. Mostly, I'm trying to just enjoy what is - because eventually, it won't be. I'm now that cousin/aunt who says things like "I remember… Continue reading On Aging, Climate Change and Escaping Nihilism
Things Hospital Taught Me | Dans l’hôpital
Disgust and eye-rolls aside: I can't quite be the same anymore. That's dramatic. It feels silly to say, but it's true. Hospital taught me patience, grit, and to be gentle with others. It taught me the power of my own mind, and the necessity of guarding my energy and emotions. I am continuing to learn… Continue reading Things Hospital Taught Me | Dans l’hôpital
Rumaki i te Rāwhiti | The Cactus Chronicles
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
Religious Diversity & What It Means to Be Human
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
Karen Carpenter, Fatphobia and Cultivating Self-Love
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
Ode to Choral Joy: Choir Tours and Hauora
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
Thinking About Weird Things, Philosophy for Kids and A Symphonic Soundscape (Part Four)
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)
Hillsong Music, Twelvie Me and Decolonising God (Part Two)
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)
On Kids Camps, Worship Bands and Life with Jesus (Part One)
Kids Camps Attending kids camps as a youngster was easily the most significant factor in my conversion to Christianity. I went to my first one in January 2007, about a month after I turned nine. As you can imagine, I was at an extremely impressionable age. Kids' minds are like sponges, and for the most… Continue reading On Kids Camps, Worship Bands and Life with Jesus (Part One)
