Go Home.

GO HOME.

 

I have always liked the thought of a BLOG (mostly for the oddity of the word) but I have never truly known what it entails until I was asked by my dear friend Ahila Thillainathan to be the first guest blogger from our Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP) Generation 12 Ohana. So here I am, locked away in a dark room forcing myself to come up with something worth while and interesting to write about. I hope I do, but if I don't I promise to fill the blank space with beautiful pictures. As I am a first time blogger I would love to hear your feedback.

When I signed on to APLP I was in search of that golden answer that would ease all my frustrations, one may say a sort of enlightenment, I would say more of a solution. I found it. But in the strangest of places. In fact, I already had it, I just hadn't learnt how to look for it yet.

I found it tucked away in the space between observation and reflection, and saw it through the grubby windows of a Chinese bus. It became apparent in the image of a man stooped over on a defrosting country road. This image had a profound affect on me - more profound than I ever thought.
 

Image captured whilst on an 18hour bus ride from Shangri-la to Kunming, Southwest China.

I have seen images of this nature throughout my travels, and in many cases within my daily life. Every day I used to walk past 'umbrella man', who I would often greet with a smile and a subtle 'kia ora', even once giving him a loaf of bread.

But why did this particular image have such a profound affect on me? Is it really that different from the impoverished people I see in my own country? Whatever the answers, I found myself with an overwhelming sense of home. I couldn't help but feel lonely looking at this man.

This image would have once ignited a sense of urgency to save the world, to strive for world peace, to fight for equality, or to dedicate myself to a life full of justice. But in this particular instance this wasn't the case. There was no sense of urgency or quick solution. This experience told me a little more about myself and why I have the privilege of carrying the name Rangimarie - to be quiet, peaceful - words that are often not associated with my external self. Rangimarie comes from somewhere deeper.

More importantly, this image told me to go home. To continue to do what I do.

So I did.
 
Upon my return home I was greeted by an overwhelming sense of love from my family and friends. It was not until I was reunited with loved ones that I realised how much I had missed sharing life's moments with them.
 

Loved ones.

These people in my life - family and friends - are such important components to my happiness and it was not until I looked out the grubby bus window that morning that I realised what I already had, how little I really needed and what I don't want for me, my family or my country.

My time in China really made me think about what was important. The freedoms and opportunities that I have been given right from birth. But more importantly it reminded me to share these with others. To let people in to my world, to smile, laugh and dance (preferably all at the same time and on a daily basis), to feed people, to always adventure, to maintain strong relationships and most importantly to tell stories (whether they are true or not).

So here is my story for the day (which also happens to be true)...

In a desperate plea to cure her cluckyness for moko (grandchildren) my mother has substituted (I use this word loosely of course) us, her children, for an eclectic array of unusual animals. First a donkey, which has been unofficially named Donkey Mules, and then my father decided to contribute to our growing zoo by buying 3 alpaca - AL, PAC and AH.
 

New and not so new additions to the family.

These new additions contribute to an already strange make-up of animal siblings, including a miniature pony, numerous dogs, chickens, ducks and cows. I will return to the farm (located in Northland) at the end of this week where I will be animal sitting for the next couple of weeks whilst writing a proposal for the Oceanic Leadership Conference.