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“…If you have a solid background of the thing your ancestors stood for, you can judge your own course better…”

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I do not buy the story that we humans are inherently selfish, competitive and hierarchical. I keep observing that our first and guiding impulse is cooperation and community, where our different skills are equally valued and our preference is for cohesion and harmony.

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If you’ve never had one, think of me as your canary down the colonoscopy mineshaft. And if you have, high fives for resilience and doing the right thing - I hope this makes you feel seen.

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I don’t think anyone’s denying there’s a problem on some of our streets, but me and my government are definitely reading it differently.

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A little shout out this week to all the people whose job is also their creative expression…

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In Te Ao Māori, you are welcome to come grieve at any tangi. Which is why … you will meet whānau from the iwi over the hill at your marae - paying their respects, yes, but also grieving for whoever else they carry in their heart.

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Mum Bod is a “Before” image and society is waiting to see our “After”. Whereas Dad Bod is a destination – no one is expecting him to work that off…

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One of the great things about getting older is you move through some of the nonsense faster – you’ve been around long enough to recognise your old mates Anxiety and Perfectionism when they show up, and recognise the critical voices.

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2025 was the year I discovered the air fryer. I still marvel at its ability to cook salmon better than my oven - worth knowing now salmon is almost affordable in comparison to mince.

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Think of me as Switzerland when it comes to Seasonal Glee – unaligned but with plenty of chocolate.

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It is nuts, isn’t it? This thing we do in Aotearoa of doing everything all at once – attend school breakups and office dos and finish work projects and shut up shop while also shopping for gifts, basting a ham and packing the car for a road trip.

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I have pondered what Te Tiriti signatories – Māori and Pākehā - had in mind.

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This is the time of the year when my favourite skirt won’t do up…

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Cal once told us, “I’ve never left things unsaid. I think it’s so important that everybody knows how you feel about them. I never want any of the people I love to be in any doubt how much they matter to me.”

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A step-stool for starters, but another small thing with a big impact has been opening up a conversation with friends and whānau about bringing more kupu – more Māori words – into our everyday lives…

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It’s a thing Pākehā can be nervous of, right? That we look like we’re dropping in a bit of te reo to earn a Good Girl Biscuit, for approval from “woke” friends, to make ourselves look… superior somehow?

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A fancy biscuit tin was found – RSA red poppies, collectors edition – and filled with Tim’s signature shortbread …

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I’ve reframed how of think about donating to local op-shops. It’s not only about me “getting rid of what I don’t want”, it’s about “gifting” things to someone else.

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Canvas a decent-sized Facebook group and you’ll discover many of us live in a world of pre-loved treasures…

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Most of us would like to do good things for the planet, but don’t know where to start. Here’s somewhere…

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If anyone in the family deserves a movie, it’s my great-great-grandmother on my father’s mother’s side. Seabee Adelaide Tomkins was born at sea on the ship, the “Bee”, off the coast of Adelaide in 1857.

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The ancient Greeks inscribed “A Healing Place For The Soul” above the door to the library of Thebes and I have to say, this intense period of reading has done excellent things for my spirits.

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The night before, I gave Holly a letter which she read aloud to me and her godmothers…

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Top prize in the 2024 World of Wearable Art featured a headpiece made of road cones and a dress in high-vis orange. Photo by Stephen A’Court.

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While everyone else is looking forward to the Easter Bunny this weekend, I will be celebrating the Tooth Fairy.

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They were all mates, called Dave-oh or Biff-oh or Muzza, representing a range of views from centre to right, rugby to league, Holden to Ford.

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Each year as Daylight Saving comes to an end – our clocks go back this Sunday – the big question is, “What shall I do with that extra hour?”

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There is a shift, we’re hearing, in corporate America towards encouraging ladies to dress more like… well, “ladies”. Think traditionally feminine – skirts and dresses with high heels, rather than trousers with flats.

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There is, we agree amongst us before Saturday night’s show time, a particular smell to a theatre. Not just this one – the Levin Little Theatre – but possibly to each of them dotted around our country in the towns that have been careful enough to keep them…

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Knowing where you come from can be a tricky thing for some of us. I grew up, for example, in a town my family settled into shortly before I was born, and then left once I’d flown the coop – which makes it my hometown, but not where my wider family is from.