Welcome to TBH – To Be Honest – Capsule’s monthly column with our columnist and old pal, Brodie Kane! This month, Brodie gives us advice on how to protect your peace this Christmas, and recharge for the battles coming next year, as the world’s political situation gets more and more depressing.
And for her previous columns, click here!
I swear to god this has been the fastest year on record! It has hurtled along at a great rate of knots and here we are again, amidst the pre-Christmas chaos, running on those same spluttery, smoking fumes, ready to go through it all over again.
This time last year I wrote about “having yourself a very single Christmas” and the tone was very much representative of where my mind was at (aka everything and everyone can f*ck right off) I didn’t write about it at the time, but a couple of months later I told you I’d been very much in the thick of burnout with a side of a couple of minor health scares (which thankfully were just that), so I was absolutely not in a good space. I just went back and read last year’s column and I’m all like, “wow, girl, you sad and angry”.
This year, personally, I have had a bloody great year. I’ve learnt heaps about how and why I got burnout, and I’m constantly checking myself to make sure it doesn’t happen again. As far as mahi goes, I’ve had one of the most enjoyable and rewarding years of my career. Fourth year grinding away as a self-employed small business girlie and I felt like the hustle is paying off.
I had a really great year physically too. My running has been the best it’s ever been, clocking a personal best time at the Sydney Marathon and having the race of my life in doing so. Starting Solo Girls Run Club has been extremely rewarding too, connecting and building a community with other women has been another highlight of my year. I bought a house with my Mum and have enjoyed living with her so much. I feel so lucky to have the beautiful relationship I have with her, she’s honestly the best flatmate.
I’ve had beautiful quality time with my dear friends and family and am thankful for them every single day. I wrote a book! I hosted a TV show! It’s been unreal.
I also am very much aware that this is absolutely not the case for everyone. It has been a REALLY tough year for many people in Aotearoa. The sting in the pandemic tail has been long and nasty, and hit people from many different directions. People are hurting and struggling.
There’s also a lot of anger, a lot of frustration, bewilderment and disillusionment over a raft of issues here and abroad (I’ll get to abroad in a moment).
I have hated watching the damage the Treaty Principles Bill is doing – and while it’s likely it won’t get past the Select Committee stage, I feel ashamed and embarrassed at the way it has unfolded, causing more pain and trauma to Māori, and allowing in my opinion, a dangerous and divisive rhetoric to play out.
I was however enamoured by Hīkoi mō te Tiriti – thousands and thousands of beautiful New Zealanders marching across the motu – descending on Parliament and showing a powerful display of unity. THAT made me proud to be a New Zealander.
Unfortunately, more shit will fly around at the Select Committee stage next year, but we should all be inspired and motivated to get our submissions in before January 7 and show which side of history we are on. We owe it to Māori.
This is where the notion of protecting your peace comes in though too. I feel like we need to be well charged up and ready to go for the upcoming battles. Taking time to protect your peace will mean when it’s time to fire on all cylinders, you’ll be mentally ready.
Don’t even get me started on the stuff going on beyond our shores. I can honestly say there’s never been a year in my life (that despite all my happy yay yay personal success) where I’ve felt so much despair, so much anger, so much hopelessness, so much fury, so much outrage. And that was before Trump got voted back in.
I have always had a pretty solid and realistic handle on what goes on in our world. But watching what has happened in Gaza these past 13 months has all but lost my faith in humanity. (I say all but, because I know there are good people in the world, but best believe there are days where it’s completely lost). I often struggle to grasp how we let things like this happen, and unravel and spiral into all sorts of emotions about how cooked this world is. Unfortunately this year, I tend to think the bad people have outweighed the good people.
I feel as though the world is in a very very bad cycle, going backwards, having learnt absolutely fucking nothing.
And then Trump got voted back in. A convicted felon, a racist, sexist, misogynistic narcissist got voted back into the most powerful country in the world. And this time, EVERYONE knew exactly what they were doing.
I feel pretty grim when I think about the state of the world in these next few years.
Time to bring back protect your peace? I think so!
I actually don’t even know what all of this means. And I kind of think it doesn’t really have to be summarised in a succinct little paragraph for you to understand and feel the feels of what I’ve written. But I do think if we really do take some time this Christmas to activate protecting our peace, then we’ll be stronger and better for the fights* we might have to keep fighting, or new ones that will no doubt crop up.
(*fights is anything, from tackling your racist uncle, submitting to the Select Committee, attending a protest, educating yourself on issues, joining groups, all the things!).
Gosh, that’s deep and dark, hey!!! Please try and have some beautiful time with your family and friends. Get the sand in your toes and the sea in your hair, sleep in, talk absolute smack, eat lots of food, do whatever it is that allows you some personal happiness. And whenever you teeter into the other emotions, hear my voice saying “protect your peace”.
I may have gone over my word limit – and in all reality I would’ve loved to have just posted the below Brene Brown quote and not worried about all the guff from me above – but you get both haha. So we’ll see the last column out with Brene – cos Brene knows.
Have a safe and peaceful Christmas. Xxx
To hear more of Brodie, jump onto her podcasts The Girls Uninterrupted and Kiwi Yarns
