By Dr Sea — World expert at failing to save the world
This Medium Writer’s Challenge has led me on a dark and meandering journey into past and present traumas. It showed me that my dream job had turned into a (world saviour) complex. It led me to the realisation that I viewed my life and the world through a constant death prism. I went through the point of re-entry into a life of more optimism in a new country and a new profession. And, finally, I’d like to talk about finding the space where I truly belong to heal both myself and the world around me.
Te reo Māori has many wonderful and descriptive words. As much as I try not to engage in cultural appropriation, two terms in particular speak very strongly to me. The first one is kaitiakitanga. It means “guardianship and protection. It is a way of managing the environment, based on the Māori world view. A kaitiaki is a guardian.” I take my role as a guardian of Papatūānuku (or Mother Earth) very seriously. Too seriously, you may agree if you have read any of my other essays in this series.
We named the community activism group I was co-chairing for years ‘The Guardians of the Bays’. I even ended up in an amazing book by my friend Johanna Knox, another kaitiaki, wrote. It was called ‘Guardians of Aotearoa’.
