Sing, Aotearoa!
Unsung Aotearoa began with a COVID-19 lockdown reflection.
I asked myself, “What can we learn from 2020?” Then I started searching for answers.
Looking around, I saw people society had taken for granted standing under spotlights.
I unearthed forgotten treasures about my whaanau. For example, my parents reminded us that they’ve got wicked dance moves. That’s a golden nugget which wouldn’t have surfaced if I hadn’t been paying attention, or if one of my sisters hadn’t gotten lockdown boredom one week in.
A couple of long-distance friendships rekindled. We giggled a bit uncomfortably over Zoom about how it took a global pandemic for us to reconnect. I’m sure we weren’t the only ones laughing.
What can we learn from 2020?
Sometimes the greatest adventure is getting to know the person who stands beside you.
But like any lesson, this pleasant idea is going to be useless if we don’t, well, use it.
So, because I’m a writer, I decided to start a blog.
It’s called Unsung Aotearoa partly because I hope that more than my lecturers will read it, and partly because I think there’s a lot for Kiwis to sing about.
This blog is not about finding heroes.
Unsung Aotearoa is about recognising the dreams, talents, thoughts, and ambitions in the people right next to us.
It's about discovering the everyday-kind of remarkable which is part of being human.
It’s about celebrating humans we know for who they are.
My dreams for this blog are:
We learn every life is full of stories worth sharing.
We remember the world is full of people worth knowing.
We understand how each human has the power to make a difference.
Those are big dreams. To make them a reality, I thought I’d start small.
Unsung Aotearoa will begin with a weekly profile of a people-shaped star in my orbit.
My first interviewees will be my gals, my bubble whaanau. Then, I hope to extend this project as the bubbles pop, and restrictions are lifted. I want to discover my bus driver, the guys who collect our rubbish bins every week, the smiling lady at the local dairy.
I mark this as the springboard in a personal journey of discovery, and celebration.
Hopefully, I won’t be alone for the ride.