Kalvin | Point England, Auckland

“The last moment I experienced kindness, it was the first day after Level 3 had finished, and everyone was going out and saying hi to people, and I had decided that I was seeing a friend, so I decided to do a bunch of baking for the person, because why not?

It’d been two months and I hadn’t seen this friend of mine, and so I made all of these cookies and stuff, and brought it over to her house, and it was kind of this weird thing of not having talked to people for so long. I don’t know but it was just really nice, and we exchanged cookies. She gave me this honey, she has a beehive at her house, and it was kind of this little nice moment in terms of just being stressed and not knowing what my job is doing and just generally everything being kind of strange and it was quite a nice little solid feeling of, ah it’s alright, there’s normality within little things. That’s kind of it. It’s kindness. I got honey, and it’s delicious.

I grew up in Christchurch. I was born there and I moved up here when I was really little, and I’ve lived all around Auckland. I lived out in Rānui and in Kingsland and Ellerslie, and now out here. So kind of been pretty nomadic within the city, and not really ever been in one place. I think for me at least, the things that I value in life? Truth is definitely the most important thing, just in terms of that’s always steered me straight in things that are hard and it’s gotten me through circumstances that aren’t necessarily easy. I think truth, kindness, even though my example was fucking terrible, but they come in hand-in-hand I think. With one comes the other, and when you’re truthful with other people, I’ve noticed the change that it becomes positive in my life.

If you become an open person, where you don’t feel closed off with other people, it doesn’t really matter who they are, it kind of spreads naturally. It’s a feeling like when you’re open with another person, they feel safe enough to be open with you. Doesn’t have to be about really intense emotional things. It’s just open about being yourself and  it is important to spread that.”