Clio | Birkenhead
“Last week was rough. I actually hung out with a friend, Sarah, who I haven’t seen for over a year.
We went out for an early brunch, bottomless brunch, and I caught up with her after we both had a really rough 2018. So, it was probably the best thing to happen to me last week.
I was born in South Africa and we moved here when I was five. So, we’ve been here 21, almost 22 years. I’m a New Zealand citizen now. I’m proud about that. I have two older sisters. My dad is a jeweller, and my mum has worked in human resources. We own an art school on the North Shore. – Hungry Creek Art & Craft School. It was based right out in Puhoi for about 27 years, so that’s been a big part of my life, growing up – my dad being a jeweller, teaching, growing up in a kind of arts community. So, that’s something that I’m really passionate about – obviously working with my parents is something I feel quite lucky to be able to do, especially at their age, and you know they’re, they’re 60, they’re not that old, but I feel really lucky to be able to work with them, and I’m learning a lot. We’re making a difference in people’s lives, giving them education, a safe place to study, a safe place to be.
I suppose 2018 – it’s the first time I moved out of a flatting situation. I lived alone. First time I was single since I was really young, out of a long-term relationship. I, I got quite sick with glandular fever and viral fatigue, and I was working all the time. I just wasn’t really looking after myself, and obviously moving out into my own space was great, but hard. It can be really isolating, really lonely, and for quite a while I’ve been suffering with anxiety/depression. So, I’ve been taking medication for that, and that’s something that’s changed my life, but it’s been tiny, tiny steps going from rock bottom to being able to live alone, to helping my parents run a business. So, in terms of 2018 being crap, it was actually just more developing myself and who I am, and I think 2019, I’ve put the foundations in place, and so 2019 is starting off really well, which was good.”
