What do you hope to achieve this year?

Eli | Te Tai Poutini

Eli is learning to prioritise her time, embrace reconnection, and avoid burnout.

“I hope to achieve time with my kids. I’m really aware that they’re growing up really quickly.

I’ve spent the last five years working on this kaupapa which is a lot of mahi, but also brings a lot of joy and purpose for my whānau. But I really miss my kids. And so this year for me is about finding a way to balance spending time with my kids, getting to know them, making sure that they have and are who and what they need.

I’m trying to find a way to continue to tautoko in the community, because we’re only as strong as those that we live amongst and around. And so that balance and juggle of both of those things really matters. So I’m working to try and do both, I guess.

We’ve also got this exploration of te ao Māori and this reconnection opportunity, which means wānanga after wānanga and different kaupapa. And there’s never enough people in a lot of the kaupapa and it’s always the same people.

And so, you’re doing so many jobs and you’re voicing in different spaces and there’s just so much to it. It’s exhausting. And I think I’ve only just realised that you can’t do that.

And after watching several people who I know and admire sort of dive into everything and give everything they have until they’ve got nothing left, I’ve realised that that’s not how I want to exist in the world.”