Here is a whakaaro that has been sitting on my heart lately, especially as we look at the challenges facing our beautiful Northland. This wisdom came from my pōtiki who was 11 at the time. It’s a simple rule of thumb for life, a hierarchy of needs that we often get twisted: 1. Be safe. 2. Have fun. 3. Do what you’re here to do. In that precise order. The wero (challenge) we face in our modern world, particularly under the pressure of what we might call the "Babylonian" operating system, is that we frequently swap numbers two and three. We put the "grind" before the joy, and in doing so, we damage the very spirit—the wairua—that fuels our purpose.

The first step is non-negotiable: Be safe. In our research, we talk about the "Economic Pā". Historically, the Pā was a place of defence and storage, ensuring the survival of the hapū. You cannot thrive if you are constantly in a state of survival mode or high entropy (disorder). We need "Ontological Security"—a safety of mind, body, and spirit. Whether it is financial security through institutions like Te Au Rawa Mutual or simply the safety of a warm, dry home, this foundation allows us to lower our guard and breathe. Without safety, the "wave function" of our potential cannot collapse into a reality of abundance.

Growing up with a Pākehā mum who held onto a very specific, strongly colonised religious view, my scientific mind was always at war. I want to be clear—I love my mum deeply. She did the absolute best with what she’d been given, and she always did it with a pure heart. 

To me, spirituality looked like fairy tales—nice stories for Sunday mornings, but nothing that stood up to the rigour of 'real' data or the 'hard' world of business and physics. I experienced a strain of neoliberalism and imperial theology that had weaponised the spirit, turning it into a tool for control or relegating it to a building you visit once a week.