Having worked in the ICT industry for quite some time, I have the uncanny knack of having a number of strategies available to make things happen. Things that are big. If there’s something I can conceptualise, it’s also most often something I can implement.
The problem is, that until recently I’ve never had “the big dream”. I’ve just been working out little plans and goals, or hooking into other people’s big dreams for the major points of inspiration, then making those happen. Especially in the last few years, the spaces of my life have been confined to the size of a cubicle, and someone else taking all the risks and rewards. I’m beginning to get into some bigger things now, and was blown away by some of the pictures in Julian’s “Coming home” post. There is a concept held by the indigenous Maori people of Aotearoa / New Zealand, which is the concept of “Turangawaewae-ngakau”. It translates to “the standing-place of my heart” which holds aspects of home, friends, extended family, and community. The scenery around Julian’s family bach in Arthur’s Pass is big even at 640×480 pixels, and I can imagine how big dreams would thrive simply by being in such large-scale surroundings. What a place to go back to! What a place to stand your heart in!
Yes, in some ways this really is my Turangawaewae-ngakau. It’s a place of replenishment, where I feel safe surrounded by the mountains and forests of my childhood, and where the sky is big, the air clear, and the water cold. Anything is possible there. At night I sometimes stand outside, and look up at the Milky Way. You can see the span of the galaxy clearly, stretching right across the sky, as there’s no pollution or city lights to dim it. It gives me a sense of place in the vast order of things. A sense of how small I am, and how connected I am to everything. It’s not even so much of dreaming big, it’s simply feeling expanded, whole, and connected. In that state anything is possible. One day I will take you there my friend, we can drink Manuka tea picked fresh, climb mountains, and stare at the stars.