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We are surrounded by individualistic and consumerist values. Matariki is your chance to look back on how Aloha, Kotahitanga and Manaakitanga feel and look.
opinion: It’s winter. A southern blast struck Wellington. It was exacerbated by the recent winds seen when Scott Base whistled as he biked down the slight slopes of Adelaide Road towards his house. I thought, “It only gets worse from here to February,” but I clenched my teeth and burned my muscles. When winter comes, the unique Wellington season “Sitsville” begins. And only then, after a few months of cold, we have summer. It’s a difficult time for those who feel cold.
But now there is a bright spot. Matariki has been raised prominently in the last eight years when my children were in school. This is a central feature of their grade. And the efforts of Maori Hapoli, scholars, activists, educators, knowledge holders and politicians to restore important Maori cultural practices (submerged in the laws and practices of Aotearoa’s entire history) It means that we can all share it.
While learning little by little about Matariki as an important cultural practice of Tangata Wenua, listening to stories and understanding values, we watched the star clusters reappear in the northeastern dawn sky during an early morning run. To be honest, it used to be a little shit, but it was a special time for me. It’s a great gift. It’s one of the many things that makes being a Parkeha special in this place. So the question is how do you handle such gifts? I will pay close attention to it.
We may need a little help for people like me to take care of gifts, which is the traditional knowledge surrounding Matariki. There is plenty of evidence, as some non-Maori businesses were the first to think about how to use Matariki to leverage their business and sales. This isn’t particularly enlightening, but it’s not surprising. For many mundane Pakeha, especially in our daily lives, it looks and feels like Aloha, Kotahitanga, Manaakitanga (some of the values that underpin Matariki). Sure, many of us may come into contact with ideas for values (what we aim for, a big “reason” for life), for example through organizational values, but many of us are motivated. The power of care, contribution, compassion, etc. (some of Western values give us the opportunity for Matariki to reflect on us) is driven through our daily conversations and decisions. I am. But that doesn’t mean that values aren’t everywhere.
We are surrounded by values-not just the ones we can connect to most
We should not confuse squeezing collective and caring values in our daily lives with being completely unexposed to them. We actually swim value-based information every day at work, at home, in the media, and in advertising. Many of those values are individualistic and consumerist in nature. What you can buy as a consumer, how much it costs, what we do not do, or what we can achieve or earn for ourselves as individuals.
For example, last week I received a newsletter from Employment New Zealand that we should think about slavery in the supply chain. This is because it can have a negative impact on your business. Yeah, yeah, I thought. Having spent some time at some spinning mills in India, I need to think about slavery in our supply chain to fellow New Zealanders. Especially because there are people, children and women with whom we are connected as fellow humans.
The people writing that section of the Employment NZ website must have simply positioned doing something about supply chain slavery through the framework of money and reputation, as it came to mind so easily. That’s what people talk about-take care of people / environment and save money! But my big reason (the values I value) is not money. Yes, our organization has financial goals (and I personally have goals), but that’s not our (or my) motivational power (this is different from core needs). .. According to the World Values Survey, it’s not a big “reason” for most people either. Our top priorities are care, contribution, compassion, and creativity-type values, and over time we tend to prioritize things like forgiveness and forgiveness.
We reflect the values we see around us
Most people share and prioritize a wide range of care and compassionate values, but when asked what they value most, I think they only care about themselves. .. It’s called the value gap. This is because individualistic and consumer values are so prevalent in our information environment (and those who control them) that we overwhelm other values in our social discourse. It is a phenomenon that is partially explained because it is. They are the water we are swimming in and can be found everywhere – anyway for now. The presence of this perception gap can prevent people from acting on the deepest-held values-people vote or take care of the environment and others. It may reduce your tendency to take action.
It’s like a snake eating its tail. We care, but we don’t act because we don’t think others will. It gives others evidence that they are not evaluating what they say.
But to show people how many others share these values of care and compassion and contribution, as an example, as seen in youth studies on the environment, people are in line with these values. Helps to motivate you to act. Social psychologists and anthropologists can give you many reasons for this, but in essence we are social beings and ready to act in line with how we see the behavior of others. I am.
It brings me back to Matariki and the values that underpin it. By sharing Maori celebrations with all of Aotearoa, I think Maori is leading the rebalancing of our shared values. All of us open the door to better reflect our deepest-held values-what really matters to most of us in the world. It’s a great opportunity when we need to readjust our priorities. A cool gift.