Taking the lessons from Aroha and Wawata, two of Dr Hinemoa Elder’s guide books to better connect with the Papatūānuku, ourselves, and the world around us, I have begun my reflexive journey with Waitohu, a journal that takes all of the whakataukī from the pukapuka I have been absorbing over the last month, and doing the mahi to write all the inner thoughts and feelings down. It’s been enlightening, comforting, and exciting for me, and I want to share a little bit with you.

Kia ora! Welcome to Waitohu – a journal where the Māori lunar calendar invites us to write about our lives in a new way. This writing journey is fuelled by the whakataukī (proverb) ‘ka mua, ka muri’, ‘walking backwards into the future’. Every month we circle back to the beginning of the book, rediscovering thoughts from the month before under the illuminating gaze of each moon face. New layers of ideas are added to earlier reflections, then collected together in a way that uncovers new truths. Waitohu is a much-needed companion to help us navigate the turbulent waters of our complex world. It is a sacred place to write the future, drawing on the lessons from the past.

Now, this isn’t to sell Waitohu to you. You can do all of this without paying a single cent, and you get so much out of it – so long as you are open and honest with yourself. I find journalling to be something that I can do from time to time, but it isn’t a habit I commit to every day. this is something I want to work on, not only for my personal growth and mental processing, but because writing of any kind is exercising the brain in a great way, and I need to keep my writing skills sharp. I have been neglecting them lately in favour of typing out various documents, but it isn’t the same. There is something so special, so grounding, about picking up a pen and a notebook and handwriting things down. I encourage you to think about it, see if it is something you can try to pick up on a weekend morning, just to slowly integrate it into your routine.

The whakataukī guiding these prompts and reflections feel very grounded, making the whole practice of the journalling journey feel not only supported in terms of what to think about and draw out, but supported by wairua, by tūpuna and community, and aroha. I find some general journaling prompts and ice breakers can feel superficial or even abrasive to the journalling process, and the opposite is the case with these ones. Maybe for those who have not gone down the journalling or couselling track before this will feel a little tough at first, but something I always keep in mind is that the only person who will see what you write is yourself. It doesn’t have to be grammatically correct or pretty or sensical. It can be out of sequential order, thoughts interruptted by other ideas or emotional hooks, or in general something completely different from the “task”. What matters is that you are putting your thoughts on a page and getting it out of your brain.

As I am only at the start of this guided journalling, I can’t say too much more at the moment. It will be interesting to see how I feel about it further down the line, especially in terms of my cultural and linguistic comfortability. For now, all I can say is that this feel like a great resource and a wonderful way to get into journalling.