Life Lines

Fiji/NZ. Justified by grace.

[dotnut2001]

teitei

Growing is gloriously slow and selfless. You are torn from the center. Placed delicately on the outliers where nature guides your application to her design. Your reward is to witness the way she will grow you too.

[dotnut2001]

Vosaki ni yalewa

He gathered whales teeth from Ngāti Hinewaka. Carved in brilliance. Gently cradled in calloused hands. Mounding his knees into the whenua of Ngāti Rakaiwhakairi. Steadfast and alive. With draining water he raises the whales teeth above his chest, releasing its mana into the hands of the matanivanua. And like many generations before her elders accept this iyau and release their love into spiritual protection, binding them into an ancestral tie.

[dotnut2001]

generation

Being a Nei Levu (eldest Aunty, only elder sister to the baby's father - Fiji ties lol) is a throttling experience of a nearing future. A descendant raising a descendant. A descedant becoming an ancestor. The continuum of knowledge and kinship. Sa je kia.

[dotnut2001]

Falling in between

the best part about growing up are all the moments in between. The books you read to survive disheartening realities, the friendships you forge after combined laughter, the food you eat when you crave nurturing, the clothes you regret when the temperature drops, the songs you replay when the nights are long. Everything is entangled with the intervals of time.

[dotnut2001]

North Shore, Hawaii. The days were long, blue, green and pink. The sun darkened my winter skin and carved valleys into my cheeks. My laugh lines deepened with every adventure and açai bowl. There are precious brown island humans to thank. The Berrys who opened their hearts and home to me. Consider Fiji (& NZ) an open door for you always. The BLady who taught me that this is in my blood and that God adores weird. Her twin Dad for igniting a flame in me. The ocean eyed shark swimmer for nutbutter + cost co! My treasure chest is heavy because of you all. Funny thing meeting friends a bit later in life. It keeps your heart full, your adventure count high, your lessons ongoing, your blessings endless and your stories countless - Mahalo my dear friends, til we meet again. @brooklynhawaii

[dotnut2001]

Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A nation is a weary entity, encompassed by complex, ever evolving ideas and conundrums. She is loved and despised. She is wounded and healed. She is all blood and not enough life. That's what I learnt when I walked into the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Shackled, hosed down, beaten, starved, tortured, suffocated, knived, electric shocked, raped, murdered. She has seen the abyss. She has seen what she is capable of. Her tears are catapulted onto her stained hands, as she remembers again who she is. You taught me that my comfort can be as dark as the abyss from which you escaped.

[dotnut2001]

H O N G K O N G. We haven't lived in the same country since we were teens. We'd rather take the long way home before seeing each other again - hike mountains, miss flights, win a miss world, visit a couple orphanages. There aren't enough miles in the world that'll ever stop me from getting to you. 2015 Christmas in the Industrial Realm with my best friend. @brittshazel

[dotnut2001]

H O N G K O N G. A breath of fresh industrial air. An immediate connection - instant comradery. We are both hybrids of the world's we encounter, the cultures we consume and the colonialism we've inherited. My city friend.

[dotnut2001]

Sanya, China. A wee tropical island just off mainland China. Tired, hot and beyond a good mood. It was a Sisyphean task to adjust to you. After a bubble bath and Star Trek, I finally saw glimpses of your wild beauty.

[dotnut2001]

Beijing, China. You were written in invisible ink on my itinerary. I found smog where I expected sun. I felt love when I thought I was lost. You taught me that even the most seasoned traveller gets it wrong sometimes.

[dotnut2001]

Pokhara, Nepal. One of the most tranquil places I’ve ever been. Ironically I was reading about Jason Bourne shooting up a bloody storm. 

[dotnut2001]

Delhi. Greeted with a freezing embrace of cold wind and forts that renewed my faith in human ability.

[dotnut2001]

Goa's jungle book. We took an incredible jeep ride through rivers, deep forest jungle on tiny red dirt roads to a multiple waterfall which is also home to cheeky hungry monkeys. Afterwards we had water fights with elephants and indulged in the most aromatic beautiful Goan curry.

[dotnut2001]

Adventuring through Goa's subtle raw beauties.

[dotnut2001]

Goa you are a blissful welcome of tranquility and the appropriate touch of a little chaos.

[dotnut2001]

Igniting the senses in Goa's Spice Plantation

[dotnut2001]

Exploring Bangalore's Shopping District.