Maramataka

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellow,

Today I was in an all-day workshop for Team Jess. 

The morning was pretty good and I had fun. The atmosphere in Team Jess has markedly improved since me and Briar joined. I'm going to give us at least partial credit for this. 

But Christine is a huge part of it. She is a beautiful Māori woman, both inside and out. Like one of those people who feels like an old friend even though you've barely met. 

She greeted me this morning with a huge hug and gifted me this Maramataka dial, which is I guess like a cross between a lunar calendar and a barometer. You set it according to the last full moon and it then advises on your energy levels for the day.

I'm kind of converted to the Māori worldview, I have to say. I don't know so much about lunar calendars and energy levels and such. All I know is that they view our Western corporate way of doing things very impersonal and impolite. 

For example, I drafted a communication in our workshop and asked for feedback. One of the surprising things I noted was that they asked me to change the word "interview" to "kōrero" (chat) all the way through. 

It's a little thing, I know, but just an example. The team feel like work should be an in-person thing, where you know and trust the people you work with, and maybe even care about them. 

I like that. Actually I love it. 

The day went on too long however. Jess was openly sending me messages at 2pm saying, "I'm so tiiiiiiiired". This is where Shenée would have broken us up to do something silly or rude. 

But Jess is a young project manager, leading a team of strong personalities and I think she didn't feel able to do that. So on we went and as a result we were pretty low energy by the end of the day.

All the same, we went for drinks. And I told Jess how much I enjoyed working with her. She may not quite be Shenée yet. But she's getting there.

S.