I know she will probably freak that I have called a rock after her – but Marama Davidson – rā whānau ki a koe e hoa!! I have no regrets hehe! And it actually illustrates very clearly what I want to talk about today. So thanks Ma for a beautiful name and the inspiration!

We had a wonderful afternoon with Mere Marshall, MT and Jay today. Such wonderful rich kōrero about lots of things! It really was a neat meeting with another of my dedicated FB rock followers who has contributed hugely to the project over the year and who I was SO excited to meet in the flesh today!

One of the many things that stood out for me was about being true to self, being who you are and not compromising on that at all. My whole life has been about finding who I am, what is my place in the world…and so the conversation reinforced this.

And always back to the spiral, back to water – water being a strong theme throughout my work this year and something that will flow into next year. It is fitting that we will be spending the last day of the year beside the Wanganui river and the first day of 2012 beside the Wanganui river… reinforcing once again, connection through water, wai…Ko wai au? Who am I? Grounded in connection…

So back to Marama – te ao marama – the world of light and for me in this moments reflection, I look back over the year and this rock a day project has been exactly that – moving toward the light into an understanding of who I am, understanding through my eyes, my experiences, journeys and healing.

I feel like I can move into 2012, the next part of my journey, sure in the knowledge that I am where I need to be, right here, right now. Kua marama inaianei – I understand what this journey has been about. It has been about me returning to who I am and sharing the journey with others in the hope that they will be inspired to embark on their own journeys of reflection and self-discovery.

Arohanui,
Jo x

So thank-you once again to Mere, MT and Jay for a lovely afternoon!! Hope you’ve had a great day for your birthday today Ma!! AND – two more rocks to paint for 2011!! YAY!!