As some of you might have read in the newspaper, the people who abused Moko Rangitoheriri, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. As a result of his death, people decided that there were too many kids dying at the hands of parents and caregivers in New Zealand, so the ‘March for Moko’ happened – which I had the pleasure of being a part of.
This picture doesn’t do justice to how many people were there
I was disappointed, I’m not going to lie. I looked around and saw the elderly, the middle aged, the very young. What was missing was people my own age, OUR age. Amongst the iphone releases and the Instagram likes and it ‘going down in the DM’, I believe our generation lost something – accountability. Our generation has a lack of care. For ourselves and for others. We are supposed to be the young, the idealistic, the ones willing to fight injustice (because we have the hearts and the energy to) and yet? Yet people in law school tell me they’re only here to “make money”, people in med school tell me they’re only here to “make money”, some are only in university because there “wasn’t anything better to do”. So I wonder, as a generation, what do we even stand for? I have no doubt a lot of young people care about things, know that things are right or wrong, but I also believe many of them are too embarrassed to stand up in situations of injustice for fear of looking ‘uncool’. Trust me, there’s nothing cooler than having conviction.
So, I challenge you all to stop living in the age of Instagram and start living in the age of care. Cultivate empathy. Cry real tears. Think about the atrocities going on in the world. Step outside of the bubble you live in, even if you think you don’t live in one. Read the newspaper. Read books. Talk to your next door neighbour. The age of social media has made life impersonal – take that life back. Be personal. Be real. Be feeling. “People only have as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take”
The colour for the day was blue
Besides the above, exams are quickly approaching. My law exam is in 8 days! Lately I have been doing this thing called “prewarding” and it 100% does NOT work. It’s literally just me buying myself stuff online with the vague excuse that I will somehow earn it. Note to self: delete all the pictures on my phone of things I want to buy, so I forget to buy them. Also note to self: hide DHL packaging from mum, or she will know I have once again given into an online shopping addiction. Which, when considering my dad HATES to shop (rugby loving, macho macho bloke), I must have somehow osmosis absorbed my love for things from her.
Things I like to see
ANECDOTE: I once went shopping alone in Sydney, I think I was only 16 or 17 at the time, and didn’t know my way around, and was a bit scared to be shopping alone (because no way was dad leaving the safety of the hotel and a good newspaper to stroll through a mall). To make up for this, he gave me his card with the golden words of “Buy whatever you want” [enter angels singing]. Here was the catch: I only had TWO hours. In Tiana world, this is NOTHING. So, as any young girl might do, I brought up a storm. Coming back to the hotel I related my great moment of epiphany…
“Dad… I think I understand why people love to shop. I feel so happy. I feel so light inside. I feel like I can be much more loving to others now”
Dad: “HAHAHAHA”
SIDENOTE: Your timetable thing on student services is a total trickster! In this last week it has consistently told me I have classes, when I don’t. Thank goodness for the class facebook pages or I would show up to classes I don’t have (which is nothing new for me if you’ve been following my blogs).
Yours unabridged,
Tiana