Kotahitanga #12: Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Hirimaia Eketone
Oct 20
3 min read

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE

Written & illustrated by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Editor

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people.

I’m struggling to kōrero about the future when global and local events keep driving us further down as a community into the depths of despair. Usually at the end of the year I find myself in a reflective state, cautiously optimistic about what the future will bring. This year however, I find myself sludging through menial tasks, avoiding my phone and the constant terror that comes with opening social media. Finishing off my A Levels during Covid Lockdown pales in comparison to the amount of societal shit I’ve had to deal with this year.

At least during lockdown, there was a sense of community. More than ever we saw what isolation could do for others- and in most cases, it caused them to reach out more. I was doing daily calls with my friends, gaming until late in calls just to hear another voice. But now, in 2025, I feel more alone than ever. With social media flooded with the awful atrocities happening overseas and within Aotearoa, I am way less inclined to reach out to my friends via Messenger or Instagram. With Meta AI rearing it’s ugly ass head everywhere I go, it feels easier to just shut it off. Crawl under the covers. Play some Silksong.

So what can we do? In the last two issues I’ve talked extensively about our power to vote, protest, and advocate for those who cannot. I stand by this, but I would like to add an addendum. We should all be taking time for ourselves amongst the insanity to rest, recover and learn. From every hard situation we are thrown in there is room for growth, maturity and clarity. Reach out to your friends, lean on your family- know that you are not alone in this massive world that can make us feel small. Find community in the things you love, and monitor how much time and effort you’re putting into the online space. In a world promoting genocide in 4K, companies replacing real people with AI chatbots that are burning our aō, focus on what is real. Take a moment to connect with the whenua, research your roots, learn something new. Do not let yourself be caught up in the pāru vibes spreading around this season- as summer begins to rear it’s ataahua head, make sure you join in and smell the roses.

If not for my partner, insistent loving friends and relatable co-workers, I’d go insane. If you are yet to fall into a mental crisis this year- I envy you. If you have fallen victim to the insane social vibes this year- give yourself a hand. We’re nearly there. I want to leave you all for this year with a poem I wrote in 2022 that still holds up in the present day. It’s about time, the aō, and how we are all connected under the same sky. Māuri ora e hoa ma, we’ve got this, kia kaha.