I’ve been working at the hospital for 2 years now. One thing I notice is that I feel more aware of the seasons as I look out over Hagley Park each day. There is such beauty in every season from the architectural shapes of the branches in Winter; the daffodil carpet in Spring; the lush green of the leaves in Summer and the golden Autumn colours. And then the hills and mountains surrounding us – as I move around the ward I look along the ridges of the Port Hills and out to the Southern Alps. On a clear clear day you can see the Kaikoura’s in the distance. The beauty of the natural world is evident all around the hospital. I think it must help with healing to look out over this beauty as people recover from a procedure. I think I’m more connected with the rhythms and patterns of life too. I often think, as I’m moving about the hospital campus is how in one moment a new baby is being born and someone is taking their last breath. It is a place of joy and sorrow; a place of dying and giving birth that echoes the rhythms of the seasons outside. Each season is important and allows the flourishing of the next.
I am enjoying learning more about the season of Matariki and taking time to think on those I have met at the end of their life at the hospital. I am privileged to have met them. I am grateful for all the people who have opened up and shared stories with me, it is a gift. And I hold hopes and dreams for those as they leave the hospital after a procedure, hoping it makes a positive difference in their life.
Manawatia a Matariki e te whānau.
