Personal – Page 5 – Clementine Fraser

Thrive, don’t just Survive

November 30, 2017January 29, 2018 Clementine Fraser

Last year a friend told me his goal was to change his way of thinking from surviving to thriving. He had been inspired by this quote from Maya Angelou:

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with passion, compassion, some humour, and some style.

Maya Angelou

It really got me thinking. So often I feel as if I just have my head above water, or that I’m juggling so many balls I often feel frozen as they rain down around me and I don’t know which one to take. Other times I don’t feel so on the edge, but I wouldn’t call it thriving either. It’s kind of just being in neutral. Like when you get to the end of the weekend and wonder what you did, or realise that yet another year has passed and so much of it was spent in mundane banalities. I was so struck by it that i found a nice picture of the quote and stuck it above my desk at school. Continue reading “Thrive, don’t just Survive” →

history, life, Personal

A Sense of Place and how it grounds us.

November 20, 2017January 29, 2018 Clementine Fraser

A feeling that you belong somewhere makes a big difference to how you walk in the world. This sense of place can be varied but connects for me to the Māori concept of tūrangawaewae – the place where you stand, where your roots are, the place that empowers you.

I’ve lived in London and Wellington but my home, my tūrangawaewae, is Auckland. I miss Wellington, especially when I visit. I miss catching the cable car to work and the coffee at Astoria, where I was a regular. I miss the kind of people I met there, people who knew what it was like to be a new stranger in town and who took pains to welcome you in. But when I visit, I don’t feel that same connection that I do up here. Not to all of Auckland, but Central and West Auckland is where I grew up. It’s where I raise my children. The sight of Rangitoto across the water centres me. Looking at the cityscape coming into town via the Rosebank causeway makes me happy in a way that even the terrible traffic can’t quite diminish. The people and community in Grey Lynn feels familiar and safe. Continue reading “A Sense of Place and how it grounds us.” →

inspiration, life, Personal, self care

Burned out but not quite faded away

November 19, 2017November 4, 2025 Clementine Fraser

So hi! It’s been a while. I’ve been dealing with the dreaded burn out. I thought I was just a ‘bit tired, I’ll get some sleep, no don’t worry about me’, but turns out I was more ‘I feel hollow inside and nothing seems to matter’.

Kind of ironic since my last post was about creating mental space…

Like most things, once I recognised and named it for what it was, it’s been easier to deal with. I’ve been able to start the long climb out of the burned out ashes, and while I’m no phoenix quite yet I can see a glimmer of bright feathers out of the corner of my eye. Continue reading “Burned out but not quite faded away” →

inspiration, life, Personal

“If you can be one thing, Be Kind” – the importance of kindness

October 21, 2017November 4, 2025 Clementine Fraser

In the words of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – “Not only do I think being nice and kind is easy, but being kind, in my opinion is important.”

I too believe kindness is incredibly important. Kindness is central to the sustainability of our existence. Kindness given without requirement of return, not out of duty but out of feeling. Kindness given in recognition of our shared humanity. Kindness stemming from empathy. Continue reading ““If you can be one thing, Be Kind” – the importance of kindness” →

life, Personal, self care

On Forgiveness

October 8, 2017November 4, 2025 Clementine Fraser

I have often thought about forgiveness.

It’s something we teach children from a young age – how to say sorry, and how to accept an apology. But we also teach children, or I do anyway, that saying sorry doesn’t fix things. The analogy of the broken pot is a good one. You can glue it together after you’ve smashed it, and apologise to it, but it’s still damaged and scarred. Accepting apologies is hard sometimes. Have you watched children being made to accept the apology of someone who hurt them? And they hang on to that hurt, bring it up again. My mother used to call it flogging dead horses. When you’re young it is hard to learn to let the dead horses lie, to truly forgive someone and accept their apology, I’d argue that as adults it’s important that we do this. Even to learn to forgive someone who never apologises.

Continue reading →