Are you a rock pool?
2020 is the year of the rock pool
One summer I was walking around some rocks on Aotea Great Barrier Island, and I thought about rock pools. Today feels like a pretty appropriate time to share that story.
Because I stopped at every single one, inspecting, looking to see what moved, what was hiding in the crevices, what colours and textures each one had.
How deep? How clear? What was growing and living in it?
Girl fishing in an ocean tide pool - original watercolour by Aimee Lockwood Illustration
Adapting
But then they also have to be adaptable.
As the tides come and go, as the sun burns or rain falls, especially as the waves crash or swells rise and fall, that very specific set of circumstances changes. Drastically.
And the rock pool has no influence over those changes. It can’t control them.
It just has to adapt.
Hello, global pandemic.
Hello, COVID-19.
Thriving in changing environments
I’m adapting. We all are.
I’m seeing rock pools all around me.
Beautiful,
stunning,
thriving rock pools
who are resilient and tenacious.
Through all of this upheaval and inconsistency and unpredictability, they continue to thrive.
Those rock pools continue to be beautiful and to support life in their own little ecosystems.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Not for the rock pool or for us in the post-pandemic "after."
That doesn't mean the rock pool never has to reinvent itself, farewell some species and welcome others, adjust to the changing conditions, rapidly and regularly.
That doesn't mean it's life is fair or it gets what it deserves.
It just keeps adapting, thriving, and finding new ways to be beautiful.
I'd like to be more like that rock pool.
You?
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Rock pool shoutouts!
WE SEE YOU 💕
I want to shout out to some of the rockpools around my ocean, amazing #womenofimpact ready to help us all adapt and thrive!
Rachel@identifymarketing: a marketing team that's been incredibly responsive and generous responses to small businesses during the pandemic.
Senga@everestpeople: these guys never stop. Free advice, generous support, always available. Soooo much love for this recruitment crew.
Belinda@performanceHQNZ: performance coaching perfection! People-focused and empowering, bringing clarity to chaos and truly valuable advice in changing times.
Cheri@Swampfrog: environmental and tree consultants who've recently reinvented how they're connecting and sharing mātauranga generously with mana and care.
Kathryn, Diella & Arnia@blueskyrecruitment: who are doubling-down on their authenticity and personality to achieve more good, have fun and help kiwi employers and job-seekers thrive.
Jules & Zellara@dairywomensnetwork: unsurprisingly and yet still so impressively, they've knuckled down and got shit done! The resilience, resourcefulness and tenacity of our women-in-dairy is stunning, and worthy of celebration!
#goodhumans #goodbusiness #peoplefirst #manawahine #authenticitywins #empowerment
