Moon Turtle: A Mood Journal

How are you feeling in lockdown, Aoteatoa friends? How’s your head? How’s your heart? How’s your soul? This is a little reminder that it’s okay to feel a lot of things at once. You may well have some conflicting feelings, that’s all good. Maybe you’re even feeling entirely apathetic towards the whole state of things. That’s fine too, there’s a lot happening. Sometimes to manage that, we tap out of really feeling anything at all. Wherever you’re at, whatever you’re feeling. It’s all goooood. Remember, you are not your feelings. Offer yourself compassion. Give it to others too. Strive to be kind and to be gentle. I think it’s Lori who says something along the lines of, “hard feelings pass faster when we don’t berate ourselves for feeling them.” I took a little break yesterday to take some piccies of Nacho the pup in our backyard. She brings me some silly amount of joy, she’s the best. Sometimes I get sucked in by existential dread, and I have to remind myself that the purpose of life can simply be to enjoy dogs and that’s it. Anna ❤️

My infinitely clever and thoughtful friend @iris_wodd has made something that touches the heart, and I want to share it with you too. Mike King @themikeking is giving back his Order of Merit because he doesn’t feel like his work can be celebrated while our siblings, parents, neighbours, and colleague die by suicide every week. It’s like the people who give medals out have said to Mike “hey, I know we’ve REALLY let everyone down on this, but you’ve picked up OUR slack. So, have a medal. You’ve done part of our job, for us, for free!”. And that’s straight-up bullshit. In response, Iris has designed a new medal, to recognise and acknowledge his mahi for mental health, and suicide prevention in Aotearoa. Iris says, “Ka pai Mike. I stand with you. Here’s a new medal. I’m a designer, not a pounamu carver, so this is the best I can do. It’s not real, you can’t hold it or physically pass it onto your kids, but I hope it makes you smile. I hope it makes you, and your sacrifices feel seen.” “Te aroha me te ngākaunui” is written on that medal. "Love and devotion". When I asked Hemi Kelly (the author of A Māori Phrase a Day) if he’d help with the translation of the words, he knew it was important to mention that ngākaunui (literally) means “big heart” in te reo. And that’s what you’ve given anyone struggling with mental health in NZ. You’ve given them your big heart.” ❤️❤️❤️

Here she is, the mind behind The Mini Book! @onelifenz “I—Helen Duyvestyn, hello—am a Registered Nurse who specialises in the area of mental health. I am also an Integrative Mental Health Service & Well-being Coach, mindfulness teacher, educator and speaker. My belief is that to be truly well, the mind, body and spirit all need to be engaged. I have a strong passion for supporting and empowering people in their mental health journey, outside the conventional medical model of medication and talk therapy—which I feel has limited application for many people struggling with mental illness. Using a holistic approach—encompassing conventional, functional and integrative medicine—I am passionate about helping people live their best life possible. I want to see people living the life that belongs to them.” - Helen Duyvestyn, @onelifenz The mind behind The Mini Book 📸: @ainsleyabouttheworld

A few years ago, through work I crossed paths with a most incredible woman who has felt kind of like an aunt-figure for me. She’s played an invaluable part in my mental health journey. Helen Duyvestyn has worked in the mental health space for over 12 years, and during that time, she has gathered a wealth of wisdom, knowledge and expertise that supports positive change in people’s health and lives. To help get this knowledge in the hands and minds of more people, she came up with The Mini Book. A pocket-sized little pal with tips, tools and techniques to help build up the tools in your mental health toolbox. It’s simple, practical, and kind. Keep one in your bag, give one to a friend, leave one on a library shelf, at a cafe. Say hello it it when you’re feeling overwhelmed, and it will guide you back to a space of calm and rationality. You can get yourself a copy from Moon Turtle’s Etsy store, they’re $9 and shipping is freeee. Very limited run only, go and have a peep. I’ll pop the link in bio for you x

The calm before the storm at Bethell’s Beach during Honey Pot’s first retreat. I’m going to tell you all about it very soon. Though we were only away for three days, Sarah said, “you’ll feel like you’ve been on holiday for a week.” And that’s pretty much on the money. Thank you @honeypotculture for holding the space for rest, healing, relaxing, and connecting. Wish I could have stayed forever.

A couple of weeks ago I took little ol’ Moon Turtle into the big ol’ city to have some new headshots taken ☺️✨ 📸 the beaut @contentbyrose

Every Thursday evening, we go to a Yin & Yoga Nidra class and then to the same Japanese restaurant for dinner. It’s my favourite day of the week. In my short time practising yoga, I’ve found that what I learn on the mat—either from the practice itself, or from the teacher guiding us—often lends itself to life in general somehow. What has stuck from a with me from a class a few weeks ago, was the teacher saying, “Don’t worry if you don’t look like your neighbour. We all have completely different bodies.” (Which I have also loosely interpreted as, “don’t worry if your life doesn’t look like your neighbours. We all have completely different everythings”. That’s what I’ve been needing to hear lately.) ☺️☺️☺️

Omg it sounds SO silly now, but I really did used to believe this... I grew up never ever seeing adults be sad. I saw my mum cry once when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, and I thought it was a glitch in the matrix, an exception to the rule. I used to believe that adults didn’t experience sadness, that feeling ‘sad’ was a kid thing, because I never really saw any proof that wasn’t the case. In some ways, that’s its own form of privilege, but it did set me up a big fat moment of disillusionment when I turned 18, ~became an adult~ (so I though lol) and all my despair didn’t magically evaporate. Without having the words for it at the time, in retrospect, that was my first insight into understanding that everyone has mental health. Everyone has wobbly days. Sadness, overwhelm, helplessness, stress, anger are things that every single person ever will experience, whether you see it happen or not. Your experience will be unique to you, but you’re not alone in how you feel. Feat. Hudson who is a show pony in a dog suit.

I’m a big fan of learning new words to support my understanding of life and its experience. Recently I learned the concept of Kensho and Satori. Kensho is growth through pain. Satori is growth through insight. In Kensho moments, we get our hands burnt and we learn not to do that again. In Satori moments, a sudden insight will inspire and push us forward. Think of it as an ‘a-ha!’ moment. We learn through collecting experiences that are both enjoyable and hard. Typically we don’t seek out the Kensho moments, but they seem to find us anyway. Satori moments are less frequent, but we can put ourselves in front of them by making an active effort to learn new things. Even learning this concept of Kensho and Satori was a moment of Satori for me. Mentally, I went back through the ‘enjoyable/shit experience’ graph of my life, assigning the lows as kensho moments and the highs as satori moments, and how all of them have stacked up to who I am today. It reminded me that we have power in creating who we are, create satori moments, and to listen to the lessons brought to the surface in kensho moments. I learned this concept from @mindvalley 🥰🌸

Hey you, gerd merning! ❤️ It seems I have the same sentiments in a very cyclical way. It’s not the first time I’ve said, “I felt overwhelmed by Instagram, and ran away to hide under the covers for a bit, but now I’m ready to open the curtains, stretch my legs and join the world again.” I logged back into the Moon Turtle IG account to find a stack of beautiful messages I wish I had shown to the imposter syndrome monster who comes to hang out sometimes. I’ve had a pretty noodly time. Most of it has been wonderful, some of it has been hard, several times I ended up hiding in the tall grass on Mt Eden crying my little eyeballs out—a combination of helplessness and hayfever. I’ve said, “we’re on holiday,” at least four times everyday since October. And now I’m craving a little more structure and direction which feels GOOD. I’m feeling grateful for transience. I’m looking forward to returning to Moon Turtle to listen, share and create. That‘s me, how are you? Bisous Bisous Bisous Anna 🧚‍♀️

We are nearing the end of the wild ride 2020 has been... To replenish your honey pot, the sweet peas at @honeypotculture (Tish, Sarah, and Laura) and I have put together a beautiful journaling guide to reflect and have gratitude for the year that has been.⁠ ⁠ This journaling guide has been created to support us in identifying and acknowledging the sources of love and goodness in our lives. When we know how to turn on the tap for this nourishing and beautiful energy, the supply really is boundless. Let’s not let the magic of 2020 get lost amongst the chaos.⁠ ⁠ Head over to @honeypotculture to download your very own printable version of this journaling guide from the link in their bio! From our hearts to yours. ❤ ❤ ❤

It wasn’t gonna happen, but in a delightful turn of events, there will be another run of ‘What Did I Even Do This Year?’ journals! Only 250 copies though, so just a biggish handful. Pre-orders are up on moonturtle.co until November 12. There’s even a sneaky little pre-order discount for you 🐒❤️ I’ll send them out November 14 so they will arrive in time for Kirihimete this year! They’re sweet little gifts 🥰 This journal was dreamed up a five-ish years ago around about this time of year when I thought... “what did I even do this year??” and I wished that I had written down as I went so that my work was cut out for me when December hit. So I pulled together this little chap of a journal, to help collection and document the tiny moments that ultimate make up our experience of life, but often get forgotten. Swipe for a couple of nearly adequate mock-ups! She’ll look better in the flesh, I promise. I have steep learning curve ahead of me on the mock up front. Anna ❤️