Last night, around midnight, I posted YET ANOTHER blog about my battles with being a bit crazy.

Today, I earnestly tried to do all the right things to get my crazy under control. Here’s the story of the day and the kind of therapeutic things that I shamelessly indulged in.

 

Woke up, attempted to engage with the kids without yelling. Did I succeed?

 

Absolutely not.

 

I did, however, get the children out the door and to school with lunches on time. There was MUCH yelling, and perhaps a few tears. Whatever, I’m not in the running for mom of the year, but I do keep trying.

Then I planned on joining the Yoga class at the Massey gym before engaging in a day of study.

 

Traffic was terrible, so I was a few minutes late for the class. Opted to go to the gym instead.

 

I hate going to the gym. Proper h-a-t-e it. Once I am there, however… blissed out.

So today’s soundtrack was my power ballads set.

 

Warmed up to Damn Yankees: “Can you take me HIIIGGGGHHHHH enough? Can you fly me over, yesterday-ay-ay” and got my pulse-rate over 135 to the cheesy and or kick-ass ballads with big drum and guitar solos from Warrant, Alice in Chains, G’n’R, Ugly Kid Joe and of course Alice Cooper.

Hit my happy place at “Only Women Bleed” and I skipped over Radiohead because I am still mad at them for the terrible concert we went to a few years ago.

 

I had to nip out to drop a car to the sign writers, and then I went back and hit the gym for another session.

 

No big deal. My days and plans chop and change constantly. Even my me days.

 

Last night, I had no idea how many people would read and relate to my post about becoming quite a miserable person on my shiny new meds. I got to spend the better half of the day talking to people on DM. Beautiful conversations. Difficult conversations. Real conversations. Private conversations that will remain between myself, and those I chatted with.

 

I did some reading, caught up with my course coordinator (who I dare say has become a friend) and had a nice lunch with my husband.

 

Then I retired back to my sunny corner in the library, and did some more reading and I was all by myself. It was pretty great. I did not answer the phone (sorry if you called and I didn’t answer, I will call you tomorrow!) and I did not worry about work.

 

I had a wonderful, therapeutic day, not being anything to anyone, and doing things that I like and are good for me.

 

I. Just. Was. And it was quite wonderful.

 

Grabbed some groceries and cooked dinner for the troops. The kids ate it, which was a huge and rare win I must say.

 

The point I am trying to make is not deep or complicated.

 

Many (maybe even most) of us know what is good for us, and what then need when things get out of whack. Simple things like cutting down on caffeine, chopping out booze and depressants, limiting screen-time, being in the moment, seeking time in nature, eating well, and staying hydrated all help to realign things that are wonky.

 

I know that with families, and jobs, and life we can’t all get the time we need to do the therapeutic things that will help, so I’m just encouraging you to try and take what you need if you’re in need of some therapeutic time for you.

 

I did. So far, it has been awesome.

 

Have a wonderful day.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Phteven and I are mostly very much in Love. There are times when the quirks and foibles all get to be a bit too much and one or the other (usually me, rarely my Grumpy husband to be fair) gets well fed up with the whole marriage lark. It never lasts long, and I am given pause to think about the advice I give to anyone and everyone who will take advice from me on matters of the heart:

 

We are all crazy, so it is crucial you find a crazy that fits when you’re choosing a life partner.

 

So my crazy is flaring up again because I feel helpless as the world seems to be hurting in so many ways. We’re all sadly given front row seats as waves of fascism swell in various places around our politically uneasy planet. I find this impossible to get my head and heart around, as we’ve been through this kind of thing time and again as a species, and it truly never ends well.   One of my favourite lines in a musical is from RENT is when Mark yells: “The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation!” When you’re afraid of everything and need to feel superior all the time, you’re almost certainly too distracted to be creative.

 

Encouraging “us and them” mentality or encouraging fear and hatred to be our guides does nothing for creation and destroys so much. Foremost it destroys Love and trust between human beings and creates fear and suspicion that evolves into even uglier manifestations.

 

So what I am doing to hang onto some shreds of sanity (because seriously, the state of the world makes me so incomprehensibly sad and anxious) is feeling extra grateful for the Love and support that surrounds us, around the globe, and most importantly, within our own four walls.

 

Grumpy chooses humour as a buffer against the barrage of insanity and natural and human-instigated disasters. He keeps me laughing along and that’s an incredibly powerful emotional anesthetic.  I curl up inside him and rely on his logical pragmatic approach to life as a safe haven so much.

 

We are home from a long flight and incredibly engaging conference in Norway. The eye opening truth of how tough people need to be as individuals and businesses as the transition to green technology takes hold was gob-smacking. The advocates and activists that have sacrificed so much and shown unwavering hope and integrity are the reason why there’s any electric cars, solar panels, or batteries in use today. But wow do we have a mountain to climb still. We haven’t even made it to base camp, and I am already exhausted.

 

So on this, my 15^th Valentine’s Day with the poor bugger on the other end of the phone wanting to collocate a server and fell for “The smart girl who didn’t bullshit like salespeople normally do” I am glad we have each other.

 

In a time of fear, uncertainty and dread, we choose collaboration, hope and humour.   No matter how sad this crazy world makes me, I know that every day I muster up the strength to keep going there’s change being made, and trust and hope being nurtured.

 

If you’re one of the people who’s actively on this journey of creativity and creation with us and the growing community of Green Tech Activists, THANK YOU! I can honestly say that I Love you and your passion and enthusiasm and the only chance any of us have of reaching energy independence and witnessing a complete paradigm shift is working together, putting aside differences, and encouraging as many people as we can to make decisions that will positively impact them, their family, their community and the planet.

 

Here’s some pictures of our loudest and proudest cheerleading squad to finish off this rambling Valentine’s Day post about being Lovers in a seemingly apocalyptic time.

 

 

 

We made it to Norway. A pleasant sequence of three flights from Auckland to Oslo. I slept most of the way.

We got a great deal on KLM who ended up being half the price of our national carrier Air New Zealand. The flight from Seoul to Amsterdam was particularly comfortable, as the Dutch crew were cheeky, and fun and so incredibly Dutch! Steve’s dad was from the Netherlands and Steve and I have always felt an affinity with the Dutch, and we always look forward to our travels to the Netherlands after we’ve spent time in other countries in Europe that perhaps do not suit our personalities or sense of humour quite so well.

 

When we arrived at the airport the ease of movement was incredible. We got our passports stamped by an incredibly good looking young customs official, who was eager to know more about ChargeNet and couldn’t believe that we’d fly so far to speak at a single event. After stamping our passports he cheerfully exclaimed to Steve and I: “Electric Vehicles are certainly the future!” and I am confident he’s correct.

 

Then it was a short wait until our final flight at gate B24 in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, to Oslo in Norway.

 

We landed, quickly and easily collected all of our bags and then equally quickly and easily managed to catch the train to Drammen.

 

The train was electric. We spotted dozens of EVs out the window and once we arrived at our destination.

 

Coming to Norway, is like stepping forward in time and I like it. I really. Really. Really like it.

 

So I am in the audience watching the snow fall outside the window, listening to the presidents of the EV associations in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and then my EV superstar friend Christina from Norway. BMW have done an amazing presentation and talked about collaboration with other OEMs as well as providing seamless solutions with car sharing, livability, public transport, and even urban gardening. Copenhagen has successfully integrated car sharing, public transport and enabled free movement of citizens with one card. This is the kind of stuff my dreams are made of. A future that is seamless, where movement is achieved with ease and emissions are low or non-existent.

 

The thing that is glaringly obvious to me here – as it has been since we started our journey into charging infrastructure – Collaboration is absolutely key. Cars are expected to evolve at a rate that it’s essential people work together. Technology is growing at a rate never before experienced by humanity. The need for industries and environments to consider their place in and amongst many other eco-systems is new and confusing for traditionalists, baby boomers and even some from generation X. The future, as it appeared so rapidly here in Norway, is in the hands of generation Y, millennials, and post-millennials. If people can’t learn to work together, they will be left behind. If companies can’t learn to listen to their customer base and provide smarter, cleaner, better solutions and sourcing smarter, cleaner, and more ethical materials, then their companies will be left behind in a swamp of anti-competitive behavior and traditionalist thinking.

 

Here in Norway, they discourage bad environmental decisions and behaviors through taxation, and they encourage good household and business decisions with tax breaks, incentives and a strong cultural and social dialogue. All of which encourages thoughtful and environmentally conscientious choices in households and businesses alike.

 

What does the world stand to learn from this small but mighty nation?

 

HEAPS!

 

Here’s just three things I feel like New Zealand and the rest of the world ought to learn from Norway:

 

• People ought to be rewarded for making good decisions such as purchasing an EV, recycling, gardening, leading a healthy lifestyle etc. Rewards such as immediate tax benefits on the purchase of ethical and environmentally responsible products and services is just one way of discouraging unhealthy and unsustainable choices, and encouraging healthy options.
• Reach out. Activating and encouraging the community is something that Elbil and Norway’s local and national governments are total rock stars at doing. There are events and forums for drivers and people looking to purchase, and every member of the Elbil (Norwegian EV drivers association) has access to a vast array of support and benefits.
• Keeping it social. In Norway, the visibility of EV in the centre of Oslo blew Steve and I away on our first trip here in 2014. For your average Norwegian, looking out your office window and seeing a sea of EVs parked in convenient proximity would be a great way to encourage you to want to have your own EV and park just outside your office and charge the car while you go about your work day. Highly visible EV events, infrastructure and benefits for drivers made the social stigma of owning an EV a good thing, and there’s no reason why New Zealand cannot do the same.

 

This country is fantastic. The people are incredibly serious until you lock gazes with them and smile, then they will smile back and it is wonderful. It is an honour and an adventure to be here again, and I can’t wait until New Zealand is celebrating the same level up Electrification of our fleet as our Norwegian friends in the North have seen.

 

Thanks for reading.