Environment – Joy in the Anthropocene

The winds of war blew, and so did a cold, strong south-westerly, the few days we stayed at Tiritiri Matangi at the beginning of the month. But I found joy.

It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, but as the saying goes, ‘We have to be the change we want to see in the world’. And it’s possible to find joy in the Anthropocene. In fact, with the world in chaos, it’s essential to sow and harvest peace in our own lives, and to remake joy.
That’s why I’m doing a ‘Marie Kondo’ in my life. I’m stripping out those things that don’t spark joy, and that aren’t in service of Life. But not just things, experiences and actions, too. Sociologists like Richard Twine research people like me who are sometimes considered killjoys within the prevailing culture, for what we won’t do. I won’t fly, won’t eat animal products, try not to drive much, won’t buy brand new. But in the process of being a killjoy, we remake joy anew.

While human biomass and animals suffering in factory farms outweigh all wild animals, while the climate crisis inflicts pain, suffering and insecurity, while children are bombed carrying their school bags, and others starve, time at Tiri can remind us of the good in the world. I jumped off rocks into the sea and snorkelled in shallow water. Tāmure/snapper came up kanohi ki te kanohi. The meeting of minds in the water was made even better because those fish are now safe in a new Hauraki Gulf Marine Protected Area.

We were sheltered from wind and sun under the canopies of forest planted by the visionary Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi. Volunteers guided tours, weeded paths and fundraised for conservation. A panoply of native birds saved from extinction dropped early autumn seeds on us – pōpokatea/whiteheads, tieke/saddlebacks and kokako. We saw a kereru nest – a loose platform of sticks, perched in a tree. We saw a little blue penguin ‘feather explosion’ at the entrance to its roost, the downy feathers a sign of the season’s moult.

The island’s current 94 kokako chorused the morning with their haunting calls, and little spotted kiwi and tuatara graced the tracks. Hihi/stitchbirds, korimako/bellbirds and tui were more resonant than any church bell, especially around the feeding stations where volunteers feed 8700 litres of sugar water every year – supporting the hihi recovery, which otherwise only survived at Hauturu.

At night, a powerful electrical storm to the east channelled energy in huge lightning bolts that arced from the sky to the sea. Sheltered from the wind, we were awed viewers of this heavenly theatre. We witnessed the lunar eclipse that turned the moon apricot while meteors shot overhead and ruru swooped across the valley.

We ate delicious and nutritious home cooked vegan meals.

We lived the mantra from Desiderata ‘…with all its drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Strive to be happy’. At Tiri, we found joy.