Waitohu Journal for Making Meaning

From the best-selling author of Aroha and Wawata comes a new and inspiring journal to help you make deeper connections using the energies of Hina the Maori moon goddess and the power of aroha. Kia ora! Welcome to Waitohu - a journal where the Maori lunar calendar invites us to write about our lives in a new way.

This writing journey is fuelled by the whakatauka (proverb) 'ka mua, ka muri', 'walking backwards into the future'. Every month we circle back to the beginning of the book, rediscovering thoughts from the month before under the illuminating gaze of each moon face. New layers of ideas are added to earlier reflections, then collected together in a way that uncovers new truths.

Waitohu is a much-needed companion to help us navigate the turbulent waters of our complex world. It is a sacred place to write the future, drawing on the lessons from the past. Waitohu is Dr Hinemoa Elder's response to many requests for a journal to record life lessons, guided by her two previous books Aroha and Wawata.

The basic principles of Waitohu:

• Write daily: Just like other journals you will write something every day, with the Māori lunar calendar, and each of the different faces of Hina, our Māori moon goddess as your companions.
• Ka mua, ka muri: What’s different here is that as each month ends, you will turn back to the beginning, and write new journal entries under what you wrote on that day, the month before. Figuring out the future by returning to what you wrote in the past.
• Revisit and reflect: You get to revisit your previous journal entries. Your reflections become grouped together under each of Hina’s moon faces. You will see and feel themes emerging on different days of the month, casting a growing light on how you make meaning of your life.

Dr. Hinemoa Elder

Dr. Hinemoa Elder, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, has lived on Waiheke Island for over 20 years. She has worked at Starship Hospital and in private practice, specializing in youth forensic reports and brain injury treatment. A deputy psychiatry member of New Zealand's Mental Health Review Tribunal, Hinemoa is also a Māori Strategic Leader for CoRE for the Ageing Brain. She is a former TV presenter and frequent media commentator on mental health.