humans of christchurch

HUMANS OF CHRISTCHURCH

Inspired by the ever growing popularity of Humans of New York, I created "Humans Of Christchurch" as a particularly appropriate response to the humbling inspiration I receive on a daily basis from the unique and beautiful human beings that reside here.

Since the devastating earthquakes, the rebirth of the city unfolds. Within this rebuild, I believe there is great opportunity for us as a community of people to reestablish and/or reinvent ourselves too. The past cannot be changed but what have we taken away from this experience? How has it changed us as individuals and how do we express this on a daily basis? What have we learnt? Have our values and attitudes shifted since the earthquakes? Have we unearthed a new-found perspective of what really matters in our life? What positive differences are we now bringing to the people we interact with that perhaps we weren't aware of before? Are we a more conscious community now? Are we kinder, gentler, patient and more understanding with one another?

What makes you tick? What inspires you? What do you think about, dream about? What are you passionate about?

My aim is to inspire positive insight in order to awaken a consciousness that can be spread out into our community with the goal of bringing us closer together.

Be inspired and realise that we’re not so different from each other after all!

"Love can be an ugly business. When you are rejected by the man/woman you have opened yourself up to, it can be extremely painful, debilitating even, when you are the one rejected and left behind. But with change and pain, comes transformation, strength and beauty. Do you think that when a caterpillar is in its cocoon transforming into a butterfly that he doesn't feel pain despite the beautiful creature he will become from such an experience?"

"So you are saying that there is a silver lining in all despondent situations and an opportunity within misery to learn and to grow and to become more fulfilled from our painful experiences?"

"Well, I suppose. Although i think the butterfly only survives for 2 days after it's transformation."

"Oh."

"If you were going to die at the end of this week, what would you hope to achieve before then?"

"It depends................ am I dying Friday or Saturday?"

http://www.trillion.co.nz/

These guys made my day by not giving me a parking ticket after I paid my all day $5 parking money into the wrong parking machine! They let me off with a warning on the condition that they could have their photo taken with me after I took theirs- THANK YOU SOOO MUCH GUYS!!

“When you’re a musician, especially a singer-songwriter, you expose so much of yourself through your songs. It’s important to have a space where you feel supported in your creative pursuits."

http://www.lynettediaz.com/

"Write my own story now. Get to make up my own endings, be the dead hero and the living metaphor running off at the mouth. Might be a singer one day, find another voice, make up another language like the Bro, he owns that shit, appropriates your soul in A minor. Break the heart that gives you everything. Discard concern. Smile for the snake of it. Wear cool sunglasses. Scar your hands to prove you made something. Seek a softer touch and a kiss goodnight. Awake at the lock-in and a basement of monsters gorging at the bar, Peter the righteous sinner locks the gates behind him, pouring top-shelf from the fountainhead of whisky wisdom, spinning vinyl, gliding in the manner of a man who knows that one day soon he will be a ghost haunted by the living. Bear that cross when he comes to it. In the summary he is nothing but the gathering of words."

-Ben Brown. Poet Extraordinaire!!

http://www.writerscentre.org.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/benbrownthepoet

"Wow!! So baby number two is on it's way soon?! How exciting!! How did you feel when you found out? Was it planned or an unexpected surprise?"

"Well.... actually, I didn't even know until I saw it posted on facebook!!"

http://www.freemansdiningroom.co.nz/

"I really try to capture the essence of that prestigious moment in time whilst making and playing music. Just like you try and capture the beauty and depth of what it is you photograph, I want to reach the innerness of my own soul and for others to feel it on the same level."

"This one time I was at work on LSD and...... JUST KIDDING!!! Although I do have a memory of chasing a tirannosaurus rex through the park.. it had eaten seven children but I managed to rescue three of them!"

"Oh yeah?.... So what else floats your boat?"

"I collect toys, high heels and play in a grindcore band."

http://www.wunderbar.co.nz/

"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"

"Well, the other day I was the last person in line to check in for my flight at the airport. I was so tired and was getting grumpy waiting in line for ages; but I decided that once I reached the counter I would just be as friendly as possible and despite my exhaustion I would just smile once I got up there. Well, the guy reciprocated my efforts, smiled back and upgraded me to a better seat at the front of the plane! So..... my advice to a large group of people would be to just 'SMILE!!' You get what you give!"

"Why did you chose the name Civil and Naval for your bar?

"I named it after the business that preceded the bar. D.H. Lublow's Civil and Naval clothing tailoring business. It seemed appropriate."

"Do you tend to drink more being the owner of a bar? Haha!"

"Na.. I'm too busy to drink!"

http://www.civilandnaval.co.nz/

"It was quite a lonely job at first, biking around all day on my own. At least when I was a taxi driver I had the radio so I could interact with the other drivers."

"Have you considered changing careers again since?"

"Yeah, a couple of times.. but what I've realised since is that it would have to be a heck of a good job for me to consider leaving this one. I am my own boss out here. I've got no one cracking the whip or barking orders in my ear. I can go at my own leisurely pace if I want to. I enjoy the outdoors and I really love that sense of freedom. Plus it beats sitting at a desk all day."

"So how long have you been a postie?"

"Twenty years."

"What drives your passion to ride?"

"The freedom of the ride combined with the thrill of being in complete harmony with my equine friend."

http://www.trickrider.co.nz/

"What are you most excited about for the birth of your first child?"

"I'm excited about creating love."