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When we look at “old people”, we assume they’ve been old all their lives. We forget they’ve been us, we just haven’t been them yet.

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We got a second chance at liking each other …

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I know that, given the choice, Kathryn would have loved to have stayed for wrinkles, aches and liver spots and the chance to get even wiser than she already was.

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I secretly managed the juggle. Which is fine, but not helpful for the next woman in comedy with a baby.

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I believe I may have squealed with delight. What a fabulous thing to have. I had not at all thought of it as “missing” but, now that I have it, it’s a real treasure.

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One of the delights of my working life has been touring small town New Zealand and playing a myriad of gorgeous rooms in Balcairn, Reefton, Picton, Wairoa, Putāruru… I reckon I’ve seen most of the halls and theatres from Kaitaia to Rakiura

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I got to join them for a few days - Margi driving, Peter (who is ridiculously tall) in the front seat, folded in half and in half again, and Jools and Lynda in the back, me in the middle. My qualifications for the gig were a certificate in journalism and short legs.

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It has been a long time since working for the government looked like an episode of Sir Roger Hall’s “Gliding On”.

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And yet there I was recently, talking about all of that online living, but in a room filled with people who you kind of know but are meeting “properly” now.

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… And so I wanted to do something for my body that was creative and beautiful, and just for the joy of it.

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Once politicians start using a word like “woke” to describe “sushi in school lunches” or “acknowledging gender diversity” or “filling sandbags” you know you’re in the final days of the word’s usefulness.

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What is too rarely talked about is the huge benefit pay equity would provide not just to individual women but to whole communities, with money flowing into households where it would be spent on food, power, petrol and other consumer goods.

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Despite knowing that “anger” is one of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s “5 stages of grief”, I am always shocked when it turns up…

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“…If you have a solid background of the thing your ancestors stood for, you can judge your own course better…”

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I do not buy the story that we humans are inherently selfish, competitive and hierarchical. I keep observing that our first and guiding impulse is cooperation and community, where our different skills are equally valued and our preference is for cohesion and harmony.

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If you’ve never had one, think of me as your canary down the colonoscopy mineshaft. And if you have, high fives for resilience and doing the right thing - I hope this makes you feel seen.

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I don’t think anyone’s denying there’s a problem on some of our streets, but me and my government are definitely reading it differently.

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A little shout out this week to all the people whose job is also their creative expression…

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In Te Ao Māori, you are welcome to come grieve at any tangi. Which is why … you will meet whānau from the iwi over the hill at your marae - paying their respects, yes, but also grieving for whoever else they carry in their heart.

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Mum Bod is a “Before” image and society is waiting to see our “After”. Whereas Dad Bod is a destination – no one is expecting him to work that off…