Listen before responding

June 2, 2026

A discomforting poem...

When it comes to creating a better world, Miranda Warner works on the frontline dealing with family violence issues and restorative justice. I had the good fortune to catch-up with Miranda while she was visiting a mutual friend Farid Ahmed in Christchurch recently. When the discussion turned to issues around male violence and emotional regulation Miranda offered to share a poem she'd written a few days earlier.


Sit across the table if you're able

from that person that you harmed

and disarmed listen

leave defences at the door

and do nothing more than listen.


For the rest, perhaps it's best if you listen to Miranda herself as she reads her poem. I was deeply moved by the recognition of how easy it is to rush to judgement before having heard the other, even when you disagree.





Farid Ahmed tours Nelson to speak to schools and community groups about compassion and forgiveness.

Wheelchair tour of Nelson

By John Sellwood • October 8, 2026
Farid makes a whistle stop tour of Nelson to speak with schools and community groups about Compassion and forgiveness. A survivor of the massacres at two Christchurch mosques in 2019, Farid is campaigning for March the 15th to be recognised as a day of compassion. He wants those who died to remembered for their love and not the hate visited upon their community by a lone gunman. In this video Farid speaks to: 

Māori Rock Art

By John Sellwood • June 7, 2026
For generations, the ancestral rock art of the Arowhenua people has been owned by others, with the land and limestone caves held in private ownership as part of a Gould family farm. Now after more than 170 years, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua has purchased back the land and full access and ownership of their ancient taonga.