Good Issue 71 Nov/Dec 2020

@sage.journal @makaylawallacetidd laurenparsonswellbeing.com Emma Sage A full-time mum, writer and creative, Hawke’s Bay-based Emma spends most of her time chasing around after two little people, while exercising her brain as a freelance writer. A passionate gardener, you can also find Emma curating Sage Journal–an online journal for the garden-curious, publishing editorials about green spaces and gardening guides. Find her work at sagejournal.co.nz and read her story about a young florist’s dedication to the slow flower movement on page 48. Makayla Wallace-Tidd Based in Tāmaki Makarau, Auckland, Makayla is a freelance writer and social media manager. She strives to make positive change through her writing and inspire others. Makayla draws ideas from real life situations that affect herself and her whānau. Read her body positivity story on page 24. Lauren Parsons Lauren is an award-winning wellbeing specialist, TEDx speaker,…

Hands up if you love Christmas? I’ll join you in that! It’s one of my favourite times of year because it evokes cherished childhood memories, such as dressing the tree, spending time with family and the beginning of the summer holidays. Hands up if Christmas is something that you dread? My partner Simon is in that camp. He’d much rather skip Christmas and go camping, which is exactly what we will be doing this year. We’ve reached a compromise. On alternate years we each get to choose how to spend Christmas Day, and it’s his turn this year. However, what I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter where you are. It’s still a day about spending time with good people, and that is the most important thing. New Zealand eco-luxe fashion designer Maggie Hewitt…

@krystlef @calyx_health @ghazalehgol Your article in issue 70 on owning your superpowers absolutely resonated with me. As a mum working full time I often dwell on my weaknesses. I am only just discovering that being kind to my mind, body and soul and honouring both my strengths and weaknesses is such an empowering superpower in itself. Fitting in mediation, yoga and moving my body helps me tune into my emotions and truly get to the root of things as they arise. I want to say thank you Good magazine for inspiring readers to embrace their true selves and not be deterred by what others may think. Life is too short not to be your authentic self. C Murphy, Hamilton Hi Good mag, I just read your article ‘Being Child Free and Why That’s OK’…

Circular circulose Levi’s has launched its most sustainable jean ever, made with organic cotton and Circulose®, a breakthrough material made from worn-out jeans. It represents more than five years of research in circular denim design and a collaboration between Levi’s® Wellthread™ (the laboratory to test and validate sustainability ideas through research and development), and re:newcell, the innovators behind Circulose®. It also marks a significant milestone in the fashion industry’s transition to circularity. Its like-for-like fibre input means the garment can itself be recycled through existing chemical recycling processes. To make Circulose®, re:newcell repurposes discarded cotton textiles, such as worn-out denim jeans, through a process akin to recycling paper. The jeans are designed in a way that maximises recyclability so they can be regenerated into new jeans again. This means each part of…

Before doing humanitarian photography, I was tempted to imagine that mothers in developing countries who endured horrific things “on the news” were fundamentally different from me. Maybe, somehow, they just don’t feel things like I do. They’re “used to it,” numbed by their suffering. Maybe they expect less, care less, hope for less, want less, or need less. But as I’ve gotten to know mums all over the world, and captured them and their children with my camera, I’ve come to see that as different as our cultures and contexts might be, the universal gifts and challenges of motherhood unite us. There’s really no difference in what we want for our children; only in what we can give them. Last year, I completed a year-long assignment, The First Hello, to uncover…

From the wise words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” There’s no doubt you’ve heard it before, successful people owe their dues to a morning routine. Of course that’s not the only thing that made said people successful–and to determine what constitutes success is a whole other story–but let’s consider this for a minute. Many celebrities, entrepreneurs, and researchers have raved about how a morning routine influences their lives for the better, writing books about it and covering it in podcasts. Barack Obama reportedly sets himself up for the day exercising, eating breakfast, but not drinking coffee. Jennifer Aniston swears by drinking a hot lemon water, washing her face and meditating for 20 minutes. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, jogs for 30…