New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Talks About Mental Well Being
December 20, 2020 11:55 PM Subscribe
Jacinda Ardern, has revealed she suffers “imposter syndrome” and watches “bad crime shows” to wind down. (YouTube, 35 minutes). The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, chats with All Black legend Sir John Kirwan about sleep, self-care and her approach to mental wellbeing and what keeps her well in a high pressure role. With a passion for cooking and recipe books, the Prime Minister covers off how she fares with the six key ingredients Kirwan and Mentemia use for wellbeing - Chill, Connect, Do, Move, Celebrate and Enjoy.
I try to avoid having idolising politicians, but Jacinda makes it hard. True leadership and she also seems like a decent human being.
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:45 AM on December 21, 2020 [23 favorites]
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:45 AM on December 21, 2020 [23 favorites]
I try to avoid having idolising politicians, but Jacinda makes it hard.
Like that time when Jacinda picks up Stephen Colbert from the airport in her electric car and then strikes up casual conversations with people at stop lights.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:18 AM on December 21, 2020 [12 favorites]
Like that time when Jacinda picks up Stephen Colbert from the airport in her electric car and then strikes up casual conversations with people at stop lights.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:18 AM on December 21, 2020 [12 favorites]
That's wild she's allowed to drive herself.
posted by octothorpe at 6:30 AM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:30 AM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
When I was in my mid-20s I read Adventures in the Screen Trade, which includes William Goldman's famous quote "Nobody knows anything." At the time I took it as illustrative hyperbole applicable only to the movie business, but 20 more years of living since then has me ready to have it carved on my tombstone. Everyone's just winging it...some people do a better job of it than others, but nobody has all their shit totally together.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:48 AM on December 21, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:48 AM on December 21, 2020 [6 favorites]
I regularly bump into Cabinet ministers at the supermarket, most recently Grant Robinson (deputy PM and minister of finance. It's a small country where handguns are for collectors and target shooting only.
Am a bit over Ardern hype abroad. She has done an excellent job on COVID pandemic and isn't a moral monster, but has steadfastly refused to do anything about our housing problems and seems committed to the most timid policies possible while not actually being right wing. Fantastic in a crisis, less so in mundane governing.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:59 AM on December 21, 2020 [9 favorites]
Am a bit over Ardern hype abroad. She has done an excellent job on COVID pandemic and isn't a moral monster, but has steadfastly refused to do anything about our housing problems and seems committed to the most timid policies possible while not actually being right wing. Fantastic in a crisis, less so in mundane governing.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:59 AM on December 21, 2020 [9 favorites]
Definitely small, I ate lunch with Jacinda once at an unconference, she had preternaturally white teeth.
I too wish she'd spend her now immense political capital on good.
posted by mbo at 10:06 AM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
I too wish she'd spend her now immense political capital on good.
posted by mbo at 10:06 AM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
Grant ROBERTSON damnit. I know this. Stupid fingers.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:25 AM on December 21, 2020
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:25 AM on December 21, 2020
The focus on mental health in NZ recently has been good. I'm at a government agency and we've had sessions with John Kirwan and health psychologist Fiona Crichton of Mentemia. I'm impressed by the organisation's focus on well-being (it emphasised to managers that their first priority is looking after their staff). My previous private sector employer also ran mental health sessions, but took a very individualist approach - looking at actions we could take to maintain and improve health, but not at how the organisation and its demands might be impacting our mental health.
Fantastic in a crisis, less so in mundane governing.
We are incredibly fortunate to have had a leader with such skills in communication, empathy and bringing people together, at a time when we've experienced three crises (Christchurch terror attack, White Island eruption and COVID).
But yes, we really need a leader prepared to take hard decisions and burn political capital to improve things, and in spite of having a majority (the first leader since 1951 to win a majority of the popular vote), she hasn't done so. No progress on housing, no capital gains tax or wealth tax, very slow progress on land return at Ihumatao (though to be fair they got there eventually), very slow and minimal movement on climate change. Some good things done around the margins, but not enough transformative change.
posted by Pink Frost at 12:46 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Fantastic in a crisis, less so in mundane governing.
We are incredibly fortunate to have had a leader with such skills in communication, empathy and bringing people together, at a time when we've experienced three crises (Christchurch terror attack, White Island eruption and COVID).
But yes, we really need a leader prepared to take hard decisions and burn political capital to improve things, and in spite of having a majority (the first leader since 1951 to win a majority of the popular vote), she hasn't done so. No progress on housing, no capital gains tax or wealth tax, very slow progress on land return at Ihumatao (though to be fair they got there eventually), very slow and minimal movement on climate change. Some good things done around the margins, but not enough transformative change.
posted by Pink Frost at 12:46 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Harvey Kilobit at 12:20 AM on December 21, 2020 [4 favorites]