FROM THE EDITOR

THE TRUE MAGIC of this shut- down world lies in the wondrous filaments of human kindness connecting people from household to household, across mountains and seas, continent to continent. These connections are as delicate as the threads spun by spiders, and they too reflect rays of sunshine and hold droplets of nourishing water. Humanity is knit together in hope — hope that we can make a better world out of this. The web of a spider has incomprehensible strength. We too have incomprehensible strength when we catch one another from a stumble or when we cushion someone’s fall. When we hold each other upright, we begin to walk forward again. We will not be mended without a seam, and we will not have our old world reappear as if nothing had happened. Everything changes and anything is possible. From this, we might enhance the beauty of our planet and achieve world peace. Why not believe this? Let us accept nothing less. We had planned to celebrate 15 years of NZ Life & Leisure with you. We might not be with you in print, but we are in spirit with this beautiful digital edition representing 15 years of NZ Life & Leisure – great stories for all times. Welcome to our new world. It’s exciting to be doing something new. It’s been an engrossing process reading back issues and selecting the stories. I wanted to republish every story – truly. I reread my first editorial, and I’d written: “Something new is happening in society.” Here we go again, so hang in here with us. We intend to rise from the ashes to bring you the next 15 years of stories about Aotearoa and its people – one way or another. Artist Lester Hall (page 10) created the artwork for our cover. Thank you, Lester, for its beauty and spirit. Aroha mai (Love received) Aroha atu (Love returned)

Here’s me, 15 years younger and no grey hair, at Castle Hill Station in the South Island doing the first interview for the first story in the first issue. It still thrills me to be able to interview the country’s most inspiring people.