I moved my family to Aotearoa the 4th of July, 2024 from the not so united USA. I selected this symbolic date intentionally, as it is meant to represent independence. I felt conflicted about abandoning loved ones in a land of growing fascism, and being Pakeka coming to a land where white people have also taken so much from the Māori. Yet as part of Te Whatu Ora, I was welcomed with a pōwhiri, and cultural advisors embraced me with warm welcome. I felt the spiritual enlivenment with the practice of waiata, Kia Ora!