I love a celebration. It doesn’t have to be a huge fanfare kind of event, although I must admit I like those too. It can be small and deliberately quiet, recognisable only to a few, and gently celebrate events that are private and personal.

Given my professional roles, there are always plenty of celebrations to get involved in. I enjoy and learn from these every time they occur, and I thought in the spirit of sharing some of those rituals, I’d provide an insight into the celebrations that punctuate the calendar and financial year.

Let’s begin at the start of the year because that’s where it commences.

To celebrate and invigorate each new year at Harcourts Gold, we determine a theme. It’s either of cultural or national significance; something that binds everyone in a common cause and provides a focus beyond a singular financial one. Amongst those themes have been resilience, health and wellbeing, your personal bucket list, sustainability, and giving back… it’s a long and worthy list. The fun part – or celebration aspect – occurs at the end of the year when we acknowledge how our lives have been enriched and enhanced by pitching in, learning new skills, and working collectively. That, and the multiple and beautiful Christmas events. Beyond this are recognition events, awards, and conferences allowing us to celebrate as a company the successes of our team and our business. These culminate in May following the conclusion of the financial year on March 31st.

With the achievement of national and international awards, these celebrations have been numerous and significant over the years, and although I’m always nervous, I’ve also been deeply grateful to celebrate in style with our teams. The most recent was at our very own Te Pae here in Christchurch, where many from our company were part of an assembly of more than 1,000 people for the Harcourts National Conference. Being recognised there as having New Zealand’s No. 1 Residential Office and Franchise certainly made for a wonderful evening.

Those are some of the bigger moments of celebration; the gentle, personal ones are always about family. I am part of a very close family and an equally caring and present extended whānau.

That, and the daily presence of my 80-year-old parents, means I get to celebrate one of the most special elements of all, and that’s life itself.

We live in the strangest of times, and it’s easy to forget or avoid the simple things that connect us as human beings. By acknowledging the luck I feel living in this incredible country and doing something I love with people I value, I feel I’m celebrating every day.

Celebrating the big and small