Kara Masters Siekman, LMT, AW - Abundant Wellness MY BODYWorks

01/26/2026

The power of GRIT!

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01/26/2026

Snow dancing in spirals to classical music and kitchen din.

01/26/2026

She Changed Gun Laws in 26 Days. The World Still Asked If She Was “Strong Enough.”

On March 15, 2019, a white supremacist attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people as they prayed. The world waited to see how a small island nation would respond to its darkest day.

Jacinda Ardern did not perform grief.
She led through it.

Leadership Without Spectacle

Within 72 hours, Ardern stood before the nation wearing a hijab, shoulder to shoulder with Muslim communities. It was not a photo opportunity. It was a signal. This is who belongs. This is who we protect.

She made another decision that cut against the grain of modern outrage culture. She refused to say the attacker’s name.

“He will, when I speak, be nameless,” she said.

And he was.

She denied him the one thing such violence seeks. Attention.

Twenty Six Days

Then came the part that stunned other countries.

Twenty six days after the attack, New Zealand passed comprehensive gun reform banning military style semi automatic weapons.

Twenty six days.

Other nations have spent twenty six years trying to do the same. The United States has debated it for decades. Australia acted after a massacre and moved quickly.

New Zealand moved faster still.

Not because Ardern rushed.
Because she did not treat tragedy as a debate.
She treated it as a mandate.

The legislation passed with broad public support. Not fear driven. Not vengeful. Clear. Targeted. Decisive.

Critics responded with a familiar refrain.

“Strong moment,” they said.
“But can she handle a real crisis?”

Then the Real Crisis Came

COVID 19 arrived.

While other nations argued over masks and lockdowns, New Zealand acted early. Hard borders. Strict lockdowns. And something rare in modern politics.

Honesty.

Every day, Ardern stood before the public and explained what the government knew, what it did not know, and why decisions were being made. She did not pretend certainty where none existed.

“We will make mistakes,” she said. “But we will own them and fix them.”

The results were measurable.

For more than two years, New Zealand recorded one of the lowest COVID death rates in the developed world. The economy rebounded faster than many comparable countries. Public trust remained high.

Because leadership did not demand blind faith.
It earned informed cooperation.

The Double Standard

Here is where the story becomes uncomfortable.

When male leaders show anger, they are called passionate.
When they make hard choices, they are decisive.
When they hold firm, they are strong.

When Ardern did the same things, the language changed.

She was emotional.
Maternal.
Performative.

Her tone was dissected.
Her empathy reframed as weakness.

Even when that empathy produced results other leaders could not.

The Decision to Leave

In January 2023, after six years marked by terrorism, a volcanic eruption, a pandemic, and economic shocks, Ardern resigned.

“I know what this job takes,” she said. “And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice.”

The world called that weakness too.

Not strategic.
Not self aware.
Not honest leadership about human limits.

Weak.

Imagine if more leaders admitted when they had given everything they had instead of clinging to power until forced out. Imagine if burnout was not treated as failure but as evidence of how much was given.

What Her Record Actually Shows

Ardern did not fail a test of leadership.

She exposed one.

A test that confuses cruelty with strength.
That measures toughness by endurance of damage rather than delivery of good.

The facts remain.

• 26 days to pass gun reform
• Years of low COVID mortality
• Economic recovery
• Sustained public trust

Care did not weaken leadership.
Clarity did not dilute authority.
Empathy did not undermine competence.

They amplified it.

Why the Discomfort Lingers

The unease is not with her record.
It is with what her record proves.

That strength does not require hardness.
That leadership does not require spectacle.
That results can come from care, precision, and accountability.

Jacinda Ardern stepped back when she knew it was time.

That was not weakness.

It was wisdom most leaders never develop.

And the world is still learning how to accept that.

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ICE OUT!

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« the starless midnight of racism and war »

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