Kira Puru on gentle routines, frugality and making mistakes

Every strength we perceive in ourselves or others perceive in us, has a flipside that feels like a weakness.Often it’s our traits that make us extraordinary that can make us feel most ordinary – and vice versa –creating an internal contradiction.Figuring out our contradictions and squaring off those sides of ourselves can take years, decades, but often when we do accept or even reveal them, that’s really when we connect with ourselves and others. Isn’t that what we’re looking for? In ours we are most fascinated by their flaws, maybe most comforted. This week’s guests certainly makes it easy to connect and adore her wonderful contractions – and puts them front row and centre in her Twitter bio. Performer, photographer, visual artist, DJ and vocal powerhouse Kira Puru describes herself as an “opinionated imposter” – in it exploring the fickleness of confidence but also the humbleness of learning to be wrong. Ahead of her latest single launch, Idiot, in this conversation Kira Puru discusses mental health, navigating the logistics of living through a pandemic and sometimes curling up like an armadillo, giving yourself leeway to be overwhelmed, balancing the artistic and the political, frugality, mistakes and that tension between leaning towards chaos and leaning into routine. Follow @kirapuru on Twitter and Instagram * * *Thank you for listening to Routines & Ruts, a labour of love fuelled by time and curiosity. If you'd like to support the podcast, please share with a friend, or say thanks with a coffee!To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.