Life, life, life. Just like the ocean, best not to turn your back on it. Everyday has been so full, unpredictable. It has all worked out, in its way, in its time. I’ve attempted patience and acceptance with certain events while continually keeping myself open to the whims of the world. In other events, I’ve intentionally engaged in when I felt that I could help, heal, and do good for the situation. In turn, I’ve been showered with beautiful landscapes, sunsets and sunrises, starry nights on tiny islands, lava rock jumps, interesting business opportunities and land options, and the most amazing of all things, building and strengthening relationships with all the incredible people who were born here or found their way to calling the Sandwich Islands home.
Mark Twain, Hunter S Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut. Some of my favorite authors all had a relationship with these islands. I recently found out I had a cousin who was born on Oahu almost 30 years ago. My experiences over the last few weeks and the feeling I get when I return here are all confirming my view of this island as home. The culture, the people, the aina, the aloha. I feel I can do good here, and here is where I prefer to be.
I was late in my discovery of this. Zack had known this all along. He knew a lot more than me about himself and how to life a full life and I’m doing my best implement all this so I can live with his spirit by my side. One of the lessons I learned from him and I want to share in this post is “executive surveying.” It is something he did in the garden, the landscape, and in life, every single day. It is walking around and not engaging in an activity, but rather understanding and respecting all that is around us. It is staring at a large plant and considering its life. It was spawned from a tiny seeds, years ago, and has matured over time through the sun, the rain, competition with other plants, and human interaction. The more love the plant receives (good rainfall, long hours in the sun, trimming dead limbs, pruning, supporting low hanging branches, fertilizing, weeding and mulching) the happier the plant becomes. Then there is the consideration of the future growth and fruits and then what to do to help it along. We harvested many hours just walking around doing some solid executive surveying. We can consider this too with people. How did we get here, what will make us happier, and where are we growing. I’m trying to apply this with aspects of my life in the decision making process and it really helps some time to step back and consider how and why we are here, and what this all will lead to.
Figuring out how we got here is an amazing thing and not often not even worth attempting because of how complex it is. Or we can observe it more simply. We are here, and we are purposed or else we wouldn’t be here. We are part of something much larger than us, a much bigger balance, and we are all playing our parts out. We ought to consider too what our dream is, what we aim to achieve, and will the journey not just the destination bring about happiness. Is our dream positive to ourselves, the community, the world. I’ve found my home. I’m in pursuit of my dream. I’m doing what I can to make it work, and I’ll happily stumble along this road, always engaging, trying to make it work. I’m going to try.
