Hawai'i

Ah friends,

I just got back from Hawai'i today and it seems like a dream. I was there celebrating one of my oldest friend's 40th birthday. How do these things happen? She looks amazing. I am calling 40 the new 25! Truly it is just a silly number.

The trip out was a bit rough with mechanical problems that delayed my flight twice, but it all evaporated once I was actually in the air. I love to fly. It's the closest thing to being a bird next to hang gliding...something else I want to try before I transition on to the next great adventure.

Yes, the magic started happening when I looked out the window around 3 PM Hawai'i time (or UTC-10 if you really want to be fancy). The plane was right on the edge of two weather fronts. It was not so much of a dramatic clash as it was a gentle divide between the subtropic and tropical climates. I wish I had used my camera. I have never seen anything like it. The clouds to the left were the feathery kind that you expect to see on the mainland and the clouds on the right were those billowy smoke-stacked, cotton candy clouds that puff straight up into the air, seeming to defy gravity and perspective. I got lost in that scene, thinking for a moment that I could hover in between the two fronts, suspended in the air like some great raptor gliding on the wind currents.

The water was so blue that when you looked down you weren't sure if the plane had floated upside down and you were looking at the sky instead. The sun changed, too, from a pale gold to a rich, yellow brightness that warmed without blinding the eyes. Then I saw the islands - first Molokai, then O'ahu - the final stop.

Time flew by and remained in the moment simultaneously. Whether I was camping on the beach with friends, running along the Ala Wai, drinking a lovely Oregon Pinot watching the rainbows and the sunsets, snorkeling with sea turtles or reveling in the rich local cuisine (so evocative of the multiple asian cultures that thrive there) - there was always a feeling of belonging, of being grounded. In the whirlwind of activity there was a centered calm.

What is it about these islands that inspires me? I feel an ancient energy there, combined with the lush Pacific ocean that acts as a channel for that energy thereby giving me limitless energy when I am there. I will probably go there to live someday and start my 4th or 5th career somehow contributing meaningfully to the magic of the place. I haven't quite figured out what it is that I will do, but I will. I feel on this trip I have opened a conduit between myself and the islands. Whenever I feel the ache of being away from my island home, I can now seemingly for a moment transport myself there feeling the warmth of the place and calming myself just a bit more than any meditation could do.

This is my bliss. I hope you all are finding yours or have found yours and are reveling in the warmth that it brings you.

Peace - Ren