Ephemeral Life...

Today was a most reflective day. After work, I stopped by the hospital to visit with some beautiful 'ohana. Two beloved women, from Kaua'i, each profoundly beautiful and strong in their own unique way, and by Divine providence, just a few rooms apart on the same hospital floor. Both resurrected from the precipice of death and facing intense life decisions moving forward. It was so healing for me to spend time with them both. To hold their hands. To kiss their lips, face and foreheads. To reassuringly caress their arms. To intently pray for Divine healing and an abiding comforting presence. Understanding deeply myself the precarious balance of Life. The most beautiful moment was to look into each of their eyes, deeply, lovingly and knowingly. To profess my Love for each of them. And while we hope and pray for the best, we also know the fragility of this Life. No matter what tomorrow shall bring, we shall always be bonded in undying Love. In the precious fleeting time spen...

East-West Center Pacific Islands Leadership Program Masters Class...sharing 'ike Hawai'i with Pacific Islanders from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Fiji, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Philippines, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Vanuatu, Palau, Kiribati, and Samoa...

Preparing for Makahiki opening at Hālawa Prison...

Elliott working on his kahili K ū manaiāka'iana for school. The yellow feathers represent the 'ahu'ula 'alaneo of Kamehameha. The red represents the blood shed to unite the islands and bring everlasting Peace...

Sacred...

Sacred...

I told this slug, "Slide on a crack...break your Momma's back..." He responded by calling me an idiot...

I found this little face on a leaf...

Broad, wide, spacious, open, unobstructed...

Guardian...

Late at night, in the still of the Hospice, I walked the quiet halls passing the somber rooms where loved ones reflected upon the culmination of a singular life. As I gazed upon the hard koa wood floors, in the reflections, I could see the presence of Beings of Light, the Ancestors, quietly and patiently waiting...

I was able to spend some precious time with my beautiful sister Nalani. When I arrived at the hospice in Hilo, she was barely recognizable. So gaunt, weakened, and listless as cancer ravages her body. Her eyes were slow to meet mine as I sat on a bed next to her. As recognition set in, she grasped my hands. Tears streamed down her face and I burst forth in tears and sobbed. I never felt so helpless in my Life. It was only in her beautiful green eyes that I could understand all we needed to say without words. She was still in there. Her beautiful Spirit encased in a deteriorating dying body. So much loneliness and suffering in her Life. All I could do was kiss her, hold her, whisper in her ear, and promise her I would shine the brightest Light I could emanate, with all of my Love, to help Light her way Home...

I have been noticing and appreciating all forms of life recently...even the usually unobserved forms...

Today, at lunchtime, I watched a homeless friend walk across the busy street near my office. His name is Vladimir. He is one of the most recognizable people wandering the streets of Honolulu in his trench coat, floppy hat, and pulling a luggage cart. He has been on the street in Hawai'i for 21 years and homeless most of his adult life. As he crossed two consecutive streets today, laboring with each step, exhausted, in his worn-out 74 year-old body, numerous cars failed to stop and yield to him as they often do for "regular" looking people. They zipped past him dangerously close and seemingly impatient. I couldn't help but wonder if drivers valued his life and his safety less than other pedestrians. Thinking he is a nobody. I had noticed Vladimir for years, but one day while I was working with a homeless couple who used to live on a street corner near my office about seven years ago, I saw Vladimir walking past in his usual labored steps, but he reached into his b...

The monstrosity of H-3...

Yesterday morning, as the boys were leaving for school, a tiny newborn mo'o jumped from Koa's shoe as he put it on. We carefully, gingerly, and loving placed her on a shelf and left. The same kind of mo'o my sister, Nalani, and I used to play with at my Grandmother's home when we were children. When I arrived home in the evening, the mo'o was exactly where I had placed her...but lifeless. I immediately understood the hōʻailona...the message from the ancestors as I begin my journey to the land of Keaweikekahiali'iokamoku...guided by mo'o wahine...to hoist the sails on my beloved sister's canoe for her final journey home...

Aloha piha e na kūpuna ...