Hawaii Seven

Saturday, Breakfast, Hilo.

Some crazy hotel breakfast of omelet with sausage bacon and ham in it. The Paniolo (Hawaiian Cowboy) apparently. That was after packing the car up this morning. Well, at least I packed my stuff up and organized a little bit for everyone else. Cleaned it out, organized, and left some clothes outside to dry.

Must be about 7:30 now, and I've done all of that, and watched the sunrise from a short walk away on a an old stone wall. Not as singularly spectacular as all of the rest thus far this week, but it was very solid. An everyday sunrise. A working man's sunrise. I like it, afterall, a working-class hero is something to be.

The life here is such a trip. All of the time.

There is a split between the locals. A Friendly split, for the most part, but a split nonetheless. The Hawaiians are here smiling and loving their heritage while shoehorned into service of the white tourist. The white men here are on permanent vacation and are treated accordingly. It is almost a long term contract of some kind. A play in a thousand acts. Running themes and characters that stretch not over lifespans, but over hundreds of years. Maybe millenia. The sweetness and happiness of the Hawaiians is magnified for the customer. Yes, they really are that nice, but not all of the time, you know?

How could they not be nice, they're in paradise.

The beauty here is remarkable. The land, the sea, the sky, the everything. Waterfalls, cliffs, madness. The people are beautiful too. They smile broadly back at you when you smile at them. It is like the whole island smiles back at you through her. Or him.

And the hula is a beautiful beautiful dance. Multilayered and expressed rhythms topped with a great great smile. That joy comes through in every motion. It is what I search for in sports, in music, in writing, in everything. That's what I'm after.

Seek it. When you find it, love it. It's what caused me to sleep under the stars in Volcano National Park. It is what caused me to carve up that road on the way to the sunset. It is what propels me at the moments I'm weak on the field. Push push, love love, joy joy. Competition, challenges. Not about domination, it is about celebration.

A great lesson on this trip was that if you're going to bother doing something, take the time to do it correctly. Do it with The Way. Unhurried, with attention to detail. Focus your mind on the task at hand and get lost in perfecting it. Show no shame in not knowing how because you're honestly working to know not-knowing so that you may know knowing.

This manifested itself is so many things over the course of the trip. I was thankful for the moments that I had alone to think through something and then do it the way that made sense to me. No hurried fray to jump into, nothing pushing me along save for me, and the pursuit of The Way in small things.

Do what you can, not what you can't. At the point when you don't know what to do, imagine what someone who would know what to do would do, and do that. Let your mind lead you through life in fits and starts. Or on a smooth ride. Don't hesitate to follow what moves you. If you do, you're missing your chance. Constantly act the way that you would if you were the only one watching you. Be true and level-headed in your self-judgment and you will find The Way.

I'm truly remembering how to love every moment of my life. It isn't as though I had forgotten, it is as though my vision was clouded for some time, and that now I'm able to see the path again. I can't remember ever having seen the path before, but it is constantly familiar. It corrects me and lets me know when I've strayed. Gently at first, and then with more force. If you aren't paying attention, you will certainly miss it.

Even if you don't know it is there, you'll be able to see people acting in their own Way. Those who find their Way have good fortune, those who have not or get lost from the way, have bad fortune. It is as though you are made for a particular type of journey and when you stray from it, your body and mind go, but not willingly.

Sure, in a way you can make yourself into anything you please, but in making yourself into what you're supposed to be, honestly, and with joy, you will be happiest with your journey and your destination.

Recognize that things change with time. In fact, change is time. Just make that change positive, and you will be well on your way to happiness. Focus on incremental improvement in everything. Self-evaluate without being critical. Self-celebrate without self-glorifying.

There is joy in existence and change... if you find it, you will recognize it. You will feel like you've finally found the path that you hadn't quite realized you'd been searching for through your whole life. Utterly strange, yet totally familiar. That is the feel of The Way.
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Take joy in what you do well and love the work that you put in. That is The Way.

(hawaii six)
(hawaii eight)