Raw Edges
It’s appropriate to be living on the edge of the world, 2,000 miles from a continent, and contemplating the wild edges of the human experience. This ‘aina (land) is sacred and requires a level of respect and self reflection I have not experienced before in the manicured city or suburbs of the mainland. When you plan to harvest Ti leaves or sustenance it is pono (proper) to go into stillness, thoughtfulness, and prayerfully ask permission to do so. There are places here that push back on entering. You must learn to listen and be sensitive to indications of either welcome or refusal even if you don’t understand who or what is sending you the message.
You learn a certain humility or the island kicks you in the teeth. Some would say Pele, the volcano goddess rejects you from her land. I’ve seen it many times. Hawai’i Island is raw, wild, and unpredictable. It is known as the root chakra of the Hawaiian Islands, primal and based very literally in the root elements of Earth as tephra, volcanic glass, and fumes regularly spew from the core of the earth into the air, shutting down roads and wreaking havoc. Maui is known as the heart of the islands and Kauai, the garden isle, with it’s ethereal sense of peace and serenity represents the crown chakra. It’s fascinating as the nuances of this living, growing land become known to me.
Rawness is the opposite of polished. There was a time in my life when I drove my shiny black Honda Pilot with heated leather seats to my job in a luxury hair salon. My makeup done and toes painted, my children in private school, and the menu for the week all planned out and arriving in boxes with premeasured ingredients. Life was challenging but everything was in order. Then the rug would get pulled out from under me. A death, an illness, a crisis, and the familiar rawness and wild chaos of life would take over. Suddenly, you’re split open, vulnerable in the world. You may remember your faith more keenly and lean on the Divine, or become frustrated with confusion and grief, or find yourself seeking meaning. Everything feels exposed and untethered. Sometimes in these moments we come back to ourselves. We allow the order to fall away and we realign ourselves in the darkness.
It’s notable that people lose their minds here on the island, relationships crumble. It’s like everything that is buried surfaces. Everything resisted comes roaring out, unable to be held back. I don’t mean to say it is bad. Perhaps it is the exact reason the island calls to people. To break things, to free them, or perhaps test them but it doesn’t require living on a volcano to experience that.
Part of having this human experience is recognizing there is danger and beauty woven together. We aren’t meant to live isolated but to lean on others and share our own gifts and abundance. Listening to the still, small voice we can be guided to our highest good. We can practice accepting fragility without being overcome by it.