Small is All
Aloha from Hawai’i Island.
I send you and yours warm, verdant and aromatic greetings from across the grand Pacific Ocean.
I’ve been wondering what to write next - waiting for the big insight that I could share with you. And yet my days are spent in small delights; tending the garden, learning what grows, visiting the farmer’s at the market and marveling at the skills of the farmers, taking in the beauty of light and water, wind and waves.
My offerings to nature have become the more routine kind; caring for the earth through composting (you should see our worm bin!), gardening, pruning, picking up rubbish and talking to the nature beings. “Aloha glorious Mauna Awakea, thank you for your magnificence! Aloha Waikoloa stream, mahalo nui loa for the blessing of your flow to nourish the land, the people and the plants”. Aloha verdant Kohala coast, I love you”.
My husband and I are finding ways to connect with this place through offerings of heart and sweat to the land. The first is the navigation heiau of Mahukona. Oh people, I hope you can feel in my words what a tremendous privilege it is to be on the land of Mahukona, to be planting canoe crops that will nourish the voyagers of the traditional canoe, Makali’i. This land was used as a plantation, and then was slated for development. Through Hawai’i Land Trust, the property was purchased this year to be preserved, rehabilitated and cared for by the community. It contains literally hundreds of heiau, dedicated to fishing, navigation and agriculture. You can read about Mahukona in detail here.
We are planting and nurturing banana, sweet potato, akia, ti, ulu and more. Angela, who lives in Kohala, and cares for Mahukona, along with her husband Keone, shared with me that we “Malama the wa’a on the ‘aina”. We care for the canoe on the land. This opportunity to care for Mahukona connects me with the people, the history, the land, the food and the future of this incredible place. It feels like a tremendous privilege.
We have also been tending Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea - the stream side trail of Waimea; replanting old growth forest to bring back the rains, remembering the names of the streams and lo’i (kalo ponds). This trail is adjacent to a park that is tended by volunteers who show up on the weekends to mow, weedwack, plant, water, pick up rubbish and care for the land. It would be as if City Park in Park City was cared for completely by volunteers. It is spectacular! Again, it connects people, history, land, food and the future through our collective work.
I have been eating more and more out of our home garden. We are nowhere near self sustaining, but it feels so right, so grounded and empowering to eat from the land where we are. A new friend shared with me that you become a child of the land once you have eaten from the land for 7 years. I can absolutely see how that is possible here. I think we are eating 80-90% of our food from the farmer’s markets. I ache for what has been lost in Utah - so much verdant land turned to housing. I remember the peach and cherry orchards in Provo, Orem and Salt Lake City. They are gone, plowed into housing, strip malls and roads. Once I have eaten fresh food, grown by lovely people I know, to see the food at the “supermarket” feels like a crime.
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My offerings come in the form of songs. I recently listened to a podcast by Tim Ferris with Craig Foster of “My Octopus Teacher”. In it, Craig talks about the indigenous practice of “catching songs” from the ocean. How lovely is this remembering that this can be our simplest of offerings; words, songs and dance. In Hawai’i, oli (chanting) and hula (dance) are cultural practices of offerings that have been perpetuated and preserved, despite the brutality of colonialism.
Yes, it’s true, you can find me singing on the beach, singing made up songs of love and appreciation for nature in all her glorious forms. As indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmer says, “I believe that nature loves us back”. I recently had a long drive from Park City to Moab to connect with beloved friends and took the time to listen to Braiding Sweetgrass as read by Robin Wall Kimmer. I HIGHLY recommend!.
I have been delighting in the podcast, “We Can Do Hard Things”. I feel like these women are my besties. They are having the conversations I yearn for. A few of my recent favorite episodes include, “Break Up With Busyness and Let Go of Your To Do List”, (this episode is giving me all the permission in the world to be right where I am with the simplicity of life and the beauty all around. Yes, I’m not as productive, but I am peaceful and happy:). “Laziness Does Not Exist” has confirmed that I’m not alone when I wish I could be my cat - he doesn’t have to do anything to be worthy and he is a delightful fuzzball of joy, just as he is.
I listened to “Fun, We’re Finally Figuring It Out” and wondered what is fun for me? Playing ukulele and dancing on the green lawn, in the shade looking out at the ocean. Yes, I look insane, but no one knows me here. This feels like complete freedom. If you are interested in more dancing, check out the work of my dear friend Rochelle Schiek, founder of Qoya.Her work is so beautiful, wise, wild and free.
Finally, in the podcast on FUN, the guest shared that 1/4 of our waking life is spent on our phones - not our computers, tablets, TV’s - just phones. I was horrified, and I recognized myself somewhere in that statistic, soooo, I have been off social media. I committed to a one month break - no social media whatsoever. Then, I’ve decided to limit myself to 2 x’s a month for 1 hour at a time to check in on my people. I did this last week for the first time, spent 5 minutes and then turned it off. I was uninterested. I am still going to check in twice a month, to see what ya’ll are up to, to check in on my oldest child and their creative project with friends. What I’ve also noticed is how much more space this social media break has cleared up in my mind - I am no longer ruminating about something I’ve read or seen. The benefits have been exponential. So if you’d like to connect, email or call or comment on Substack.
I love you all and send you so much delicious energy, mana, from Hawai’i. It is such a privilege to be alive and to have the health and wellbeing to enjoy every moment. What a relief to let go of hurry and hustle.
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These are my current offerings to nature, to community and to life.
With Heart, ❤️
Mary Christa
