When the sun begins to drop, the anticipation on the island is palpable. There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet and when a letter is followed by an apostrophe called an, okina it means stop…pause…take a breath and pronounce clearly and with punch, the spot you are focused on. One very simple mark reminds us to pause… I LOVE that.
Sunsets are a bit like that here. Everyone and everything stops, pauses to join in saying goodbye to the day. It invites appreciation, glorious awe and reverence for the possibilities that occur simply by being alive.
Buns and I are in Hawaii and pausing for sunsets is an activity I hope to continue when we return home next week. Of course having a winter sunset in rainy Vancouver may be an anomaly but perhaps I will learn to blow the conch shell, which is what Hawaiians do to bid adieu to the day’s glorious end glow and I will just blow that baby, rain or shine. I like the thought of disturbing people in the downtown core by giving thanks, which in Hawaiian is said mahalo, with conch music.
Last night was New Year’s Eve. Buns was a dreamy vision in white, singing sweet notes of harmony to the inspired guitars on the beach, fireworks cracking in the background. I embraced molten gold and felt such soft tenderness as we celebrated my friends’ 25th wedding anniversary. Her words of appreciation for him, “thank you for loving me so I could live fearlessly” filled me with a deep visceral recognition of what is truly important in life.
We shared tequila shots, danced to old school tunes, (this was a couple who got married to Van Halen after all) and quite simply honored the longevity of a love that reached out and invited us to begin 2012, together.
Today the new year started with the ocean and a meditation to envision the coming months. I keep seeing the same picture. I am standing with my arms outstretched high over my head in a V. I wear red as I face the surf and feel the waves ripple through me and out into the world. I am at peace and on purpose….whatever that is.
Words are not necessary; this feeling of giving stands alone and needs no explanation. It’s a full body pulse of energy that literally expands as I inhale and generates more of itself as I exhale.
Limitless, vast and rooted to my core I feel his presence behind me. “I have got your back, he says.” I know him, I recognize his essence and have no need to turn around. I inhale even more deeply, honestly I can smell him and that scent of crisp windblown blue linen softens me until my eyes close with pleasure. The stability of such unwavering acceptance increases the freedom I feel in giving myself away, as my friend so succinctly put it …fearlessly.
And so to you Buns, to all the friends who are here and back home as well…”Thank you for loving me so I can live fearless.”
This week it's Hawaiian style.
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou
Happy New Year and may you live your heart’s desire fully in 2012.
I know I will.
Authentically Yours,
Marty
No comments:
Post a Comment