Much like the rolling waves coming onto the shore, Maui has layers of unfolding and unwinding she puts you through.  But like the most experienced and generous teacher…once you sail out to uncharted waters–through the surf, past the waves, put your fear of sharks aside for a moment…then she allows to you float undisturbed, sending all her Aloha your way.

I have reached my first stillpoint  since arriving and asking for the pleasure of calling this rock, home.

I know I’ve been sharing about the seemingly never-ending journey of self discovery since getting here.  Having that tourist sheen wiped away and replaced with the real work of being an energy body that resides on this beautiful miracle of a place.  And it’s true.  I should have bought stock in Kleenex for all the tears I shed, and bought a new meditation cushion for all the sitting, and a ton of new soy candles for all the offerings….

But here I sit…a (I hope) perma-grin on my face and I’m here to report that, at least for now, I can honestly say I’ve found a home.

And it has everything to do with growing Turmeric and Ginger and shredding them and boiling them to make my morning tea.  It’s because there are no sidewalks and people drive courteously and never honk, simply go around you and your adorable dog while walking…and then wave at you as they go by.  It’s because when you meet someone they become your friend and if you see them out and about, even if it’s been months since you first met, you can stand and talk story for a half hour…

And you know I love to talk story.  Once I get started one rolls into the other, and instead of feeling like I’m keeping someone from something, I feel them digging in and waiting and letting it wash over them like the waters that surround us.  I ended up talking to a stranger in a T-shirt store for 45 minutes yesterday…pitching the novel I’m writing and then discussing it’s implications…and I only had to leave because I had to get to work.  We ended by promising I would stop in next week to continue the conversation.

Oh the rainbows…they have done more for my emotional state than anything else.  So bright and beautiful and random and striking and alive!

And it’s receiving Lomi-Lomi massage that makes you feel yourself unwinding and rolling and weightless…And receiving a cranial sacral treatment while in the ocean!  (If you want one while here, I’ll point you in Karin’s direction!)

And it’s the smells that creep up next to you and all of a sudden a nectar so sweet is swimming in your head.

It’s that the local hangout is a Kombucha bar.

It’s that when I have a break between patients I can slide into the ocean and float and give thanks for the gift of being here, for the work I’m allowed to do, for the insights that pour into me like honey…and that I can go back to work with salt in my hair and some stray sand on my feet and that is just fine.

And being warm.  Always warm.

I had to just sit with that one for a minute.  As someone who has been cold for 40 years…being warm–it’s a game changer.  And yes,  I still drive around with many layers in the car because you can’t take a lifetime in the PNW out of a girl that fast, but I’m happy to say a light sweater is all that’s needed if anything at all.

It’s the dolphins and oh my goodness the whales will be here when I get back from Seattle…and then it ups a notch, right?  Kayaking with the whales!  Paddle boarding with the whales.  Just submersing myself in the water and listening to their song bathe me clean.

It’s that I have the honor of working at two very different and AMAZING venues.  Lumeria with it’s wild wonder and organic nature and healing team that I can honestly say has the most talented healers I have ever met in my life.  Lumeria is what brought me here and fills my heart with so much joy every time I drive onto property. And the Four Seasons, with it’s elegance and clean lines and cool rooms and mechanic tables (LOVE) and commitment to a level of service that I find so integrous!

It’s the fruit that basically jumps off the trees at you.  The avocados we have to give away because we can’t eat them all.  The veges that grow year round…because they can.  It’s simply….

Everything.

And yes, there is the other side to all of this….but I just got out past the waves and fear of big fishes with huge teeth that swim in these waters with me, and I’m just floating and loving and basking in the joy that my new favorite teacher offers.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to share a bit of the bliss I’m feeling these days.  The surrender that comes from stepping into shadow and doing everything I can to let go…to coax the light in ray by ray.  I of course would love to report that it’s done…but as we all are, I am also a work in progress.

But for now, here on the doorstep of my six months in Maui, I am floating, supported by the water, bolstered by the mountain and fed from the valleys.

And from this place, I wish you…

Aloha.