Aloha

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."-Saint Augustine

I have been fortunate over the past two years to have traveled more than I ever have before. As my life focus began to shift, I was overwhelmed with a need to see the places I had only said I wanted to visit. Now I have created a monster that becomes restless if not boarding a plane every few months.

My maiden voyage on this journey would be Hawaii. I had been to Hawaii before, but this time was vastly different. Indiscretion number two by the husband had come to light and I felt that I needed to get away. One of my favorite bands was playing in Hawaii during spring break, so I thought that would be perfect. I could get away for awhile and listen to music I love in such a beautiful place. What could be more amazing? Let me warn you. Traveling to Hawaii alone, in the middle of a break up with a newly married couple consummating their blissful marriage all night long in the room next to yours may not be the best therapy. I suggest renting Forgetting Sarah Marshall if there are any lingering questions.

Despite my emotional state, it is impossible not to get swept up in the beauty and love of the mystical islands and people of Hawaii. Often when we mainlanders hear the word aloha, we think hello or goodbye, and that is true. However the greater meaning of the word Aloha is love. The people of Hawaii embrace this like no other community that I have witnessed. Even though my heart was damaged and I was lost, The aloha of the sun rising over Diamond Head in Oahu, or the picturesque sunset in Maui reminded me that while one journey was perhaps ending, the possibilities were only beginning. It would take me some time to embrace this idea fully, but this was the beginning.



So now as I reflect on my beginning journey, I see that my trip was in fact the start of waving good-bye to the past and understanding that sometimes the roots that we think are firmly planted may decide that our growth needs to go in a different direction than what was intended. And we can still thrive and live no matter how absurd the path may seem.

Mahalo Hawaii and always Aloha!

Darlene