This was my cosmic experience the first time I went to the Big Island. I never understood "aloha spirit" outside of a commoditized concept until I was walking through Kailuea and people were just...so god damned calm. The water like silk, the fruit like ambrosia, the taro bread like cake, the grilled pork and Da Sweetie poke like manna, but mostly the feeling that everyone here is in it together, a true community in the classic sense of communing with the earth and the sea and the wind and each other, that maybe if you were born here you can talk to fish and Pele brings your holiday blessings instead of a Coca Cola spokesman. It was a religious experience swimming with the mantas and I hope you got to have that. I loved this piece as always, but I know what you're talking about, it's hard to describe. It was like understanding what religion feels like while somehow still staying an atheist. Mahalo!
Appreciate this post as a brown mainlander sporting a profile pic from Kauai.
This was my cosmic experience the first time I went to the Big Island. I never understood "aloha spirit" outside of a commoditized concept until I was walking through Kailuea and people were just...so god damned calm. The water like silk, the fruit like ambrosia, the taro bread like cake, the grilled pork and Da Sweetie poke like manna, but mostly the feeling that everyone here is in it together, a true community in the classic sense of communing with the earth and the sea and the wind and each other, that maybe if you were born here you can talk to fish and Pele brings your holiday blessings instead of a Coca Cola spokesman. It was a religious experience swimming with the mantas and I hope you got to have that. I loved this piece as always, but I know what you're talking about, it's hard to describe. It was like understanding what religion feels like while somehow still staying an atheist. Mahalo!
Freaking brilliant. Last time I was in paradise, I felt this same way.
I love this so much. Thanks Molly!