Aloha in A Love Affair with Writing

Joanna Young of our Ho‘ohana Community recently commented for me at Talking Story, writing,

Rosa, I was thinking about you and writing this morning, when I was writing about the breath of life we can see or feel in our writing. I was wondering if you would talk about that as aloha, how we can write with aloha, putting something of ourselves into our words.

Hawai‘i Orchid by R. J. Malfalfa.
[photo credit]

And I know you love to write :-)

This was my response;

Ah, to write about aloha, the ‘breath of life’ as the expression of one’s love affair with writing? Now that is an invitation I cannot pass up! So, write on that I will… for now, to quickly respond to “I was wondering if you would talk about that as aloha, how we can write with aloha, putting something of ourselves into our words.” Yes, that is exactly what I would first say about connecting aloha with writing; aloha-filled writing is that which is a transparent view into the writer’s mana‘o – the personally felt beliefs, thoughts, and convictions borne of their values lived in their context (sense of place).

Simply said, aloha writing is ‘me, myself and I’ writing.

Joanna and I are speaking of the literal meaning of aloha:

Aloha is the full expression (alo) of our ‘breath of a life’ (ha).

We say breath of life knowing of how one’s breath is as unique to you as your fingerprint and your ‘me, myself and I’ DNA —there is no one else on the planet who is exactly like you. There never was, and there never will be.

That is one of the true miracles of every living thing biologically, but also because of the “sense of place” connection I mentioned when responding to Joanna. Most living things are mobile and place-sensory, their place and sensory awareness giving them a context (or world view) which then combines with their uniqueness in a pretty extraordinary way, creating more capacity (palena ‘ole) and more awareness for us exponentially.

This is why so many of us make a big deal about “being present” and “in the moment” because it IS a big deal: We are making connections between self-awareness and place-sensory awareness in moments unique to us. Those moments of our raw, pure truth are so grounding and affirming to us because they are so right: No one can dispute them because they aren’t us.

For me, when people choose to willingly and completely reveal their own aloha to others, they are revealing this self-evident truthfulness, trusting that others will receive it in kind. Think about that literal translation again: Aloha is the full expression (alo) of our ‘breath of life’ (ha).

Can we see Aloha?

We certainly can feel it, but can we see it? In our conversation, started in her article about writing through the fog, Joanna was referring to the way that we can see our breath exhaled on a very cold day (Joanna created a podcast too; have a listen). 

And that is a wonderful thought isn’t it, that at those times you can actually see the breath of life you share with others every single time you exhale. You can be reminded to ask yourself, “Do others see my good? Do they see me transparently, the authentic and vulnerable all of me? Do I make it easier for them and not allow other stuff to get in the way, understanding that I am the best I have, and therefore the best I can give them?”

On those cold days, you can see the breath of life others share with you too: What they exhale, is what you will inhale… when it is the pure, good, self-representation of someone’s spirit, we call it the aloha spirit.

Because of my on-going study of the Hawaiian values (another love affair!) I will often press kūpuna (Hawaiian elders) to tell me more about aloha from their mana‘o (their thoughts, beliefs, and convictions about it). This is what Uncle Robert told me;

“Aloha begins in one person, but finishes when there are at least two.”

To trust in the goodness of people, and thus the goodness of aloha, you needn’t see the breath of life to know it is there. As I wrote Joanna,

“It is a marvelous thing that we can actually see our breath when it’s cold; I remember how mesmerizing that was for me the first time it happened, for unless you are at the summits of our highest mountains here, that is not something you experience in Hawai‘i. Yet in our culture, our ha may very well be the most tangible thing we are sure of.”

Aloha in A Love Affair with Writing

To bring this all back to writing, I don’t know that there are other living things besides human beings who try to capture this —or anything, in writing. Writing is a form of communication that is uniquely human, is it not? Then, to add aloha to it, the love affair becomes one where writing can capture an incredible variety of opportunities...

• with nānā i ke kumu, the Hawaiian value of looking to one’s source, as we have been speaking of within this conversation. We are our own best source of well-being when we can be “in the moment”
• with mahalo, the appreciation, thankfulness and gratitude for who we are, for we are as good as it gets
• with sense of place, and all that we can explore and delight in about our places
• with our ability to communicate and connect with others (kākou), sharing our aloha in varied ways
• with the incredible power we can then harness to be more effective in the actions we choose to take. Much of our effectiveness will flow from our language of intention, intention flowing from our ho‘ohana (personal mission expressed in work), and intention coming back to our authentic, ‘me, myself and I’ aloha-intention.
• with our desire to never forget those moments and those people who have created more aloha within us.

Personally, I can tell you this: I do have a love affair with writing as an act of self expression and self-mastery, but also as one of gratitude. Sometimes writing and then publishing it so publicly for all to see can seem to be such a big display of ego and nothing more, unless you can begin to think about how people need to say “thank you” —and should. Whether you prefer to think of your parents, others who helped them raise you, or ke Akua (of God or a higher power), writing to explore yourself fully is a way of saying thank you for that context they helped create for you to grow within.

Train yourself to start seeing Aloha

Have your own Love Affair with Writing as the way that you capture your Aloha. Examine it fully to comprehend just how exquisite you are, and all you have to share. Here on MWAC we have recently been talking about how Aloha can help us identify our strengths; strengths-management guru Marcus Buckingham has written an entire book coaching us to write what we identify as our “strength statements.”

As you can tell, this could be a never-ending essay for me, so let’s end with a visual example. What can you see?

Look at this picture of a seven-year old who claimed for herself her father’s Moleskine while on a road trip.

Road trip journal by dro!d found on Flickr.

Can you imagine? A road trip where we can only imagine the wealth of what can be seen outside the car windows. The aloha within her is speaking louder than any visual there might be, and you can see the concentration on her face as she attempts to capture it, the ‘it’ being her own spirit, and self-expression of what is most important to her in this moment.

Imagination is the workshop of the soul wherein is shaped all the plans for individual achievement.
--- Napoleon Hill, via Dave Rothacker

Here are two more pictures of her on that same day – taken before the journaling shot (with these you can click on them for bigger images):

Can you imagine what she may have written in that Moleskine?

What self-expression of Aloha, and sensory perception of Sense of Place did she interpret and feel compelled to capture in that jump into the leaf pile with her sister?

Photos found on Flickr by dro!d.

What will you next write of in your Aloha Love Affair with Writing?

Perhaps you can start by accepting Joanna's invitation, for you have until February 28th to participate in her group writing project. It will be easy; just write your aloha. If you need a place to publish it, let me know and I will be happy to help you out with a space on one of the blogs of Ho‘ohana Publishing.

And remember; this is not about ego. It is about the indisputable fact that there is no one else on the planet who is exactly like you. There never was, and there never will be. Your aloha is pure you.

Aloha kaua e, mahalo nui,
--- Rosa

---

Nānā i ke kumu; I offer you my own sources should you wish to read more... these are related writings in my own Aloha Love Affair with Writing:

• Places, Feelings and Learning. Learning Serenity. (on Talking Story, September 2005)
• Managing with Aloha and Sense of Place (on ManagingwithAloha.com, January 2007)
• Writing is a Skill the Successful Master (on ManagingwithAloha.com, June 2007)
• Learn from the Master: Blog for 1 Person (on Joyful Jubilant Learning, July 2007)
• You know you love writing when you don’t have to keep it. (on Talking Story, February 2008)

Comments

[Joanna Young]

Rosa

I can hardly find the words to thank you for this piece of writing.

It is so clear, so beautiful, and such a powerful call to action.

You have managed to put into words so many of the concepts and values I intuitively feel and find reflected and captured in your Hawaiian culture.

And once again I am so deeply, deeply grateful that our words, ideas, thoughts, hopes, dreams and spirits found their way to connect.

Thank you.

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

Mahalo nui loa Joanna, I enjoyed this writing; it gave me some good reflective peace with nānā i ke kumu this past weekend as I worked on it. I must also give dro!d credit and my appreciation for the photos he so generously published online of his daughters, for it is so encouraging to look at that look of concentration on the face of a young writer!

[Rocky]

Very nice!! I love the pictures to capture the essence. As I was reading the article I was thinking about how you can see the Aloha in people. I see it all the time in the way people overcome obstacles in life. I see it in their persistence, their eagerness to learn and overcome, their resilience, their ability to love and share, and most importantly in the human spirit that allows them to be greater than their circumstances. The things that pople are able to overcome determine what they can become. This is how I see the Aloha spirit.

[Rosa Say]

Thank you Rocky, I appreciate your sharing what aloha means to you, and the way that you see it too.

What you describe is another Hawaiian value we call Ho‘omau, and the certainty that adversity makes us stronger, more tenacious, and much more resilient, and that indeed, these are the hallmarks of the strong spirit of aloha that dwells within. Circumstances are just that; circumstances, and as you say, we are so much bigger!

[G]

Rosa,
Your post may very well be the most valuable thing to come to me out of this entire group writing project. Your advice is hardly limited to writing; it is so applicable to everything in life -- perhaps because it IS life. I think we all forget at times to live in the present and appreciate the more significant joys in life: camaraderie and love for our fellow men, strengthening our connections with both nature and one another while building new relationships, and really, the simple pleasure of, as you said, "...those moments of our raw, pure truth."

So thank you for reminding me of all of this, and thank you for such a beautiful, inspiring post.

[Rosa Say]

Aloha G, thank you for visiting and reading my entry. I have been out, about and offline today, and you have given me a gift to return to this evening, mahalo nui.

I do concur with you that our aloha IS our life and that is why it is quite natural for me to draw the writing thread into it so easily. The celebration of writing is that it gives us words and language to use in expressing ourselves and all we feel; it helps and supports us in our great reveal.