Mojo is spelled A.L.O.H.A.

Ulu

 "Aloha is the intelligence with which we greet life." - Kumu Hula Olana Kaipo Ai This quote opens the book Ho'oulu: our time of becoming written by Manulani Aluli Meyer

The other day a photo came across our iphone (from Kaneohe, on O'ahu). A new project was being initiated; a sweet, and simple wooden deck was being loved and welcomed. A wahine and her dog lay curled together at one end. In one corner of the deck, a young Ulu plant anchored the canopy rising over the deck. This is not just any woman, nor any ilio. This is my son's 'ohana, my son's family. The Kaneohe backyard is the 'aina, the land, where our family is growing. I thought, "This is so very cool. I am loving this."

How beautiful an example of ho'oulu I was given. Our son and his family live an ocean away.This mo'olelo, this story and post is a gift to my son and his family ... may it be clear, this gift has grown with my capacity (over time) to understand ho'omanawanui. This post is a mihi (Listen for a definition and example of the idea @ 5:40 in the video below) to our son, Kawika, his beloved Maleka and Chibs the family ilio.

Thunder and Lightning roared and lit the sky yesterday. Most of the day and most of the night, rains fell. Our buckets and cooler filled with the blessings of ua ka lani. We are grateful for the wai, the life of that rain. Collected in our water catchers we are blessed with pure, untampered water for our baths and shampoos. We use the water respectfully, knowing there is a limit. No more rain. No more rainwater baths. But when we have it we are loving it. We are given aloha. Love is about loving.

Words, their meanings, and how they change over time, because we engage with life and spiral around in our knowing ... navigation and translation ... is my life long discipline. As a wahine practicing to become kupuna (makua o'o) this ongoing disciple with understanding words takes me to many places. Story is my canoe, and being with that canoe over time my comfort or challenges change and grow. The most incredible direction for growth? In.

One of the first words that seeded itself in me when I first left O'ahu as a young married woman was ho'omanawanui. I can see clearly a small brown skinned woman with freckles constellating her face. She was running down the aisle of the airplane I was in. This was way before rules and regulations tightened on air ships. This was my cousin Milly. She wanted me to have a book. We hugged and she left me with the book, and said, "Ho'omanawanui."

The book Cousin Milly gave me, 1971

Earlier today I listened to two Hawaiians. It was an interview with Manu Meyer. Through this thirty-five minute conversation my understanding of the word 'ho'omanawanui' grew. That plane ride from Honolulu to Seattle in 1971 was the first of many trans-Pacific air crossings I would make. At the time, my understanding of ho'omanawanui meant 'be patient' or over-time growing meaning. As Manu says often, this practice of applying meaning to my Hawaiian culture is a radical and rigorous one. There is so much to know and understand. It's in the glorious sharing that 'ike grows. When 'ike grows, aloha grows.

The thirty-five minute engagement and conversation between the young man, new to me until watching the presentation, and Manu, is rich with 'ono. Delicious and satisfying discourse. Many of the words Manu explains, expand me.

Pete & me covered up for a beach walk at the muliwai on Whidbey, an island in the Salish Sea ... at the water's edge ...

 2020

"Ke welina mai nei. I wanted to spend a few moments with you before you dip into the muliwai—where sea water meets fresh; where theory meets practice. There is life there. As with the ideas you are about to read. They serve as a threshold into which I am now entered—a new seeing of the world that is wider than ever imagined." - from the Foreward of Ho'oulu: Our Becoming by Manulani Aluli Meyer

As I write Mahina, the Moon, is fattening into her fully glowing light. Pete and I have prepared picnic table gardens, in pots filled with worm-rich compost (thanks Jude!). In time for the Full Moons, we'll plant seeds and a few kale starts to practice food sovereignty in our safety pin way.

 
The YouTube presentation below is  Kamaka Pili interviewing one of our most favorite teachers and kumu of Hawaiian Epistemology Manulani Aluli Meyer. I leave it here so we (both you our readers, and I) can listen and watch again and again.

 Mahalo Kawika, Maleka, Chibs: all that ulu (in her many forms) growing on your Kaneohe 'aina is feeding us! Jude, mahalo for the consistent generosity of fresh water, willingness to share. Pete, you're it! Manu, I love how easily you open to tears. Cousin Milly, I keep learning what ho'omanawanui means. Aunty Betty, the practice with o'o is still prime with me. Because of your aloha, I grow. I heal with that aloha; it does start with that and I keep using the blog as fertile ground. When I grow, I feed you. Aloha is a radical and rigorous practice.

E Maile, E Donnette ... this is rich 'ike for ripening!! I'm so glad for your company, makua o'o.

Mojo is spelled A.L.O.H.A.

😘Mokihana

RELATED LINKS:
An early video with Manu Meyer speaking about Hawaiian Epistemology

Learning to love myself: "Story as medicine"