"Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place."- Rumi
The title of this blog posting is Finding a New Sense of Place. We have now been on Maui for 7 1/2 months. I am often asked what brought us to Maui. That is a question that I have struggled answering and there may be answers that will still present themselves. In some ways I feel I was so quickly uprooted, I didn't quite even realize the extent of everything until much later. The quick answers are: It was an opportunity that came about that seemed like a good one. We thought it would be a great cultural experience for our boys. Jeff needed a break from the grinding 9-5 computer/desk job. It would be an opportunity for Hannah to branch out. We would have more time to spend as a family without Jeff burning the candle at both ends, etc., etc. These are all true and great reasons. All in all a very positive move. Jeff and the boys are thriving and loving island life. It has taken me a bit longer. I felt a great sense of loss. Loss of place, loss of self, loss of community, loss of identity. For ten years I rooted into Colorado, made a home, had our children and really became a part of the school and wider community in Carbondale. To come to Hawaii, we sold everything. Packed up what fit into 14 suitcases and moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. No easy task! The move in itself about did me in. Once I recuperated from that, I began to realize that without any of my "stuff," my wall art, my cookware, nick nacks and other seemingly menial things, I was having a hard time feeling at home. Over the years, throughout all my moves, I would always unpack my boxes and hang up and put out "my things," and that made a house my home. Without being able to identify with anything, I was having a hard time finding my sense of place. I realize it takes time and luckily over the past two months, I have come to feel more grounded, more at peace, more at home. I made a decision to let down my guard and just be. To stop comparing. To take in where I was and to fully appreciate it. To stand in it and to "be the soul of this place."
Change is hard. Sometimes it comes when we least expect it. It forces us to look at ourselves and grow. We can choose to go with it or fight it and then be miserable and learn nothing, stagnate. I choose to take this gift and learn from it. I hope to be a better person from this experience.
On a lighter note, we are all doing wonderfully. The boys continue to love island life. I know that they also are excited to return to Colorado this summer to see all their friends there. Jeff has found incredible climbing and is staying busy writing.
Since moving, Jeff has found time to free lance. He has written a feature for At Large magazine about the Hawaiian Night Marchers, traveled to California to write a feature on John Long and climbing in Yosemite for Rock and Ice, wrote a flip book for The North Face on climbing in Lang Tang Nepal, and continues working on screen plays, including one that is in development with Chockstone Pictures. I hope to be able to post a few videos here of him climbing if I can figure it out.
Badger, in case you are wondering, is also loving being an island dog.
My wish for us all is that no matter where we are, we find a sense of place. Our place is always open to you. Tiny, but open floor space :)
Love,
The Jacksons
Kai's Second Grade Play. A Play about the cycle of water, called Little Cloud.
Mythical Creatures Halloween nature hike. It was magical indeed. Centaurs, dragons, unicorns, mermaids and more. The boys were in heaven.
Night of Delight at the Haleakala Waldorf School. Kai was a werewolf and Isaac was a ninja.
For the school Halloween celebration, Kai was St. Michael, a brave knight.
Each class contributed to the Day of the Dead altar at school.
Looking back at these pictures now, I am amazed at how much these boys have changed these past few months.
Diggin' my new Colorado hat from a dear friend, lest I forget where I came from.
Kai's many free drawings. Quite a rainbow theme. Very understandable since we see one almost every day.
For Thanksgiving, we took advantage of the local's stay at the Grand Wailea- a fancy resort. What a treat. The boys cried when we left, wishing we could stay longer. Sometimes when we are passing The Grand Wailea to go to the beach, Isaac will ask if we can stop and take a nap there. So cute.
Below, Kai at Cub Scout camp. Very exciting.
The boys and I went out and collected greens and I made an Advent Wreath.
Every Wednesday after school the boys and I go to the beach and then get Flatbread Pizza. I love our Wednesday ritual.
Making their own pizzas.
Many beach treasures were found at our friend's birthday party.
Wild Peacocks.
Gnome birthday party for one of Isaac's friends.
Our neighbor brought this handsome frog prince as a gift to the boys after she saw them dressed up in costumes. She had not met them before, but felt it was time to pass this prince along. What a beautiful gift.
Discovering new things in the forest.
I discovered a new love this winter. Felting. I made these little Tomtens as gifts and a few felted creations for the Waldorf Holiday Faire store.
Jeff and I had the pleasure of seeing Krishna Das in December.
Making Christmas cookies for the Holiday Faire and the boys showing off their elf costumes for the Elf Parade at school. Below is the wizard I made to sell at the holiday faire.
A felted Narwhal and Stingray I made for the boys.
St. Nicholas came to visit us here, out in the middle of the Pacific.
Kai's second grade class went around to each class singing Santa Lucia songs and delivering delicious St. Lucia buns and cookies. A very sweet holiday tradition.
I took this to show Kai when he is older, the look he took on in order to be able to grow his hair out. I laugh to myself. Oh, the day he looks back on this.
Toad LOVE.
The boys each walked the Advent Spiral. One of my favorite celebrations.
This year, I brought the hopeful tradition of singing Christmas carols around a fire.
As a gift to the students, some of the faculty put on a play for them on the last day of school before Winter Break. I was a Shepherd.
This is one of the most amazing pictures I have seen. Jeff took this picture of Badger at a climbing area here on Maui.
The boys are loving their new beta fish.
Oh boy!! Nana is in town.
Two days after Nana and Grandaddy got into town, Uncle E. and Javier flew in too. The boys were in heaven.
Kai and I took Javier and Erik to the Bamboo forest where we went on a big hike and swam to this waterfall.
Stockings were hung by the stairwell with care, in hopes that Saint Nick would soon be there.
Our Christmas Feast.
Isaac was excited to show Nana and Grandaddy a Jackson Chameleon and Grandaddy was super excited about the delicious avocados we picked from trees at the Waldorf School.
Our sweet little Christmas tree.
We showed the family a WHALE of a time.
We also drove them around the island of Maui.
For the first week of January, I flew back to Colorado to work at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork and reconnect with my beloved community of friends.
I saw this beautiful rainbow circle, with the four directions perfectly shining. An amazing site.
While I was back in Colorado, the boys and Jeff went camping and climbing.
Kai excited to race his low rider pick-up truck in the Pinewood Derby.
La Perouse Bay- Maui
Beautiful red sea urchin
Hitching a ride to see "Jaws"- Peahi, Maui's largest surf break.
Up close and personal with the whales. I love sea Kayaking.
5K run to support the whales.
This is our wonderful neighbor Shoko from Japan. She loves the boys and is their favorite babysitter. She is only here until April studying to be a Massage Therapist. We took her whale watching for her birthday.
Note the breaching whale in the far left corner and the whale tale in the right corner. It was a good day to see whales.
Recently I went to Oahu for the Waldorf Schools of Hawaii teacher conferences. It was very inspiring and fun to see another island.
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - Rumi
