Living in Hawaii does not exempt us islanders from getting caught up in everyday reality. While island life does its best to distract us from our responsibilities and commitments, we can still get sucked into the grind and hustle. We, too, need to reconnect.
It’s not always easy to make this simple life in paradise work, but it’s absolutely worth it. As I find myself juggling jobs, relationships, and my own self-development, my sacred time with nature begins to suffer; it’s deceiving.
As I walk out my front door, nature already surrounds me. I see the ocean from my house. When I look back – Palolo Valley reaches deep and high to the Ko’olau Mountain Ranges. I notice it, but I’m distracted. Driving into town, I will see mango-tree lined streets, plumeria flowers scattered on the sidewalks, and Diamond Head distinctly in the distance. But I take advantage of it. My eyes take it in, then, distractions in my mind take over.
An extra bathing suit has a home in the back of my disheveled car and has been clutch when I can steal a few minutes in between commitments to jump in the water at Kaimanas.
But even that feels like a shallow connection.
Yes, I was able to get my “fix” of Ocean time which always makes me feel better; but again, my mind was not focused on the sea and its restorative energy. Physically, I got sandy and salty. Mentally, my mind was with my damn phone checking [quote_left]”…I knew that if I wanted to reconnect, it was time to disconnect…[/quote_left]e-mails, sending texts, and making appointments.
I knew that if I wanted to reconnect, it was time to disconnect. TO me that meant PHONE OFF (or at least on airplane mode so I could still take pictures).
Yesterday, my roomie, pup Reeces and I decided to hike Wa’ahila Ridge up St. Louis Heights. I noticed that the deeper or higher we got into a hike, the farther away “reality” seemed. Weightless, I reach a place where time doesn’t matter, and agendas don’t exist. I wasn’t thinking about the past, or planning for the future. I knew that I was in the here and the now, the most beautiful and authentic location to reside.
Do yourself a favor and get out into nature this weekend. Turn your phone off, leave the laptop shut and get on a trail. Do you live somewhere with no trail in sight? Go to a garden, lake, river, park, ocean, anything. REALLY tune into the beauty of creation. Meditate in it. Let it nourish your essence. 
You’ll end the day feeling more connected than ever.
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