Memorial Day parade

Discovery of the day..a web site devoted to aloha.
Here is my essay on Aloha taken from my forthcoming book, “Voices of Aloha Beyond the Beach”

VOICES OF ALOHA INTRODUCTION

Copyright, 2014, Voices of Maui Talk Story, LLC

“I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I never spent so pleasant a month before, or bade any places goodbye so regretfully. I have not once thought of business, or care or human toil or trouble or sorrow or weariness and the memory of it will remain with me always.”
MARK TWAIN

REMARKABLE PEOPLE    OF ALOHA

YOU HAVE HEARD IT AS A LUAU BEGINS, at music venues, at ice cream parlors and ABC stores. You have heard it as a three-syllable word. A…lo…HA. And you hear some simply pronounce it Aloha most likely in one breath.

Either way ALOHA is not an affectation. It is real. Despite the popular bumper sticker, ALOHA is not practiced. It is lived and comes from within.

ALOHA is empathy for others that reside in the heart and it can be acquired naturally if given a chance. ALOHA can take the form of a smile, a friendly manner or an act of kindness. Growing up in Hawaii in cherished na ohana (family groups) Hawaiians learn ALOHA by example in youth and see it flourish in adulthood. Newcomers can become persons of ALOHA too and many do.

ALOHA is an acquired approach to living equally available to those of us who live here who are passionate about Maui and Hawaii, to newcomers, and to visitors who catch the spirit.

ALOHA, however, isn’t automatic. There are some Hawaiians (those with Hawaiian blood) who find the concept of ALOHA alien.

ALOHA is subject to many interpretations. Duke Kahanameka, the six-time Olympic swim champion and Hawaii ambassador, wrote:

“In Hawaii, we greet friends, loved ones and strangers with ALOHA, which means love. Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality that makes Hawaii renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or greeting people with ALOHA. You will be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. Aloha to you.”

Pastor Laki Ka’ahamanu offers a T-shirt with his own view of ALOHA. ALWAYS   LOVE   OVER HATE ALWAYS.

The pastor is also fond of saying there would be no ALOHA without Hawaiians. The good news is you can find ALOHA without even looking for it. ALOHA is just one of many of the island’s gifts to the world. *****

ABOUT THER AUTHOR

IN 2006, PASSIONATE ABOUT MAUI and curious about Hawaiian culture and the lives of those who work and play here  I returned to my journalistic roots to write a column focusing on the remarkable people of Maui, producing some of the few profiles of contemporary Hawaiians, locals and visitors. .

In some 200 columns in Lahaina News, remarkable people of aloha emerge: those of Hawaiian heritage, those lucky enough to have been born here and mailihini (newcomers) who crossed an ocean to be part of Maui.

The best of these profiles explore the lives of visitors, native born, and newcomers visitors and locals encounter every day. These are the people who shaped and are shaping modern Hawaii.

A second series of profiles dips into how Maui became Maui: How a captain became the first western visitor, how a king united the islands, how a queen accepted the end of a progressive monarchy. How the missionaries brought a new religion and helped Hawaiians become the most literate people in the world. How jet planes, and entrepreneurs layered on top of what was here to produce the greatest place on earth.

Author’s goal: to entertain, to inform, and especially preserve the stories of movers and shakers of the last 50 years, colorful characters and people of aloha and their wonderful stories.