She Lives Aloha

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Hawaiian Word of the Week: Ho'okele

I recently finished an interesting book that I found at Talk Story Bookstore on my last trip to Kauai, “Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia” by Christina Thompson. I didn’t know much about the history of Polynesia and its people and thought it could be a good way to learn. The book was phenomenal and I highly recommend it. The thing I was most impressed by was how polynesians knew to move around the islands with virtually no instruments to help them. They knew how to ho’okele (pronounced: hoh-oh-keh-leh) or navigate the waters between the islands. 

When we think about ho’okele these days, it is mostly how we are able to ho’okele our emotions, thoughts, and our day-to-day schedules and less of actually moving from one place to another (thanks for doing this for us, Google). Ho’okele through our emotions whether it is joy, excitement, sadness or grief is a journey that isn’t always easy and takes a village at times to give us that support we need to get to our destination. 

What are your tips to ho’okele through life?

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