Ho`ole`a (Creating Joy)

Tipsy on Gratefulness… a Celebration

On July 17th, we were ready to submit our plans for approval, so we celebrated: Dave, Sherry, me, Jim and Irene. We broke out a large, very good bottle of red wine and began toasting. Nearly every swallow went down with a toast… that was a LOT of toasts! (Do phytochemicals work even better when awash in gratefulness and determined optimism?) We drank to all who came before, and all who would come. We toasted to all the connections being made, and all the ripples of change and evolution. We raised our glasses to all who had contributed to Ho’olea (the place) and Hi’ilani (the house to be) in any way, shape or form. It went on and on, easier and more enthusiastic with each clink clink clink clink clink. The Heavens added their blessings with a (much needed) downpour.

Pachamama shakes us awake

As I said in my last post, Pachamama*, the Big Mama of All, the great Healer, shook us up. (in my case, all senses of the phrase apply)

One more example of the illusion of boundries, the impetus of that motion began deep in the Rainforest of Ecuador 10 years before the century rolled over, in the dreams of the Achuar people. Up to that point, the Achuar had minimal contact with the European-descended culture that had eclipsed most of the rest of the continent. They are a Dream culture, and they had begun seeing in their dreams and visions that trouble was coming and that their forest home, their way of life and life on Earth itself was at stake. They realized they must partner with people from our world. They put out a call that was answered by Lynn and Bill Twist and John Perkins, and the Pachamama Alliance was born.

Though the Alliance continued to be successful in keeping the oil companies at bay, their culture and rainforest healthy, they told their northern partners from the very beginning that this was only part of what needed to happen. They asked their partners to “Change the Dream of the North”, and stressed that our futures were tied together. It is the “dream” or world-view of a people that gives rise to action in the world, and our short sighted actions are undermining the health and balance of Earth and ourselves.

This request was the conception point of the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symosium that shook Jim and I out of our protective numbness to the crisis that we are collectively creating and awakened our sense of personal responsability (response ability). It was another major tipping point, shaking open some new neuron pathways that had been primed to open up. Those condusive to new dedication to living in alignment with our deepest values and being part of the creation of a world that is thriving and works for All. We understand ourselves to to be aligned with and conscious parts of the self-balancing and endlessly creative power of Pachamama.

Once aware of the ramifications of every action, our lives began shifting. I know it sounds serious… you know, examining assumptions we’d taken for granted, noticing prejudices, thinking about where things came from and where they are going, noticing how every act can contribute to suffering and toxity or be aimed at creating a saner, more compassionate way of life. The thing is there are two sides to it. Yes, increasing awareness opens me up to more pain, but it has also opened me up to incredible sweetness, the joy of feeling connected, rapidly increasing synchronicities and connections with others on similar paths, a sense of World Family, help and hope at every turn. I’m grateful to the pain for helping to keep me awake, grateful to be alive in such a meaningful time, awake to the possibilities.

As part of this shifting of focus, the idea that we were building a two-family shared home on Dave and Sherry’s land in Hawaii combined with the realization that it had to be as green as we could make it, and things began to happen a lot faster. Aligned with Universal values, the Universe gives you a boost.

*in case you missed my last blog: Pachamama is the sacred presence of the Earth, the universe and all of time.

– Teri

Beginnings

 It’s Teri …

The journey that led here to the Big Island where we are building our eco-dream-house is different for each of us, but we all agree on at least two aspects:  A strong feeling that the future that wants to be, this house, is pulling us along.  And that the whole process is being enjoyable.  

For me, it all started out very personally focused, but that focus has become increasingly wide-angled.  Where is it that I stop and the rest of reality begins?  Where indeed!   No matter what direction I look to find that boundary, it dissolves into Everything… an infinite Energy that appears like this or that, depending on my viewpoint, or more importantly, my point of view, the filter through which I see my world.

I digress….but not really.  From a personal view to the Big Picture is a theme that spirals though both my life and the Hi’ilani House Story. 

Where did it begin?  Each of us has our own story.

Mine begins almost thirty years ago, a freeze-frame moment on my first arrival in Hawaii.  Highlighted senses, feeling Alive!, brought on by the alchemy of the smell of the air combined with fluorescent colors.  When I had to leave a month later, I fainted at the airport (never happened before or since), and got to stay a week later.  The thought going through my mind when it happened was of giving birth.  Imagining how would it feel. At the time I thought maybe I had scared myself into fainting to buy some time. Maybe it was my Hawaiian self being born.

Fast forward, much later, visiting Dave and Sherry on the Big Island, the feeling of Aliveness, heightened senses, and connection took hold of me again.  Jim and I came back, again and again.   Back in California during stressful moments, I’d ride my heart back to the Lookout cabin, watching the sunrise clouds shift colors and sink softly into happiness.

None of us can remember exactly when the tipping point came.  When it changed from “someday” we’d live together there on the Big Island, to “we are building an eco-house”. The first shift was a sudden dawning that we could actually afford to build a house together.  Jim and I had given up on a dream of buying nearby property, and Dave and Sherry had decided that their dream house up the hill would probably stay a dream.  But shake those dreams together and the combined energy creates possibility.

The next shift was HUGE.  Pachamama* shook Her Dream together with ours, and it went from personal to connected to Everything.  It was an Earthquake, an awakening that shook apart our American Dream so that it could reconfigure as Her Own.

More soon …

*Pachamama: (Quechua) sometimes translated as Mother Earth.  The sacred presence of      Earth, the universe and all of time.

Back in the saddle …

OK, we’re back. After more than a year - typical newbie bloggers. But it’s a new era, right?

We’re still in the midst of the Hi’ilani house project, which I introduced briefly in my earlier (much earlier) posts. We’ve been in a design phase for about two and a half years now, and we are just about ready to move to the next phase, which will include some actual building soon, we hope.

The plan is to bring this blog back to chronicle our personal journey through the next phase.

We are also starting a new web site, to be introduced soon, which will chronicle the actual project. The goal with this new site is to provide a resource and a place of encouragement for others who are interested in environmentally sustainable building, and who may be interested in watching this incredible project unfold.

Cheers,

Jim