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As I said before, my mothers father was from Maui. I last visited the Islands in the late 60's on my way to Viet Nam. Playing on Punalu'u "the black sand beach" with my cousins on the Big Island, snorkeling, and sitting closely on the beach with a distant cousin while others played ukulele and another played slack string guitar and sang songs in Hawaiian. It was fascinating, seeing the mix of races in just one family. There was my favorite cousin (I won't mention her name) of Hawaiian/Japanese heritage, others that were purebred Hawaiian, others of mixed heritage such as Scot and Irish mixed with Hawaiian and Chinese and Japanese and Puerto Rican. And of course, me, part Hawaiian, part Cherokee......................
Did I mention that there is almost no reason in the world to not have a luau? Sort of a "Hey, it's Thursday, lets have a party" attitude.......and my being there, the first decendent of my grandfather to visit since my grandfather left the Islands was ample reason for a long long party and meal of pork and poi and coconut and pineapple and several kinds of fish.
So today, when I listen to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole sing of the White Sandy Beach or sing of the Royal Family of the Hawaiian people........and my mind takes me back to when I was young and strong and daring, to a beach with a young beautiful willing woman, to a meal of exotic foods prepared simply but incredibly good.......
..................is it pretend? Or is there the possibility that for a moment in time I can live in two times and two places at once. I can still feel the sand. I can still taste the food. I can still feel the softness of skin...........for years I fought against the flashbacks from Viet Nam......today, in some areas, when I smell the swampy smell of jungle I am instantly transported to Saigon.........Those flashbacks/memories I struggle against. The ones from Hawaii I cherish and seek them out when the world begins to overwhelm me.............
Goodpasture,
Thanks for the photo of your partner and the buffalo calf. Just awesome. I will send prayers that you can find peace. Keep the good times in the forefront as much as possible. I also thank you for your service.
Didn't you experience the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Didn't you feel the sweat trickle down Gary Coopers face when he looks at the clock in High Noon?
Isn't that the real purpose of art? Not to be just decorative, but to make real a true life experience and make it so meaningful that others share the experience? Isn't that a borrowed experience.......and no, I don't think it is pretend.........
Didn't you experience the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Didn't you feel the sweat trickle down Gary Coopers face when he looks at the clock in High Noon?
Isn't that the real purpose of art? Not to be just decorative, but to make real a true life experience and make it so meaningful that others share the experience? Isn't that a borrowed experience.......and no, I don't think it is pretend.........
i like what you are saying, and how you are saying it ... when retrieving my own (repeat: my own!) soul i need to "clear" the resonances and the distances that ARE my ID, and i want this ID free from accusations, guilt, fear and shame.
the art of living expressed by living some stylized imitation is a space-invading problem: who's included, what's exclusive.
good grief, yes, i remember being easy rider ... (and still innocent!!)
i like what you are saying, and how you are saying it ... when retrieving my own (repeat: my own!) soul i need to "clear" the resonances and the distances that ARE my ID, and i want this ID free from accusations, guilt, fear and shame.
the art of living expressed by living some stylized imitation is a space-invading problem: who's included, what's exclusive.
Interesting concept. One that I am not all that familiar with. As I consider myself Christian (although I consider most "Christians" today non-Christians....more like religious zealots without a fundamental relationship with the Creator), I have a very real relationship with the Creator. We talk all the time. I do not bring "accusations, guilt, fear, and shame" into that relationship. Those are things of this world.....things that are imposed on us by society. My relationship with the Creator is one that is spirit to Spirit. I am not sure bringing such world based attributes into that relationship wouldn't damage that relationship.
Quote:
Originally Posted by effie briest
good grief, yes, i remember being easy rider ... (and still innocent!!)
I have to ask, which of the protagonists in easy rider do you identify with?
Last edited by Goodpasture; 04-09-2009 at 12:59 PM..
Let me explain something that I became aware of years ago.
When I was a young man I thought of myself as a warrior. I sought conflict. At one period in my life, fighting and drinking were my second favorite pastime. My favorite included willing women..........
I went to war for the sole purpose of being a man to be feared. I had hunted all my life, but a hunter is not a warrior. A hunter is a predator. A warrior is both predator and prey. The heightened awareness and sensitivity to the world around you is tremendous. You find joy in the mundane. The day you sleep and did not die was a good day.
I went to war gladly, as young men should. The ultimate test. When a football team loses it is "better game next week." When a warrior loses, it is over.
So, unless the man was coerced into bearing arms (and many were) then no thanks are needed. I went on my own (was not drafted) and learned the cost of death. I am content to not fight any more.
It is good that you recognize that the warrior of our nation does what he did. And there are great warriors in our nation that should be held up as icons and heros. Every nation and every generation needs them. The day of my claim to fame has passed. I sit on the porch with a smoke, a drink and a a kindred spirit......I leave the blood filled intensity to those who have the passion to become the warrior they must become.......and many of them may die.......and their death I celebrate.
But I did not engage in the fight to achieve honor in your eyes or to earn your thanks.......I did it for my own........but I thank you.....from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
An anecdote......
My partner is from Holland. You saw her talking to the buffalo calf. We were at a restaurant one night when she saw a VFW cap. She went over and asked if he had been in Europe. When he said he had, she thanked him for liberating her country from the Germans. She had numerous family member die at the hands of the Nazis, and many of her kin were underground...........she told him what it meant to her and her family that an American went to Europe to save her people. When she left the mans table, there were tears in his and his wifes eyes. It is a good thing to tell the old warrior thanks.
Thanks are not needed...............but they are appreciated.
Goodpasture, I also wore the uniform, volunteered for it, and, I think, as a test for myself. I took a stroll through Panama, and know what it is to dread the impending night. I try to never pass up the chance to thank those who's footsteps I followed and those who follow in mine. I still wonder if I measured up.
as one who has spent an enormous amount of time at the receiving end of this idealized warrior spirit, may i - in a sacred circle to my understanding being all-encompassing and intended to heal - contribute the "fugitive" and volatile energies of deep(er) thought ... retrieved from Great Mystery ... as it still transcends every culture ... and many of us are in deep, very deep need of being addressed, as our individual selves!
i never saw the successful (victors!) as role models only.
spoken in all humility and gratefulness.
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