Action with Intent - My trip to Lana'i

Miniature Decorative Pineapple

Lodge at Koele - Lana'i Hawai'i

G. Cornwall - c.2012

"Seek to enjoy, not to possess." - Nana Veary

December has been a time for me to consider the differences and balances between having things and doing things.

In October of 2012, I found an incredible deal with Westjet and booked a ticket for the first leg of my journey from Victoria BC to Honolulu Hawai'i. I followed up with an island hopper  booking to Lana'i, Hawai'i. I had spoken with a friend on Lana'i and she graciously agreed to let me stay with her. My trip was set for December to celebrate my 51st birthday on Lana'i. I had attempted to put the trip together for my 50th and it hadn't worked out. I officially named this trip my 50 redux. 

Some people told me I was "lucky" to be taking this trip. While I know I am fortunate to live in a country where I have a job, a place to live and enough to eat, rest assured, I did not win this trip. What I did do was: work tons of extra hours, sold my art and photo cards for very reasonable prices and I liquidated family belongings that had been sitting in a cupboard because I did not like them, did not use them or both. I scrimped, saved, worked, planned, sold and bartered and, in December, off I went to Lana'i.

I saw old friends and met new ones. I hiked, toured the island with some very knowledgeable locals, ate local food, chilled at the beach, studied the island's history at the Lana'i Culture and Heritage Centre, took pictures as two of the kindest and loveliest people I have ever met renewed their wedding vows, was treated to two incredibly luxurious and delicious lunches with them at the Lodge at Koele and I treated myself to a few drinks and meals at the islands top-notch restaurants and hotels. 

As I mentioned earlier, for the largest part of my trip I stayed with a friend on the island but I also gave myself a birthday present of 3 nights at the Hotel Lana'i, where I indulged in the simplicity and camaraderie of  this island gem. 

On the Friday before my birthday, I headed down to Hulopoe to enjoy a day on the beach and in mother ocean. It was a day when the mother was at peace with her shores and all of her children rejoiced in her pristine, crystal clear beauty. The air caressed with a gentle, warm breeze like a kiss to the cheek of all life. 

I knew the dolphins were in the bay but I never chase them down so I set up my spot on the beach and went to change into my swim wear and got out my snorkel gear. I swam straight out for about 100 metres and, in no time at all, a pod of about 17 dolphins was headed towards me.  I was the only person in this part of the bay at this time and I held my place in the water to watch these beautiful creatures approach. I have to say, it is a little intimidating as it is impossible to tell if they are upset - they are always smiling. :-) When the lead dolphin was within several feet of me, we began swimming beside each other, my eyes to theirs with a silent communication of mutual acceptance and pure joy. It was then I noticed the two mamas with their babies swimming directly beneath them in perfect rhythmic unison with their mothers. It is the most beautiful experience I have ever had. I can never clearly articulate the emotion and feeling of this experience. It may sound odd but it was intense and perfect and simple. It was the best birthday present I could ever hope for and I will never forget. I can close my eyes and be right there again. The memory of it is as clear and perfect as the mother was that day.

None of the objects I sold could ever offer me the joy and beauty and perfection of those moments. I hope I will choose experience over objects, always. I choose to live, love, do, see and feel. 

Here are some of the pictures from my experience on Lana'i. a place I have been getting to know, like a lover, for twenty years. This is a glance at Lana'i through my eyes.

-Gillian Cornwall, December 30, 2012.

**All images and text on this blog are the property of Gillian Cornwall. Please notify me if you wish to use any. Mahalo.** 

 he'e nalu - Hulopoe

 he'e nalu - Hulopoe

 Karen and Alan's Pagoda, The Lodge at Koele

Orange hibiscus 

 

Kaiolohia

Me at Kaiolohia 

Looking to Maui from Kaiolohia 

The Cook Island Pines at sunset 

Christmas time in Lana'i City 

Amazing dinner hosted by my friend, Barb 

Lana'i Boat Harbour 

Fishing - Lana'i Boat Harbour 

In these hills, roam thousands of Axis Deer and Mouflon Sheep 

The old jail cells being spruced up for ...? 

The Lana'i Theatre used to play movies but has sat empty for a while now. 

Where you stay?  

Mouflon Horns

The Four Seasons Lodge at Koele 

On my day long tour with Bruce. Awesome. 

The shipwrecked WWII ferrous concrete hull Liberty Ship

Was given residence here after the war as an "economical" method of disposal 

Not for the faint of heart but a piece of cake for our guide, Bruce. 

The fearless and very knowledgeable guide, Bruce. 

The Ironwood Forest 

Heading down to the barge harbour 

The Three Sisters 

A lava tube. Sometimes people were put to rest in these after they passed. Those who placed them  would be the only ones who knew the whereabouts, so would plunge to their deaths to keep the secret safe .

The Barge Harbour 

Lana'i Oil Company 

The evening light on Lana'i is indescribable. 

A papaya tree at sunset 

Hulopoe from Four Seasons Manele Bay 

Hulopoe 

 The amazing slack key guitarist, Cindy Combs

Lana'i Coffee Works

Lana'i Culture and Heritage Center

My beloved Hotel Lana'i

Hulopoe from Four Seasons Manele Bay

Me

The state flower - Yellow Hibiscus

Even the butterflies come here to rest

Koele Ranch land

The approach to the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele

The fig trees at the Lodge at Koele

The Gardens at the Lodge at Koele

The rare occurrence when you would find me with a flower in my hair

The aptly named Bird of Paradise

Hulopoe

Pu'upehe

Pretty sure these were sand flea bites. Minimum 20 per leg and foot. Torture. 

Dining Room at Hotel Lana'i - decorated for Christmas.

A very content me.

In Lana'i city - the palm amid the pines.

University of Hawaii - Maui College - Lana'i Style.

Local Bananas - Nothing like it.

Corrugated tin is as much a part of my Lana'i as the beach at Hulopoe

Red ginger in my friend's garden.

My lanai room at Hotel Lana'i on Lana'i

Hau'oli La Hanau to me. 

Pink Plumeria

Hawai'ian

Orchid

Orchid

My favourite flower; my favourite scent

My strawberry daiquiri

Some people on Lana'i take their Christmas decorating to the max!

Very, very happy Gillian - aka Kila Nalu

From the airport - staying outside until the last possible moment

The gardens at the airport in Honolulu

See you next time, my Lana'i, my love.

What Did Your Parents Get for Christmas? - A Reprise

Did you ever ask your parents what kind of stuff they got for Christmas? I'm guessing it was simpler fare than that on the letters to Santa in this day and age:
Today: an Apple (not the fruit, the laptop)
Yesterday: an orange (yeah, just the fruit)

I guess what I'm thinking is: if you asked your folks what their hopes and dreams were around the holidays, they wouldn't have expected what kids do today and, I know, they also used to hike 10 miles to school and back in a blizzard backwards with no shoes while carrying their younger siblings...and had to chip the ice off their slates to take their notes in class. Before you laugh the old folks off and snuggle into your heated home with your laptop or your mobile and your full belly, yawning with the boredom of it all, take a moment.

Remember that it wasn't always this easy - even in your own family - and that it still isn't easy at all for the majority of the world's population. Be grateful for what you have and maybe consider asking for something really simple for Christmas. 

Think about how far that orange came that you're eating and who picked it.
Use your imagination. Be thoughtful. Interact with someone ...without a keyboard - you know, face to face, on the street.
Draw someone a Christmas card and tell them your life would be less rich without them. 
Play a game.
Use your imagination.
Write a letter to a friend and smile at a stranger.

I'm going outside to walk and breathe the crisp evening air in a city at peace.

Happy holidays and a huge hug to all the people that made sure I was still standing after the year gone by with all of its joys and sorrows. 

Love to you all! You mean the world to me.

Gillian

Embrace This Day

In This Sky

Gillian Cornwall

Today is a day for beginnings, not for endings.

Today is a day for love and peace, not for anger and violence.

Today is a day to smile from the depths of knowing,

not to weep a fresh ocean of emotion.

Embrace this day.

Let it flow through you. 

See it.

Be it.

Love it

and let it flow through you.

Do not let anyone make you question who you are. 

You are who you are.

You are perfect in the eyes of all that is. 

-Gillian Cornwall, August 2011.

This Sacred World

University of Victoria, Autumn 2012

Where is the peace I desire, if not in the arms of life itself? Where is my heart, if not in the universal hands, beating and quivering as delicate as a chickadee?

I am here, now, present and somewhat uncertain of what I am told I am missing. Though people may attempt to negate my joy or aim to tear me down, I bathe in my life light. I hold myself up to the sun and it is here I will remain while it shines.

I wander the woods and know the joy of the bounce of the forest floor in lieu of remaining chained to the desk from dawn to dusk. I do my job indeed, but I step away for there are no funds for which to buy life, no other path to beauty than the one I choose, no light that will shine brighter for me than my own. 

You will find me in Mystic Vale with a golden leaf floated from the heavens cradled in my palm and my face tilted toward the sun. 

At my best, I will be a guardian of the Mother Earth and staunch in my protection of her, for the purity and sustainability of the world and the lesson of how I lived in her arms is my only true and valuable inheritance to give.  

With love,

-Gillian Cornwall, November 25, 2012

Bowker Creek Trail

University of Victoria

November 2012

Time Spent

Saanich Farmland, October 2012

Tension and release are natural in all life but when the rhythms of the cycle are knocked askew, internal and external environments are impacted and it may take a conscious effort to initiate the release. 

Many of us have changed the way we live. We've added a step. In times gone by, we worked to produce that which we require for survival and enjoyment. There were fewer middle men and that which we did not, or could not, produce, we traded with our neighbours. If we wanted food we worked the land, cared for the animals and we fished. I know this was not easy. All daylight hours were spent in toil but evenings were spent in a certain quietude and peace that I think we may have forgone for the pursuit of others lives on TV and through the computer. This is not a judgement, merely an observation.

Now, we go to work to make the money to buy that which we need and desire. That which we desire often outweighs our needs and income so, in order to buy more we work more, decreasing the amount of leisure time available to simply enjoy life and that for which we toil.

I am trying to be more cognizant of the difference between need and desire and to be clear of the motivation behind the desire. I'm not saying desire is bad - not a chance! I want to be more aware. I want to be more present in the decisions I make around time. Perhaps it is a result of the amount of time I have already seen go by but I have realized that time, and the way I spend it, is what I most value. 

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy." -Ralph H. Blum

-Gillian Cornwall, November 18, 2012.

Love and Molecules - Lest We Forget

Eunice Audrey Jay(my Mother), Circa 1943

RIP

Imagine, my mom was driving a Velocette motorcycle around England in 1943. She was 19 then. She had a boyfriend who was a pilot. They used to read poetry to each other at Harrow on the Hill by Byron's tomb. They were in love. My mom was in the ATS at Biggin Hill fighter station where her boyfriend, Rick, was posted. They lived fast and true to their hearts. There was no time to waste by not feeling, blocking and worrying if it was right. Life was so tenuous - up for the lottery every moment as planes fell from the sky, bombs fell from the sky and buildings crumbled around people daily. The world was at war and nothing was forever. There was only the moment in which the truth existed.
Rick was shot down. Killed.

In 1948, my mother married my father. They had four kids, moved to Canada from England twice, started their own business, and divorced in 1975. My mother continued to work to support the two children she still had at home. She created a new career for herself and kept my brother and I in school, in good clothes, with enough food to eat and the occasional vacation and special treat. She did well by us although she was sad - she had lost a part of her self in the process of all this.

At 58 years old, she died of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease); robbed of her retirement and her chance to go to Europe and explore the arts of the countries she had spoken of so passionately over the years.

Her wish was to have her ashes taken to Byron's tomb to be spread in the place where she remembered her passion, her love and her truth. This was done. I hope that my mom and Rick's molecules are dancing together still.

Live, love, be brave.

The Tear by Lord Byron

When Friendship or Love our sympathies move,
When Truth, in a glance, should appear,
The lips may beguile with a dimple or smile,
But the test of affection's a Tear:

Too oft is a smile but the hypocrite's wile,
To mask detestation, or fear;
Give me the soft sigh, whilst the soultelling eye
Is dimm'd, for a time, with a Tear:

Mild Charity's glow, to us mortals below,
Shows the soul from barbarity clear;
Compassion will melt, where this virtue is felt,
And its dew is diffused in a Tear:

The man, doom'd to sail with the blast of the gale,
Through billows Atlantic to steer,
As he bends o'er the wave which may soon be his grave,
The green sparkles bright with a Tear;

The Soldier braves death for a fanciful wreath
In Glory's romantic career;
But he raises the foe when in battle laid low,
And bathes every wound with a Tear.

If, with high-bounding pride he return to his bride!
Renouncing the gore-crimson'd spear;
All his toils are repaid when, embracing the maid,
From her eyelid he kisses the Tear.

Sweet scene of my youth! seat of Friendship and Truth,
Where Love chas'd each fast-fleeting year
Loth to leave thee, I mourn'd, for a last look I turn'd,
But thy spire was scarce seen through a Tear:

Though my vows I can pour, to my Mary no more,
My Mary, to Love once so dear,
In the shade of her bow'r I remember the hour,
She rewarded those vows with a Tear.

By another possest, may she live ever blest!
Her name still my heart must revere:
With a sigh I resign what I once thought was mine,
And forgive her deceit with a Tear.

Ye friends of my heart, ere from you I depart,
This hope to my breast is most near:
If again we shall meet in this rural retreat,
May we meet, as we part, with a Tear.

When my soul wings her flight to the regions of night,
And my corse shall recline on its bier;
As ye pass by the tomb where my ashes consume,
Oh! moisten their dust with a Tear.

May no marble bestow the splendour of woe
Which the children of vanity rear;
No fiction of fame shall blazon my name.
All I ask – all I wish – is a Tear.

October 26 1806

Edward Jay(my uncle)

RIP

Flow

Buddha - Hawaii 2006

Let the love flow through you.

Do not attempt to hold it for questioning.

All will be well.

Walk the path of love rather than the path of fear.

Give what you have to give freely and without expectation.

Make way for those you love to follow their paths without impeding their journeys.

Hold up a light for them when they are in their darkest hours.

Hold up a mirror when they need to see their beautiful perfection more clearly.

Love freely.

This is a good job.

This is a good life.

This is a beautiful life.

All is well.

Blessings to all.

Love to all.

Love and blessings gratefully received.

-Gillian Cornwall, August 25, 2011.