There are many ways to greet a fellow human being. And from the point of view of creativity, there is one greeting that I find to be particularly powerful:
Aloha!
Like many traditional greetings, greetings that recognize and honor the dynamic, interpendent world around us, the word “aloha” has many translations, one of which is this:
May life from the center of creation move within you.”
To me, it’s quite poetic that such a greeting arose from a small chain of islands in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet. Not only that, the Big Island continues to grow to this day as a giant lava tube (what’s known as a hotspot) continues to supply rivers of molten earth to the south eastern edge of the island.
Imagine those early adventures who first arrived on the islands, adventurers who conceived of such a greeting, adventurers who left their homelands without maps or communication devices, vulnerable in their tiny vessels to the blazing sun and tempestuous storms, driven by wonder, curiosity, faith, and the intoxicating beauty of the moon and stars, adventurers who somehow, amidst 63 million square miles of ocean, stumbled upon that small chain of islands. Imagine how thrilling it must have been to set foot on the shores of Hawaii after weeks, perhaps months at sea. Then, as they explored the islands themselves, imagine what it was like to discover the sacred place of creation itself, where rivers of lava welled up from deep within the earth and poured into the sea.
The force of creativity is universal. It has shaped and continues to shape the universe that we live in, the planet we inhabit, the life that lives upon this planet, as well as our own self-awareness and ability to Self-express. And, though creativity is universal, many of us fail to tap into it; many of us fail to experience our lives as an ever-unfolding expression of creativity itself, choosing instead to experience ourselves as bored or overwhelmed, stuck in a rut or ruled by habit, or seeming victims of the same mundane routine day after day.
The spirit of aloha, however, serves as a reminder, a reminder that the world is always changing, that we are constantly evolving, and that we are always already connected to systems and forces much larger than ourselves. In other words, dynamism, interdependence, and mystery are inherent to our creative universe and, as products of the creative universe, inherent to us as well.
So the next time you want to awaken your creator within, or the next time you wish to empower another in their own creative pursuits, perhaps a heartfelt “aloha” might just be the thing you need to head in a new and enlivening direction.
Aloha! May life from the center of creation move within you!
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Michael Rodman says
Aloha Austin Hill from Honolulu.
As I get ready to start another day in Paradise, I look forward to walking along the ocean with sun kissed palm trees gently swaying in tropical breezes. Light tradewinds bring afternoon showers to water the thousands of unique flora the Islands have to offer. And yes it really looks like this here everyday. Complete with rum infused tropical drinks with colorful paper umbrellas in all the colors of the a Hawaiian Rainbow.
Aloha and Mahalo for your weekly creativity inspiration.
PS I’m off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to paint Diamond Head under a grove of shady date palms. Have a great day!