My love affair with Maui: Part Two
For years, I’ve had a serious love affair with Maui for many of the obvious reasons. It’s a gorgeous island that’s easy enough to reach from LA, the people are lovely, the scenery takes my breath away and there is a sense of calm that immediately overrides any stress I’ve been feeling from the minute I land. At least, that’s been my experience and while I’ve been trying to make some sense of it as the stars continue to align and push me towards being more here than there, I’ve realized that understanding what’s happening is not at all the point. Learning to surrender to the magic is the true lesson for me, as the more I give into trusting the unknown, the more it all makes perfect sense.
Part of the magical pull of Maui lies in the mystery surrounding all the seemingly bizarre beautiful things that happen to me here on this Hawaiian island. The rainbows that light up the sky the minute I’d like to see one or the gold Toyota Highlanders that seem to always park next to me in Paia or the fact that I keep meeting incredibly fascinating and fun people who I know are in my life for a significant (if yet unknown) reason.
When I returned to LA a few weeks ago after spending two weeks here on Maui, Ifelt like I was on another planet. The traffic that never really bothered me was all of a sudden out of control. The pace I used to think slow compared to most other cities I’ve lived in and traveled to all of a sudden seemed way too fast. I just found myself fantasizing about getting back to Maui and settling back into the island lifestyle on island time as quickly as possible. So much about this is nothing short of crazy as I love Los Angeles and chose to live there eight years ago for so many reasons I’ve written about countless times. But something’s changed in how I view the world — and my world — and my vision of my next chapter looks so much different than it did just a few months ago. I see my happiest of days ahead here on Maui.
I still have no idea what my future holds but I do know that I can’t deny my love of this special island or the feeling I have that I am just supposed to be here, as much as possible. I’ve traveled the world and had some of the most crazy and memorable adventures, but nothing gives me more peace and happiness than when I am just here on Maui. When I’m in LA, I look at the ocean and enjoy the view but when I sit and stare at the ocean here, it takes my breath away. I feel connected to my parents who were both total ocean lovers, and I know from all the signs I get daily that they are here with me. That too, brings an overwhelmingly sense of peace and comfort that reminds me how on point I am with my Maui obsession.
I can meditate on demand without distraction on Maui, and that is probably why I am getting crystal clear on what’s most important to me and allowing myself to just follow my heart and think and act without fear. Trusting my gut (and trusting the unknown) has become a favorite hobby of mine since it means that truly anything can happen when I allow it to just flow. No sooner did I state my intention to spend a lot more time in my favorite place and detach from the outcome when the best kind of people started showing up to support my decision and welcome me “home”. I’ve had no idea where I might possibly live with the dogs when I relocate (atleast part-time) to Maui but again, I put my intentions out into the universe and suddenly the “perfect” place appears. When I say perfect, I mean perfect. Perfect size, great location, dog-friendly, in my budget and honestly better than I could have imagined right off the bat. I saw it today and if all goes well, I could be living my dream even sooner than I imagined. If you can dream it, you can do it so why wait? All we have is this moment. Live it and love it.
