Soul

Running down the beach to find refuge in the sea from the sand flies, my eye stumbled upon a pointy white object. I stopped to observe the most pristine shell i’ve ever seen. I was in South east Thailand where the sand flies burrow into your skin. It was worth stopping to admire this shell. It crumbled in my hand the moment I decided to pick it up to keep it. A symbol forever.

Aloha, Chris here.

Four years later from that day in Thailand… (last week) I’m visiting Japan for the first time. I was there by the generosity of Jinu-San and Kandai to paint a mural, present Yoint (Japanese hard tea) and experience part of my heritage. I learned of the word ikigai, which means “reason to live” but it had a different cultural context.  Unlike America, a persons ikigai seemed to be whatever they were doing at that moment. The task at hand is done with intention and appreciation to detail. I began to see ikigai everywhere, sweeping the floor, serving tea, greeting someone… all had some feeling of reverence. From the busking city of Tokyo to the beautiful rice fields of Shikoku, I felt like a newborn baby learning how to operate in the world.

Now for some transparency. I had always dreamed of starting an art career in Japan, and life was starting to feel like that dream. but my best friend at home didn’t feel the same. Ke’ili is a champ and I admire how much she works. Looking back, it makes sense… my job evolved into traveling the world in the name of art. Ku’uipo is back home working 9-5. Our calls scarcely lined up with the time zones and one was sleeping while the other was working. I was beginning to unbalance the canoe. How can I continue to live the career I love and also have a balanced relationship?

I was starting to doubt myself until I revisited the movie Soul on the airplane a few hours ago. Even in an airplane, this cartoon can bring you back down to earth. In the story, Joe went from being a school teacher to finally getting his shot at a professional Jazz musician… Until he slipped in the street, and into a coma where is soul left on an adventure. On the path to the “great beyond”, he was in disbelief at his immanent death, for he thought his passion was his purpose and that he didn’t live it out how he wanted to.

In order to get back to his life, his fate ordained him a mentor to 22, a soul who had no drive to enter the world. 22 believed that all this living isn’t worth dying for. Its pointless to spend all your time searching for your passion if you may never even find it. So whats the point? Joe believed that life is all about reaching your goals, that everything else is just stepping stones.

Do you ever feel like that?

I think I have a little of both Joe and 22’s character and flaws. Actually, I think everyones does. Ke’ili appreciates the value of time and I appreciate the value of details. A life with purpose isn’t chasing after either of those. It’s learning that eternity is in a detail.

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour”

- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence 

I’ve heard the double hulled canoe as a metaphor of Ku and Hina. “Sun rising upright”, “Sun leaning down”, masculine and feminine. The canoe is a balance of the two, and thats how it moves forward. Our journey with ‘A’ā is teaching us this in all kinds of ways. I must confess, when I booked my ticket to California, to work on the canoe, it coincided with Aunty Illa’s birthday, and the first event Ke’ili is managing. Unbalanced canoe once again :(  I am learning more and more with each mistake that one hull of the canoe is the dream, and the other side is the precious moment. A real voyager would be a master at lashing, as well as reading the stars. Evermore i’m grateful for those who support our “canoe” in every way. We fixed the balance of the canoe last night by getting ice cream and building forts. 

Circling back to Soul… After a bunch of plot twists and prophetic realizations. The two souls learn something by inhabiting each others bodies. Joe was never curious about other peoples stories… or the world, until 22 was forced to live. 22 never wanted to live, until Joe truly let her, at the cost of his career. Joe learned that his passion for music isn’t his meaning in life.

“Your spark isn’t your purpose! That last box gets checked when your ready to come live, and the thing is. Your really great at jazzing”

Why did the movie focus on a jazz musician? Why is Jazz so important? Well, my dad once told me. Jazz is operating in the moment. It’s both control and chaos. I’m no musician, but I can only imagine the elation of dancing between the two. I used to not like Jazz, I would turn the dial back to my rock and roll and hip hop, that pre-written music. As I got older, I started to appreciate Jazz more for what it was. Appreciation grew into loving it.  We don’t have to have obsessive passions to be happy, we just need to appreciate the role everything plays.

The clues have been around us always, in the ancient temples of Kyoto, to the Hīhīwai of our upland streams, and especially in joy in getting ice cream and making forts. I no longer think humans need to reach enlightenment. Were meant to loose our way and find it over and over again, each time adding to the cosmos. Enlightenment is a simple moment.

-Chris

If your on O’ahu, please go check out the new gallery space Ke’ili has been working so hard to prepare for local artists. I’m so proud of her and so sad I wont be there. So it means the world to bless Ke’ilis event with your presence. Here is the information