Spirit of adventure in hollow moments
Aloha, Chris here!
Mind's eye has been on the greatest adventure of all time, the present moment. The wind, salt of the earth and random acts of kindness are things that remind us to come back to this adventure.
Kala mai, while prepping for an art exhibit this week i’ve had little time to sit down and write about stars or sailing sort of things. Instead, I’ll just share some thoughts that have drifted in while crafting pieces for the show…


Creating meaning out of an adventure is one of the most wonderful and peculiar parts of being a human. We live moving forward but some moments can only be understood looking backward. Journeying deeper to the inner circles at home, I've been finding the spirit of adventure just the same in these hollow, quiet moments as out at sea or up in the mountains. I often reflect on the career of an artist and question the point. Balance, movement, emphasis, variety and rhythm, aren’t we constantly searching for these in everything anyway?
Yesterday, I introduced Ke’ili to Tolkeins world (LOTR). There was a particular part when Frodo cried out in sorrow, “I wish it need not have happened in my time” Gandalf responds, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times, But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us” …my childhood sprite reignited. Ke’ili then, convoluting emotion with reason, (probably good for me) proclaimed, “Hey, do they never eat?”
She had a good point. For a quest like that would need some serious fuel. However, being that Tolkien chose a Hobbit for this character's development, one whose existence revolves around food and a cozy home perhaps is just the point; for the spirit does not grow merely on food alone. As the Dalai Lama says,
“This culture is not sufficient to tackle human problems, the real problem is here” tapping on his head then chest, “mind and heart” - The Book Of Joy.
Food is so important to keep us alive, but forget not the spiritual nourishment to keep us living well. Take for example the disciples, before departing on their journey of healing, the Messiah spoke to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics” Luke 9:3
So this might be why art exists. It renders our minds to go past the ordinary and remind our people of emotions and dreams they may have forgotten they had.
Being from Hawai’i has given me eyes to see the world with more balance, movement, emphasis, variety and rhythm, as an artist. To be surrounded by a community that still finds treasure in the lineage of a tree, a stream or a mountain, makes hard times so much more worth going through. Because the stories that are developing are all of us. Mo’olelo.
Alright, enough rambling we've all got to get back to our task at hand. We will try share the art exhibit on our social media, @ethnomads
“Art presents such lives, such symbols. Myth especially - persisting as a mother of truth through countless generations and for many disparate cultures, coming therefore with the approval not of a single people but of people… And when the one who gazes upon that myth suddenly in dreadful recognition cries out, ‘There I am! That is me! Then the marvelous translation has occurred: he is lifted out of himself wholly” - Orphean Passages. Wangerin, Walter Jr. Zondervan Publishing House. 1986p.14/15
-Chris
Keʻili here! Had to butt in and give a big mahalo for everyone who creates and finds themselves in art. You are all invited to view pieces made by my sister, Hana, Chris, and Tristan. I am so beyond proud of all the hard work they put in to sharing with you A Restless Lagoon. See invitation below!