Mahalo

When I graduated UCLA back in 2008, I didn't get a chance to decompress and absorb the fruits of my labor. One week after the graduation ceremonies, I had a one way ticket to DC, where a full-time internship was waiting.Fast forward two years, two jobs and many side projects in the mix, I had a chance to just breathe, even if only for a brief 7 days.

The Plan:
I'd often imagined heading to the isles of Hawaii, vaguely planning but never taking flight. It's quiet possible that I would have abandoned such a trip had my sister not taken the initiative to look up flights, hotels and the like. Thanks Lupita!!! Quiet frankly, I would have continued accumulating vacation days without them being put to good use. So with my sister taking the lead and my parents celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary, my siblings and myself decided what better gift for our parents then purchasing flights and hotel stay to Oahu!

Watch below:



So with flights and hotel booked, we were bound for Hawaii!

Paradise

Every chance I get, I allow my mind to set sail, affording it some time to create, recreate and refine a whimsical place where nothing has enough strength to topple my good mood. Any form of friction, is quickly disbanded by a swift kick to the source that creates resistance. I watch as the source disbands into dust particles and I once again sit in what seems like an everlasting state of peace.



I try to visit every so often, sometimes in the form of a daydream or in my sleep; unfortunately, it just so happens that it comes to an end when my eyes open and I'm slapped with responsibilities of adulthood.



For seven days last week, I woke up to find myself in a place very similar to the paradise I've spent several years constructing in my mind. On the coast, sunshine overlooking crystal blue waters and sand so soft that you wouldn't mind it's presence in between your toes. And Inland, a lush of green rain forest with clouds and some drizzle. I had never seen a more perfect division coexisting so peacefully.

A break

When I’m supposed to be walking I have an overwhelming urge to run and when I run, I tend to run faster then I should. For some reason, I find myself constantly having to be active, I just can’t sit still and relax. In a sense, this over activity has become second nature. More or less, I’ve convinced myself that idle time is wasted time.

I’ve tried to pinpoint when this started but I can’t find the origin. Even as a young kid, I’ve always been juggling several things at once and that mentality hasn’t changed- not in junior high, not in high school, not in college nor in my post graduate career. Maybe it’s a fear of being considered average; simply put, no one remembers “average people.” It’s not a bad thing to be average, some people are okay with mediocrity and that’s fine for them but I’m not one of “those people.”

However, you reach a point when you have to say when and I guess for me it comes now, and it comes in the form of a Hawaiian vacation. Away goes the laptop and all of life’s obligations, --at least for a week or so.

Disappearance of Integrity

This week I was reading a number of articles over facebook’s negligence regarding private information of it’s members. Despite security settings, information has been gathered from its member’s and made easily accessible to outside parties. Of course, this is not a new occurrence; facebook has had to deal with various privacy lawsuits from individual members to privacy investigations from countries.

As much as I’ve enjoyed its services since I created an account in 2004, the constant news regarding privacy issues has me questioning whether facebook is worth maintaining anymore. Information that we disclosure on our page is for those within our network, not for outside industries to target us as consumers. Regardless of whether personal information can be accessed elsewhere, facebook, as a company should have the integrity to respect its member’s, not violate their trust. Enabling outside sources to access member’s information makes it harder for me to maintain respect for a company that I once respected for keeping me connected with the friends that I've made over the years.

Maybe I was naive to trust a company like facebook; I guess my assumption that integrity and ethics still existed was completely off.

Young Sages

I have my moments where I feel as though I’ve learned everything that I’m capable of learning. At times, it seems like all the knowledge that I currently need is at hand. While I have recently been operating off of this perspective, I see the detrimental consequences in allowing this mentality to guide your daily activities. Quite frankly, you prevent yourself from progressing as a human being, essentially, closing doors and blinding yourself of opportunities that lay before you.

My recent yet foolish approach to life had never been more apparent then the two weekends that I spent with my niece and nephew this month. At two and five years old, I’ve was taken by their boundless curiosity that makes them smile, makes their eyes widen and intrigues them to ask the questions of why something is the way it is? They’re taking their initial steps of becoming cognizant of the world through their first experiences and discovery of their talents; while above all else, enjoying every moment of the journey. At the end of the day, any restrictions and limits hold no weight against their will to discover the treasures hidden amongst them. Each and every day, they stand to gain everything and much like them, closing the door to open mindedness and curiosity too early leaves a vacancy where knowledge and experience could be.

What was also really striking was my nephew’s ability to live life not having the great deal of expectations that we’ve learned through social conventions. I think a lot of our unhappiness stems from, at times, many unattainable expectations that we have for ourselves or the expectations we’ve learned from social expectations of “normality.” I’ve always been an advocate of going against what other people expect or want from you but sometimes you get so wrapped up and temporarily swept away. It’s refreshing to see how carefree and uninhibited by social cues we can be, sometimes we need a little reminder.

To these young sages, they are completely satisfied with unconditional love and being able to explore words, ideas or objects that trigger their synapses and spark questions. All the material things that a lot of us consume to bring us happiness or higher social status means absolutely nothing--you can see it in their eyes. I’m glad to be able to relearn life’s most basic treasures through the eyes of these kids as they learn everything for their first time.

The sun sets on us