On Maui, Aloha is Automatic
May 18, 2012
Last month I had the “good fortune” to visit Maui on a weekend when every rental car on the island was sold out. As ironic as it sounds, it was serendipity.
So often we are busy driving, consumed by maps, street signs, and getting from Point A to Point B. For just one dollar per ride on the Maui County Bus, I had my own moving picture window.
On the way from Kihei to Lahaina, we were treated to a one-man Hawaiian concert. He told me that in Hawaii, we sometimes forget about the meaning of aloha–that it’s just a word if it’s not shared. That’s why he plays along his ukulele. Some of the locals were jaded, but the tourists smiled.
Listening to him made me wonder how many things we take for granted when we live here.
We are so busy with the details of our lives that we forget to look out the window or listen to what’s around us.
Before we disembarked at the Maui Ocean Center in Maalae, he shows me his ukulele. This is what makes Hawaii different, he explains. “Aloha is Automatic.”
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“We are so busy with the details of our lives that we forget to look out the window or listen to what’s around us.” Amen. It does us good to unplug and enjoy the moment.