"I am so blessed to have met you and shared so many wonderful memories, ideas, and meals. The kindness you offer and your vision here have the power to change lives and the world. I go into my next life cycle with a lovely, clear, refreshed mind and joyous, nurtured heart thanks to you and this wonderful fruit of your dream time."
Christina, teacher, painter, drama coach
Every location has its own flavor, which will impact the kinds of experiences that can be enjoyed &/or grown from there.
Here, on the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a layer of ice that never melts on top of Mauna Kea, one of our locale's five volcanoes, which may have formed, scientists theorize, back in the Pleistocene era.
On Kilauea — the most currently active volcano — startled humans often describe the appearance of Goddess Pele as either a young, mysterious woman or older, crone-like figure who materializes into view...and then disappears in the blink of an eye; sometimes with a specific message to impart; other times not.
Mystical lights and other unexplained phenomena also occur on this island regularly.
When the "Kulana" (joy-from-within) community first birthed in this magical, mystical place, the fact that vehicle electrical systems would for no apparent reason just shut down out of the blue when driving up Saddle Road was well-known. In fact, car rental companies at that time forbid their rented vehicles from traversing this road, theoretically because back then all of it was not yet paved...(though rented cars were allowed other areas which were also not yet paved).
Additionally, there were reports of people in cars being rocked in a way that felt different from wind gusts, and folks seeing things moved from one place to another without any human hands involved.
These days you don't hear about so many mysterious happenings on Saddle Road, though reports of Night Marcher spottings around ancient heiau sites continue.
Yes, the Big Island of Hawaii, home to much magic, is quite an interesting place to live.
Gorgeous in many places...even "paradise" in some ways, and for some people.
But also there are underlying realities — some mystical, some more socio-political — that most people arriving to take advantage of time in paradise don't realize.
Now, each of the Hawaiian islands has its own energy...with Kauai being the oldest, most "stable," smaller-sized island in the chain...Maui being mid-size and more developed...Molokai being tiny and the most reminiscent of what old-time Hawaii used to be (only 1 traffic light, last we heard!)...Oahu, with the city of Honolulu, being more urbane...and the Big Island being the largest and most energetically volatile location in the chain, what with being home to an active volcano & all.
How we chose to cope:
Here at our little version of "community," we instituted smoke/drug/alcohol/drama-FREE guidelines right in our first year. However, no amount of good boundaries and avoidance can really dilute the intensity of the red molten energy that's here, which may be par for the course when you choose to live on an active volcano (!).
And seeing the destructive/creative force & flow of new earth/new possibilities/new realities being born is incredible...
Beautiful to behold, but also it is an energy that's not always particularly easy to live with and be immersed in or around full-time...though that's not something which necessarily affects anyone all that much if they are just here for a few weeks of vacation.
What those of us who've spent significant time in this locale noticed is: whatever qualities, quirks, flaws, emotions, or baggage someone came to this particular island with, over time (and sometimes it did not take very long!) those qualities and emotions tended to intensify.
This meant: if you came here ready to create, your creativity was likely to EXPLODE.
I watched (& personally experienced) whole soundtracks being born in a day...!
Yet as the Founder of Kulana, I & subsequent stewards-in-my-stead also saw the qualities of procrastination, disorganization, insecurity, fear, and ineptness take hold, bringing occasional misery to the reflector of those qualities...and everyone else with whom they needed to interact.
I watched people come to this location intending to bike everywhere around an island where the elevation ranges from sea level to 14,000 feet, when they hadn't even biked around the block back where they lived...and saw them receive a rude awakening around their ability to achieve this goal.
I saw people assume they would be able to quit smoking and drinking alcohol instantaneously, just because they chose to arrange time at a sacred substance-use-free space...and fail to do so.
I read with disbelief hastily scrawled notes from people in whom much time had been invested, as they darted off to what seemed to them a better or easier opportunity...without honoring their commitments...without even saying goodbye.
I watched people with no financial resources arrive in a locale where things likely cost more than where they'd come from, assuming somehow money, food, transportation & whatever else they might need would just magically appear...or that someone else out of the various nice people they'd just met would be willing to pick up their costs.
I consoled those who chose to get on a bus without bothering to look at a bus schedule...which, at that time, offered island-style service infrequently enough that this person wound up having to walk many angry miles back to the sanctuary.
I listened to people whose rich histories of relationships-gone-wrong were immediately followed by a wish to exercise their kundalini prowess and join forces with a next new beloved here in the tropics, where surely (they believed) things would work out differently.
Then again, I also witnessed publishable novels taking shape in a year...
And the putting together of enough new paintings for a longed-for professional gallery show within a concentrated stretch of only six weeks.
And witnessed impossible-seeming problems, healed.
"Yeah!! Kulana Joy Within!! Thank you for your giving heart and your kindness. Kulana was perfect for me at just the perfect time. It's been a time of learning, great creativity, spiritual learning, and healing. I have always wanted to come here and here I am! Kulana will always be in my heart."
Michelle, playwrite, comic, teacher
Want to hear more about our adventures firsthand?
Read: "DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: Expanded 2023 Update"
