Many years ago, a favorite activity was attending creative conferences and music festivals held somewhere in glorious, wild Nature, a selection of which went on for a good week or at least a full weekend long.
Sometimes these involved "work," i.e. being invited to share one's unique gifts with the world there. Other times it was pure R&R vacation solo, with friends, or beloveds.
Besides days and nights spent out under a vast sky dancing or singing along with awesome, often newly-discovered musicians, there were also tented crafts fairs, rustic cabin writerly group readings, and sometimes swimming holes, rivers, or pools nearby to immerse in with friends and friendly strangers alike.
The creative retreats, with their attendance being somewhat smaller, often provided better food ... but the large music festivals -- especially those aimed exclusively for women and young children -- often had outdoor showers and the ability to roam through fields and woods topless (if not bottomless as well).
Where else in the world can women safely be au natural in the great outdoors?
The feelings of freedom this engendered!
The camaraderie ... the peace!
Gosh, now THIS is living! those who participated often thought at the time. The whole world should be like this!!
Cut to years later, when -- after researching quite a number of living-on-the-land opportunities -- Kulana's Founder went on to create her own racially (and otherwise) diverse version of the experience on the Big Island of Hawaii.
(See photo-illustrated book DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: Expanded 2023 Edition if you want to know more about that! Color print version: https://www.lulu.com/shop/cristina-salat/doing-intentional-community-color/paperback/product-qrjv8p.html; e-version: https://books2read.com/u/breABE)
Now there are many ways to "do" Hawaii...
One certainly can immerse in hotels, condos, timeshares, resorts, tourist packages, and the like.
Kulana's goal was different:
Freedom ... camaraderie ... peace ...
Time to do whatever one had actually come to Planet Earth to do, while living amongst and sharing an appreciation for Nature at its unconquered best.
Which is where we learned to live the "kulana" principle towards practicing manifestation of "joy from within," no matter what else happened to be going on in the world.
In fact, eventually here at Kulana, we even custom-created a journal for humanly-spiritually working on this process, in the form of 236 beautiful blank pages accompanied by 13 months of quotes and images taken from our adventures building this magical, mystical, eco-friendly, artistic-spiritual community (... along with honing our more joyous, self-actualized selves!)
https://www.amazon.com/Kulana-Joy-Journal-Practicing-Goddess/dp/1689429836
Description: A color photo-illustrated journal for practicing the art of living joyously via the Hawaiian principle of "kulana" (manifesting happiness from within), with plenty of room for your own daily musings, intentions, drawings, and joyful manifestations.
Months are not pre-labeled, so writing in the Kulana Joy Journal can begin anytime.
Best of all, while this journal we made is supporting you, by purchasing it you are also supporting us ... and as we all know, what is supported is what continues to exist.
So, a lovely win-win. :)
Thank you so much!
https://www.amazon.com/Kulana-Joy-Journal-Practicing-Goddess/dp/1689429836
Join us in spirit,
as the process
of making
your OWN dreams
come true,
unfolds! :)
Whatever you're here on this planet to do is as -- if not more -- important now, than ever.
