But anyway, we just got back from the "Big Island", Hawaii. We had not visited there for 27 years -- I recall Son-One was 3 yrs old and held my hand the entire time. Literally. And thanks be to the gods, I remember even at the time telling myself that in spite of how clung to I felt, to cherish that time since it wouldn't be long before he would shun my outstretched hand. I was right. Son-Two was 18 months old and hated every minute of the trip, fussy and out of sorts most of the time. Now he loves to jet off to new places. I wonder now why parents even want to travel that far with little tiny children -- but we saw plenty of them doing it, as we did so long ago.
This time it was just the two of us and the impetus was to attend the World Elder Gathering of the Mankind Project, in which Hub has been actively involved for nearly 20 years. Yep, from parents of wee ones to "elders". We've come a long way. The gathering of about 150 elder men and women (over 50 years old) was held at Kalani Resort, in the Puna District south of Hilo -- the jungly wet side of the island. We lucked out and had perfectly sunny skies nearly the whole time (one night of rain, while we slept). Kalani is beautiful. Here, cruise through the website: https://kalani.com Our accommodation was the largest of the Treehouse rooms and it was heavenly to sleep in a room largely enclosed by only screens, letting in the welcome breezes (when there were some...it was very hot and humid! We were grateful for the fans!) as well as the sounds of nature, including the invasive Coqui tree frogs that set to "singing" at dusk and well into the night.
The schedule was jam-packed with programming for men and women separately and men and women together. One co-ed presentation that most motivated me was by a physician who spoke about nutrition and advocated a mostly vegan diet both for health and the planet. His claim was that most modern ailments are diet-related and I saw his points. Hub thought he was a bit on the extreme side, but we both noted places where we could be more conscientious consumers of food and resources. Kalani itself it devoted to sustainability and healthy cuisine, so we got a good start at the retreat. Today I'm getting a new crock-pot.
At one of the women's sessions we created a croning ritual that was joyful and moving. I know the word "crone" has taken on a seriously negative connotation, but it is actually a term of respect and recognition of a woman in her wisdom years and I can embrace that. The ritual was for each woman to enter the circle, wearing a length of fabric as a belt, and state an answer to the questions: 1. What have you learned? 2. What are you now learning? 3. What will you teach? It was profound to hear the answers. Then, as she stood alone, five women at a time approached her with a 3 foot length of ribbon upon which was written a characteristic that had served them in their lives and with which each wanted to bless the new crone, i.e., love, compassion, strength, humor, courage, etc. Each woman tied her ribbon to the belt and said "I bless you with...courage (or whatever her word). At the end of the ritual the crone stood alone in the circle wearing her new crone skirt flowing with 20 colorful ribbons writ with words of affirmation and received the blessing of the group. It was quite beautiful and for some extremely emotional.
One afternoon there were breakout sessions for women on various topics. I chose Yoni Steaming. Of course. Because how could one pass up an opportunity to experience that???
At least, that's the view from here...
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| Most were from the US, some from U.K., a lot from Australia. |
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| The Gathering in the main building. |
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| Sitting area in our "treehouse" (Second story walk-up on a hill really felt like a treehouse!) |
