Healing Off a Cliff

Most people come to Hawai'i on vacation, I came here to erupt. As the lava goddess, Pele, so beautifully demonstrates at Kīlauea volcano, healing often requires us to crack open, purge and build anew. Somewhere along that journey, we find our way home to the truth, to our real selves. At my breaking point, I found myself on the edge of a cliff. Having spent the first half of this life yearning to jump off, I've now made a home of one - the cliffs became the home to my own homecoming and I will forever be grateful. Where ocean meets land (ʻāina), I remembered who I am. Nature brings us back to ourselves by reminding us that we are one and same. May these poems and essays inspire others to retrace their steps back to the source of everything. With love, light and aloha, Maddie