I arrived at Aloha Aina in May 2017, and it was the feeling of coming home. I had planned to stay a month, however my life completely changed as the community engulfed me with its beauty and new culture work. The lifestyle and the practices of ‘truth, trust and transparency” demonstrated in its most radical form, mesmerized me, and these standards have now become a part of my basic value set.
I often describe Aloha as a healing sanctuary where people are allowed to go back to their roots and take off their masks of social conditioning, and finally come home to themselves. Here we are collectively learning and experimenting. We hold each other in vulnerability, and what it means to be human and a part of the earth.
My personal journey in the community has been an amazing roller coaster. With the support and strength of everyone around me, I walked myself through the recovery of an eating disorder that had affected me the better part of my adolescent and adult life. Something that trained clinics struggled to hold for years. I never imagined I could have achieved such a holistic healing. A treatment that empowered me because I was in control.
More than just harmonizing my relationship with my body and food, I am a totally different person. Grounded, centered, and in love with life and myself. I found my voice and strength as a human and I believe that this was achieved because of Aloha Aina. It was because of things like connecting to the earth and our food through gardening, being surrounded and loved by people in any state, and even admired in my process, I was able to bring light into the dark parts I struggled to look at. Because of this healing place, I was able to go through one of the toughest experiences of my life.
At Aloha everything is growing. Like the gardens that we nurture, the people are expanding and blossoming into the truest version of themselves. The connections between us is beyond roommate and even friends. Aloha is family. Living together, eating together, and shared community practice almost 24 hours a day 7 days a week is not easy, but it is totally worth it. The amount of trust and unconditional support we have created is a new cultural standard. I hope that we can inspire others how they can coexist and relate.
Tribe and unity are really lacking on this planet, but ultimately very important for humans. It is part of our nature. Aloha is embodying these values and has created a biome for this to be practiced.
Living and creating with this farm and community has saved me, changed me and filled my heart in a way I never imagined I would feel. I have been called up into a higher version of myself as I continue to grow. I walk alongside others on their path, that I consider my family. Together we are loving ourselves, each other and the earth.
Sometimes I say that I did not find Aloha, Aloha found me.
