Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 12, 1 December 2021 — Tending to our Garden [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tending to our Garden

"Life is Like a Garden...Perfect moments ean be had, but notpreserved, except in our memories." - Leonard Nimoy Welina! Aloha mai kākou! Those of us old enough to remember the popular episodes of Star Trek, will remember the late Leonard Nimoy tweeting these lines before his passing. In the role of his Star Trek character, Mr. Spock, he was also

known for the phrase, "Live long and prosper!" Yes, life is like a garden where we sometimes ean grow perfection, enjoy the smell and taste of our beautiful flowers, fruits and veggies,

but we can't keep them torever except m our photos and memories. Let me share a few variations of this phrase: 1) "Life is like a game ofcards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism. The way you play it isfree will." - Jawaharlal Nehru 2) "Life is NOT like a box of chocolates because a box of chocolates are all good." - Bill Maher 3) "Life is like a sewer. What you get out ofit depends on what you put into it." - Tom Lehrer Yes, life is never that simple, but it is our garden. We bear the consequences of our choices on how we tend to that garden. Our individual choices ean lead to important social outcomes... outcomes that might be more important for our future generations depend on us. A sign I saw last Halloween read like this: "Life is life a box of chocolates... but 2020 s box was nothing except filled with NUTS!" I always go back to the word, "Aloha!" A Result of Reflecting What is the role we eaeh play in cre-

ating a moral society, a society where all love humanity, a society that many of us are fortunate enough to live in? Aloha kekahi i kekahi. "Love one another." Do the people in your life know how mueh aloha you have for them? How about the strangers you bump into on any given day? Do they experience your aloha? What does aloha look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? Who decides what is honorable and nohle and kind?

WE DO! We decide! We decide these things, and the outcomes are the result of ALL of our interactions with eaeh other. Our interactions are neither eontrolled nor determined by any one per-

son. The eall to love one another is no easy task. Ahonui...Patience We all have been faced with the stresses of life or have found ourselves in situations where our patience was tested. Unfortunately, it is often the most ehallenging to be loving and compassionate to others in these moments, especially to those who are closest to us. First and foremost, we want to be LOVED. When people approve of us we are pleased. When they don't approve of us, we are disappointed, we are hurt. This desire to be loved, our desire to seek approval and avoid disapproval, to seek honor and avoid dishonor; this desire is embedded within us by God. Eaeh action we take affects those around us. The effects created by our actions and our approval or disapproval of others creates additional impacts on the world around us. Let us reflect at this time of the season, and carpe diem...seize the day! Ke Akua pū. Mele Kalikimaka to you and your 'ohana! A hui hou till 2022, Trustee Leina'ala ■

Leina'ala Ahu Isa, Ph.D. Vice Chair, Trustee, At-large