Navigating Life

Are we just wimps? This idea to “stick it out” went through my mind over and over, but there’s a difference between positive change happening from working at the edge of your comfort zone, and simply enduring a bunch of BS (pardon my french).   I mean, work is work. It’s farm work too. I was not expecting to wear a bikini and pick dragon fruits all day while getting a tan, but when you’ve weed whacked every day for two weeks, in the most unforgiving sun (Lahaina actually means: the land of unforgiving sun), you start to question the Host (owner of the farm) and their intentions for you and the other wwoofers. I want to expose some truths about this farm, and also shed light on some of the wonderful things we got to see and do. I’ll start with a ‘day in the life’ on the farm, and hopefully get across to you some fun facts and photos.   But first, let me quickly reiterate (at least on this blog) how thankful we are for freedom to travel and have money to experie...

“This is horrible! We NEED to get the heck off of this farm!”   [next day]  “Wow, actually, this place is fine and we’re making cool friends! We’d be stupid to leave now…let’s just stick it out.” ↑ Our thought process for the last few weeks has been a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. My good days on the farm were Aaron’s bad days, and Aaron’s good days were my crying emo-filled days.   Working and living on the Maui Dragon Fruit Farm was an experience that we’ll never forget- we have endless funny stories, thoughts of centipedes will never be the same, and any time I hear the word “manifesting,” I’ll think of the poor frog that was squashed like a pancake on the farm driveway…. “Well, he clearly had manifested what he wanted in life.”  -fellow wwoofer I’ll start from the beginning, but first a little back story:  Our farm is a member of WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms): “a unique educational organic farming and cultural ex...

“ There is very little difference between burying and planting. For often, we need to put dead things to rest, so that new life can grow . And further, the thing put to rest—whether it be a loved one, a dream, or a false way of seeing—becomes the fertilizer for the life about to form. As the well-used thing joins with the earth, the old love fertilizes the new ; the broken dream fertilizes the dream yet conceived; the painful way of being that strapped us to the world fertilizes the freer inner stance about to unfold . ”  -Mark Nepo   When I stepped off the plane, I inhaled the best air of my life- plumeria, gardenia, and that sweet earthy smell of palm leaves. My heart was beating out of my chest. I was so excited and happy to be in Maui.   We flew into Kapalua Airport- the best. It’s small, tropical and tiki. Warm island breeze, brilliant floral scents and leis everywhere.   Ah, we finally made it.   The first few nights we s...