Welcome to Practicing Pono
A practice toward something new.
Pono is the life, that wonderful life, you were meant to live.
—Ka’ala Souza, Pono: A Hawaiian-Style Approach to Balance and Well-being
At the end of 2020, I met a word—pono—that's lingered with me since. The word has done more than linger, though. It's danced within my mind and extended a hand of invitation. It's been a North Star of sorts—a healing balm as I've sought to reconstruct my life following its demolition.
Pono is a powerful concept deeply woven and embedded in Hawaiian culture. Used as a guiding principle, living with pono means living in balance, alignment, and harmony with all things in life—with ourselves, others, God, and the world. As a non-Hawaiian, I don't pretend to fully comprehend the depth of this culturally rich principle. Yet, the picture it paints is shared by other words across various cultures: Tao (Chinese), Dharma (Sanskrit), Shalom (Hebrew), Eudaimonia (Greek), Hozho (Navajo). These words, like pono, reflect deep cultural values and philosophies aimed at achieving a balanced, righteous, and harmonious life.
While pono is an admirable and worthy goal, certain aspects of it can feel challenging or seemingly unattainable:
Balance: Achieving a perfect balance in life can be difficult due to the constant changes and demands of daily living. Is balance even a real thing?
Harmony with Self and Others: Maintaining harmony within oneself and with others can be complex, especially when faced with conflicting desires, misunderstandings, and interpersonal conflicts. Conflicts like navigating through betrayal, trauma, ruptures, and physical ailments.
Holistic Well-being: Achieving comprehensive well-being that encompasses physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health is a lifelong endeavor that often requires ongoing effort and adaptation. We are constantly evolving, aging, shifting, and changing.
Yet, as I continue to learn (and unlearn) more about my middle-aged self, I am discovering that this word offers us a valuable path in our unique journeys. The pursuit itself fosters growth, resilience, and a deeper connection to ourselves, others, God, and the world. But fully attaining it in the complete sense of the word? I'm not sure if that's possible.
That's why, for me, "practice" must be paired with a concept like pono. It's all a practice.
I'm currently reading
’s beautiful book The Way of the Fearless Writer. A few chapters in, she discusses the value of viewing writing as a practice. I extend this thought to include all of life, including living pono. She writes:"In many Eastern traditions, the point of practice is not actually to achieve something specific, or even to become more skilled at something. That is often the result, but it is not the point. The point is to become more awake to the experience. To notice what is happening. To listen to the world unfold."
So, as I:
practice writing on this site and learn how to share with more ease,
practice becoming more attuned to what is happening within me as I heal,
practice waking up to the people, experiences, and environments around me, and
practice inviting you into this space of practicing pono,
I hope you'll travel alongside me.
My earnest hope is that you will see aspects of yourself and your experience in the stories and words I share, and that you will join by sharing parts and experiences that are yours, too. The more we share the truth of our lives with one another, the more we come alive to the hidden parts of ourselves that have been tucked away, dulled down, or snuffed out.
I’m inviting you to share this space with me, to introduce yourself and name one thing that is true for you. For we are better together.
Thank you for being here with me, practicing.
-Rachel
I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.
—Joan Didion