Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast

What Aloha? Ep. #1

• Dawn O'Brien • Season 1 • Episode 1

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It's 2025, Hawai'i & our world are changing FAST! The Aloha State is THE destination vacation... We all want Aloha! But is it real or just ads? Aloha is a life force that is more than any Aloha shirt, it's a mindset & overflow of the heart. As world forces crush humanity, what will save us all is ALOHA. Wanna ALOHA? LET'S GO! #AlohaAlwaysWINS  




Speaker 1:

Aloha ʻōhana. It's an honor to be an Aloha Ambassador of Hawaii, but one of the questions I face daily is something we all face daily what aloha? We still lucky, we live Hawaii, blessed we live paradise. But after COVID lockdown, lockdown 2020, Hawaii changed a lot, and not necessarily for the better. More locals moved away and, at the same time, people moving here from the mainland, from Asia, from South America, plus monster homes and resorts and gated communities. All of that was driving up local home prices and land taxes big time. Most of our keiki cannot even dream of owning a home in Hawaii. It's also brought more homeless, more immigrants, more crime and again, more taxes, on top of already having the highest cost of living in the nation and the highest taxes already. What, Ultimately, more of all these things led to? You guessed it less aloha, which is why we face the question what aloha? Where's the aloha? The answer, though, may stun you. I mean, I'm no expert, I'm not a pro and I'm kind of guesstimating, but hear me out. Let me put it to you as a picture.

Speaker 1:

When you think of Hawaii or you host, like a Hawaii party, a luau or a baby first birthday party, you always see a lei, a simple symbol of aloha. A simple symbol of aloha A lei is a strand of flowers strung together to show your love and your aloha for the person that's going to be receiving the gift of the lei. It's a sign of honor. You see, on the birthday boy or girl, or to honor the keynote speaker, or maybe for your grandpa or grandma at their 50th anniversary or graduation celebrations Choke, Lots of lei. Lei is a symbol of love and honor. It's true aloha. Now some may ask why is a lei a symbol of aloha? I mean, it's just flowers. Someone once said it this way how do children spell love With four letters? T-i-m-e time.

Speaker 1:

A lei takes time to find the flowers, to pick and prepare them, to get a string and a needle and sew it together in a creative design and finally to carry your lei to the one who receive it. True confession, though I gotta tell you I used to buy cheap lei in downtown Honolulu. Lots of lei stands and plenty cheap lei, but after lockdown, a lei that used to cost $5 suddenly cost like $20 or $30. Some lei nowadays even cost upwards of $100 for one strand. So I started making my own lei and now, now that I know how much work it takes. I want to charge $5,000 for this beautiful specimen, no joke.

Speaker 1:

But as a symbol of aloha, a lei shows that we care because we spent the time. You know it's becoming rare nowadays and very precious to find local fragrant flowers and to find the lei makers humble people like you and me who take the time to string a homemade, heart-filled lei so rare but can hey, and here's a fun fact that you may not know about our aloha in the lei and taking it one step better. Did you know that when you're stringing a lei, Hawaiian and Polynesian tradition is that when you're making it, you make it with your whole being, your body, your soul and your spirit, Not just with your hands and maybe a little bit of your mind thinking it through. No, your whole spirit, so that whatever spirit you have when making a lei is woven into the lei and felt by the recipient. For example, if you're angry and hurrying, impatient to finish the lei and get it done, then the wearer will feel the pinch of impatience and hurry. However, if you prepare your spirit well, you take a mindful moment to breathe, which is ha in aloha, and be pono, which means righteous, and then make the lei, then the wearer receives the extra aloha in your lei. You don't gotta tie a bow on it to make it lei au lelei pretty, because it's already got that aloha splash. I like to usually take time in the evening when I can slow down, breathe and pray for the person while making the lei Bonus aloha.

Speaker 1:

So back to our question what aloha? Where's the aloha in Hawaii today? Perhaps, though, the better question is why aloha? Here are three perfect answers. Number one we can't always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose our response, and we can always choose aloha. Let me say that again we can't always choose what happens to us, like lockdown or pandemics or taxes. I'm pretty sure that Hawaii did not choose to have the worst traffic in the nation. We can't choose any of that, but we can choose our response, and we can always choose aloha, which leads straight to number two. Why choose aloha? Because alohha always wins. What, yes, Science proves the spirit of Aloha always wins. By the way, more on that in a future episode on neuroscience and a little college you may never have heard of called Harvard University. They've been doing this longest running grant study, and science says what scripture says love never fails, Aloha always wins. It's just those three little words that I actually teach thousands of keiki in schools across Hawaii for the Choose Love, Choose Aloha program. Aloha, and I have the kids make a little heart, Go ahead, you can do it, Aloha. And then a bigger heart always wins, Aloha, always wins. Finally, the last of the three answers to why aloha comes from our kupuna, our elders.

Speaker 1:

In number three, Hawaiian cultural practitioner Antipilahipaki said early in Hawaii statehood about the 1950s. She said, and I quote in the 21st century the whole world will be seeking peace and they will turn to Hawaii, for the key to peace is aloha. Key to peace is aloha. We need aloha direly, more than ever before, each and every one of us, but the whole world too, as it's talking about world war three. So, yes, more aloha and peace, please.

Speaker 1:

Let me finish with the final story, or mo'olelo in hawaiian, from Aloha. My brother, Kaleo Pilanka, a Porigi Hawaiian funny man from Wai'ahole Valley, Recently we were talking about how many locals are moving away, how even our own governor stated that more people of Hawaiian descent are now living outside Hawaii than in their own islands. Ah, weh sad. But Kaleo Okalani his Hawaiian name means the voice of heaven said yup, all moving to Las Vegas, the ninth island we call it that because there's so many locals living there. The ninth because Hawaii has eight islands. I responded and said yes, or the 10th island, Alaska, and Kaleo said or the 11th island, the world.

Speaker 1:

We stopped, stared and were stunned at this revelation. You see, Kiakua, God is making the whole world full of people with the Aloha spirit so that the whole world can be an Aloha state people with the Aloha spirit so that the whole world can be an Aloha state. When we become influencers for Aloha, then we see more Aloha around the world. Then we all win, win, win, win. Aloha always wins. Yeah you and yay Aloha. So the bottom line is this family ohana.

Speaker 1:

Why aloha when Hawaii seems so different and times seem so rough? The good book says it this way Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good and living aloha Easy. That's what this Aloha Alive podcast is all about Sharing a lay of aloha by weaving together many different guests with many different stories in a circle of love that will encircle the world in aloha. We'll do that with lots of special guests like Kelly Boy DeLima and his wife Leolani, sharing mele and mana'o worship and wisdom. Or Mr Aloha Alan Cardenas from Na Na Kuli, where Aloha is transforming the West Side West Side into the Blessed Side. Not only great guests, but we also have special topics like neuroscience and inspiration updates or diva on a dime. All here on Aloha Alive.

Speaker 1:

Alive the don o'brien podcast. A heart of aloha to speak life and live love. That's aloha alive. Thank you, mahalo, for listening all the way to the last of this very first Aloha Alive episode where Aloha always wins. Today we heard that the question is not what Aloha, but why Aloha? Because Aloha always wins. We also learned a little bit about laymaking and having the Aloha spirit as we string together in unity. One people in one aloha as one ohana. Last but not least, please don't forget Kaleo Okalani's prophecy, the voice of heaven prophesying from God that making the world the 11th island by salting the earth with aloha, you and me. Finally, I bid you Aloha oi family Goodbye for now and thank you for listening all the way through. May I ask for a small favor Please subscribe and rate this podcast to share more Aloha all over. It really does help to turn the internet into a net of Aloha and turn a Wi-Fi connection into a heart to heart. Help make our lego worldwide. Until next time, aloha always wins.