the way of the peaceful ocean

This entry is dedicated to my sister Maile... in her own words... "On Wednesday March 19, 2003 the US launched Operation Iraqi Freedom. I watched my TV screen in horror as bombs lit up the night sky in the ancient city of Bagdad. I thought of the thousands of scared children asking their parents what was happening. The US media kept reassuring us that we were fighting terrorism, that these people were responsible for 9/11 and it was a justified attack. I walked up the hill behind my house as I often did for exercise and the panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and rugged cost line. I found a clearing between the coastal sage scrub and sage bushes, sat on the dirt and cried. We relentlessly bombed the city throughout the nights on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Each day I would hike the 45 minutes to the top of my hill and grapple with war and why my country was doing this. On Tuesday, March 25th 200 Iraqi’s were killed by US forces. I felt powerless. Sad. Confused. Unsure of what I could possibly do living in my safe little town in Laguna Beach California. I went to my garden and picked out three rocks. I spray painted them then carefully painted a word on each rock. Family. Hope. War. I let them dry in the sun then put the rocks in my pocket and started up the hill for my daily hike. I found my little clearing overlooking Laguna and set the three rocks down. The first rock, Family symbolized everything for me––my family is my life, my parents and my 7 siblings. The next rock was Hope. Hope for the world, for me, for humanity. Finally, War. It represented Iraq, my belief that the war was wrong, my acknowledgment for the people of Iraq––my apology, my gift, my sorrow for war and the wasted devastation it brings. I visited my three rocks at the top of the hill for the next few months until spring turned to summer and Laguna Beach was busy with tourists. During the next few years I painted several more rocks with topics relevant to me, Love, Forgive, Work, Friendship. I had a rock for each of my 7 siblings, one for my best friend, one for my mom and another for my dad. Whatever I was working on, I would paint a rock and place it in my little spot up on the hill that now held about 20 rocks, Sobriety, Trust, Patience. I bought some paint samples and got creative with colors and patterns. I found some old stakes in the bushes where they had once been planning to develop the land and formed a square around my rocks. I painted the 3 foot stakes and wrote, Please add your faith rock with intention, respect others rocks, honor nature and this is a sacred shrine. As the years went on strangers started adding their own rocks. My sister’s best friend got breast cancer, and someone painted a beautiful rock for her and put it on the shrine. Someone added a rock that read, ‘Simba, our beloved animal.’ I went abroad a few times each year and would always return with a special rock. After carefully painting each one I couldn’t wait to hike up to the shrine, place my new rock, look over the ocean and give my thanks of safe return. The monastery in Greece, a beach in Turkey, a concentration camp in Poland, China, the Philippines. There were rocks from Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Utah. I spent my 40th birthday in the beauty of Zion’s national Park surrounded by my family. I brought home a little red rock and painted my birth date on it. I collected shells and silver coins that were inscribed, families are forever, sisters make the best friends, soldier’s bravery remembered. The shrine grew, my family grew, my parents added 9 grandkids from 2003 until 2010. I found love and lost love, got fired, found new jobs, had my joys and sorrows. Every time I would climb my hill, sit near my shrine and hold a rock. I lost my beautiful auntie on October 13th 2010. I flew to Maine to say my final farewell to her. I went to the seashore where we had spent many fun summers and chose a smooth rock. I lovingly painted it with her name, just the way she wrote it and put it on my shrine. There were serious rocks and funny rocks, people wrote their lovers names, put Buddha statues and rosaries in the little 3X3 foot square shrine on the hill over looking the city. I gave painted rocks to my sisters and friends urging them to get their butts up that steep hill and give thanks for all they have. I saw it pop up on facebook a few times. I laughed at the rocks people would add, Yoga, Balance, Health, all painted in fun colors. I loved my shrine, I had no idea how much I relied on my shrine until this after noon. I have been fighting with my boyfriend and knew I needed a shrine walk. I spent 50 minutes running through the trails deciding which rock I needed to hold, it was between the Hot Dog Healing Rock, Forgiveness or my Honor Thy Self rock until I finally got up to my old spot and shockingly discovered that my shrine had been taken away by someone. Today on this hot, summer afternoon I crumpled to my knees where my beloved shrine had been for the past 9 years and five months and wept for my loss. I remembered the friends who had passed that were honored on the shrine, all my rocks that represented my goals, dreams, hopes and fears had been taken away. One of my favorite rocks, painted a light blue with a yellow starfish read, Start Again. Whenever I was disappointed with myself for something I messed up with in my life, my best friend, Jen would say to me, just start over, right now. And I guess that’s what I’ll do. Start Again." Photos of the past... to a ten year long tradition

My beautiful cousin blogged about Maile's shrine in nature and this was taken from "a quiet spot. while on our trip to southern california, we spent one evening hiking in the hills up behind laguna beach. our cousin has a quiet spot up there, and we wanted to see it — the great thing about being a guest, is that you get to discover the beauty of other places and fall in love with the culture and people who live there. laguna beach is a sun-kissed town filled with people who glamorously accessorize the sandy beaches. the hills are a quiet refuge with beautiful views of what lies below. one particular hill has a special spot on top – a shrine honoring nature, filled with painted rocks, and other little souvenirs from life. our cousin created this place about ten years ago, soon after 9/11. she has been adding to it ever since. cool, right? there are rocks she has painted from all over the world, all representing different moments from her life. different challenges. different goals, etc. her family, friends, and acquaintances have added rocks too. strangers who hike to this spot have added their own offerings to this place. when our cousin isn’t traveling the world, she will hike/run to this spot on a regular basis and is able to observe the new offerings/mementos of life that people bring up there. the only rule – she doesn’t allow any religious items or money on the shrine. once, soon after the shrine was started it was vandalized. she had to gather all the rocks where they had been scattered, and then created a little border/fence to keep them in. she then wrote a kind request for everyone to respect the offerings. it’s worked so far. it makes me wonder what people think when they stumble upon this spot out in nature without having any idea it’s there. if they just pass by without a care, or if their curiosity stops them to spend some time checking it out… myla and i loved it. this special spot inspired myla to find some flat beach rocks during our trip. we brought them home and are going to paint them. we will either take them back to laguna beach one day and they will be added to this shrine, or we are going to create our own special place here in boston that would be our shrine, within walking distance. it’s a little bit harder to figure out a place like this in an urban setting, sans big hills, but we’re trying to come up with something good! do you have a place like this? somewhere to retreat when you need to step outside of the wordily chaos for a bit. if you were to paint a rock – what would it be? what would you honor, or represent, or decide to acknowledge in your life? i relate to so many that are already in the pictures above – start again, balance, yoga, patience. there are hidden, quiet spots all-over the world, and the challenge lies in finding them. i hope we all get a little time this summer to do so. xo."