This philosophy is in the end about residing a lifetime of steadiness. As people, we are likely to sway forwards and backwards on the pendulum of life, and pono is about making strikes to course-correct when issues sway to the darkish facet an excessive amount of. It’s each an consciousness of how issues are stepping into your life, and an intention to handle issues earlier than they snowball into a bigger problem. In that means, pono is definitely a verb, one which’s all about performing and reacting to particular conditions every day so to in the end keep as grounded and even-keeled as doable. As Uncle Clifford Nae‘ole, a Maui-based cultural practitioner we interviewed and featured within the guide, explains: “The advantage of pono is to observe every single day, particularly when issues are going south.”
After all, it may be tough to inform when, precisely, it’s good to act. However Hawaiians imagine that deep down, you at all times know, since you’ll really feel it; the indicators will likely be there if you happen to let your self hear them. “We imagine that if you’re pono ‘ole—if you’re with out pono—it throws you so off steadiness that issues can go awry internally, bodily, and mentally,” Uncle Clifford continues. “Chances are you’ll really feel like there’s something rising inside you, rising larger every single day, and it could burst.”
A part of residing a pono life, then, is figuring out that it’s your duty as a member of your loved ones and society at massive to handle these points after they do come up. It’s not pono to let issues slip underneath the rug when you recognize, deep down, that there’s a difficulty that may resurface at a later level.
