Going forward, I’m hearing the call: we are living in the decisive decade for the planet and humanity. The paradigm is shifting. It’s time to step up to Mālama Honua (care for Island Earth)... starting with me... and from within me... The Pure Aloha Dreamalizer.

The foundation of this year is (em)bracing my biggest identity shift of being a father. As Katie nurtures our exponentially growing first child. Arriving: this summer! I’ll be spending 50% of my time this year on “Wisdom Sabbatical”. A key shift I’m seeking to make is finding the essential and learning how to “sabbaticalize”. Last year, I spent a majority of my time in divergence; this year I will spend a majority of my time in convergence—moving forward on what I already know matters. I will continue to focus on dreamalization primarily and healing secondarily, with an emphasis on the actualizing part.

Hearing the clear and unexpected call for “healing” during The Annual Review Workshop last January. Heeding the call ultimately shaped and supercharged the entire year in magnificent and subtle ways. With my year’s theme of “Heal Thyself, Heal the World”, I discovered the profundity of those five words of wisdom, and more broadly the true power I have to write my story.

The first was to family. Helping my family move from our home of 20+ year was a giant project. From January to November, I probably averaged a full day a week supporting the move. It pushed me to dig deep into being of service to my mom, dad, brother, and sister. More than the mounds of physical stuff, the emotional baggage that required decluttering was even greater. As each person processed through it all, old hurts led to descents into meltdown moments. I leaned on the Serenity Prayer to do what I could and to let go of the rest as family conflicts triggered old habits. In the end, I learned the power and value of embodying my Wise Self, starting with family.

The other was to myself. Allowing myself to heed the call for healing was a bold act that deepened self-love. I took the time to slow down, to really listen to my internal needs, and to be ever so kind and gentle on myself as I encountered inner shadows that interplayed with external challenges. I fought the impulse to push against tension and struggle, slowing down in a world that seems to only keep speeding up.

2021 was the most spiritually awakening year yet. The main through-lines: healing and nature. Two other words come to mind: transformative and mystical.

In a flywheel initiated by spiritual awakening, cascades of blessings have manifested in the form of new capacities for being and doing. Newfound clarity on life purpose and vision with new seeds planted in more fertile soils: The Pure Aloha Dreamalizer. As predicted, the fulfillment of my primary theme of “Heal Thyself, Heal the World” fed into my secondary theme of “Effortless Exponential Dreamalization”.

A six month journey of learning to “Own My Magic” culminated in a retreat to the sacred slopes of Mount Shasta, ultimately leading to the most mystical and transformative experiences of my life. My intention I set for the retreat “to see more than my eyes could see” was fulfilled. It’s been a blessing to see how beautiful all is.

On my birthday this year while in one of my favorite most spiritually enriching places in the world (Big Island), I discovered that I share the same birthday with Gautama Buddha. It also happened to be my 33rd birthday, which I’ve come to now know some Christians call “The Jesus Year”.

I am the Wise Self. I am Buddha Nature. I am Christ Consciousness... And so are YOU.

Paradoxically, the most challenging and most easeful may be the same thing: being in the world.

As I reached deeper levels of healing, it became easy to be in the world. With less inner turmoil and more equanimity, observing, relating, interacting with the world—in all its simplicity and complexity, beauty and ugliness—became so wonderfully easy at times. I could fully accept and trust things as they are, or I could consciously manifest new visions starting from my very thoughts.

Conversely, there were times when it was extremely challenging to be the world. This was especially apparent after my peak transformation experiences when returning back to “life as usual”. I struggled to even understand what and why of my challenges. I felt the pangs of fear of being an imposter of false awakening.

I stumbled upon the idea of “Zen sickness”. I got what I asked for in seeing anew, but these new lenses created a subtle uneasiness during a queasy adjustment phase. I see-sawed between old and new realities. Thankfully with the care of others, especially Chloe and Katie, and most importantly myself, I embraced the struggle as a normal part of the transformation process, and in so doing I gained new permanent footholds in my ascension. It became easier to keep seeing with my new eyes with my old eyes wide open.

Comparing this to last year’s review in which I answered this question with “being in fear mode” and “finding the right balance of self-love and helping others”, I observe some recurrence of a continued underlying challenge: stretching the boundaries of self without losing myself.

Through it all, I’m learning that we live in a traumatized and traumatizing world which is scary and painful, return to the Wise Self that brings boundless healing.

👥 Katie: I’m so lucky to have a life partner to love and be loved by. Another year of learning, awakening, serving, laughing, and crying through the mystical and mundane and everything in between.

👥 Chloe: who coached and deeply cared for me to embody my Wise Self, heal, and own my magic.

👥 All-Star Honorable Mentions:

😔 Keeping open-loops open longer than necessary: this created a subtle drag and stress that sometimes affected my ability to be consistently fully present. These open-loops could be small (i.e. one-time tasks) or large (i.e incomplete projects).

😔 Staying in better physical shape. My mental, emotional, and spiritual health were at all-time highs, but my physical health was below average. Not a major disappoint, as it was not a priority, but I was comparatively much less active without any specific fitness goals. Fitness time was mostly an after thought.

😔 Eating information junk food. I wasted more time and attention than I wanted on low-quality addictive media. This is an on-going disappointment and the key culprit is YouTube. The algorithm overpowered my caveman brain more than I care to admit. An average of 20 minutes/day or 121 hours (15 8-hour days) I can never get back.

🌅 Heal Thyself, Heal the World.

My main theme of 2021. I learned the truth and power of these five words through a variety of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual experiences.

Going back to an answer to a previous question: why is it so challenging to be in the world? Is my desire to serve others truly out of selflessness? Or is my “service” a fear-based response to relieve some level of dis-ease in myself? The way forward: continuing to heal so I can allow my Buddha-nature/Wise Self to be, a state of being-ness that is resourced by a bottomless well of equanimity. In a workshop with Sarah Peyton, I learned about dissolving contracts that block joy and love, like the “false boddhisatva” vow: an internal contract that can happen around nine years old because of how our brain develops. At this age, the brain learns there's a lot of trouble in the world beyond what it can fix, so it decides to do its best even at the cost of one's own joy. The problem and why it is a "false" vow is because if one were truly interested in helping a troubled world, one would start with ensuring there is no trouble within. The true boddhisatva vow is one to awaken to the joy and light within, then with compassion bring that into the darkness of the world. I will continue to seek to move more courageously through a traumatized world unafraid to embrace the suffering and pain as it is. Remembering the way forward is through the hallway of inner healing which leads to collective healing, down the pathway of inner peace which leads to world peace.

🌅 How to speak the language of nature.

Growing up in Hawai’i hiking mountains and swimming in the ocean, I always thought I was pretty well connected with nature. This year, I discovered my relationship with nature could go much deeper as a modern urbanite. Barefoot and amongst the pines of Wa’ahila, meditating to rising suns at ocean’s edge, I spent countless hours in quiet communion with the natural living world. Peering into the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone where time slowed to a standstill, I subtly submerged into geologic time and connected in convergence of past, present, and future with ancestors of past and descendants of future sitting with me. A once invisible world became more visible. I conversed with the sun, wind, plants, butterflies, honu, and rainbows. Slowly, I acquired new vocabulary to understand and use the language of nature, which is the language of the universe and life.

🌅 We are living in the “decisive decade” for the planet and humanity. It’s time to step up to Mālama Honua (care for Island Earth)... starting with me... and from within me.

As I grew my connection with nature that nurtured, inspired, and taught me, my compassion for Mother Earth expanded. Climate change took new levels of meaning for me. No longer an intellectual exercise I could conveniently ignore, but now a persistent embodied knowing. I felt it all: oscillations between inspired highs for the movement towards the regeneration of a Conscious Planet to writhing lows with gut-wrenching pain of on-going degeneration beyond control. After receiving amazing gifts atop Mount Shasta, my group was ushered out as one of the last people to stay by fast approach smoke from the Lava Fire. I took in the proceedings of COP26, then went into the woods to ground and seek guidance.

During a meditation group, my partner asked me: “What do you fear?” The answer came immediately, viscerally. Now a father, my fear is that my child will inherit a world of even greater collective and accelerating suffering—primarily driven by irreversible ecological collapse. Will her or she live on a scorched Earth marred in vast inequality and divisiveness echoing with the inescapable cries of hopeless hearts>

My commitment forward is to seek to transform my fear by taking love-driven action that creates a more sustainable world for my child and all children to come. I choose to believe it’s not too late and want to stand with those who believe the same. The questions I ask are: what will the planet look like in 2032 when my child turns 10? And what will I have done or not done that created such a planet?

Here was an insight I found in meditation on 11/11: "It is the fool who seeks to enlighten the world when he/she holds but a wavering light of a whimpering candle. Be a raging bonfire of love. Well up within tsunami waves of wisdom. Walk the path in such a way that your every step brings forth beautiful blossoms of joy.”

🌅 I seek truth. It lives in Christianity and the cross I received, as it does in many other traditions carrying truth.

On this 33rd “Jesus Year” around the sun, I had a profoundly mystical experience that cracked my heart open to continue seeking the truth in Christian faith with the same ardor I’ve put into other traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism.

In that experience, I also received the cross that found me. With discernment, I reject the falsehoods perpetrated by humans that defile the truth. The cross has become such a subjective symbol convoluted by nearly infinite meanings depending on who you’re talking with. It’s the same symbol carried by Mother Teresa and members of the KKK. It’s for this reason why you likely won’t see me wearing the cross I received. Yet, it is with me, always.

🌅 Transformation ain’t easy, but it’s worth it, and only possible with others.

Taking the red pill means signing up for a dizzying and disorienting journey down the rabbit hole. Trading temporary pleasures for new pains while letting go of comfortable old paradigms in order to experience new ones, it can be a scary ride and a questionable gamble. For me, I’m so glad I’ve taken it.

I’ve learned how to let go more. This make sense if reality is interconnected, so it must be that any transformation happens within the web of relations of life. This is actually the wisdom of transformation: only by letting go to the experience of being transformed can we truly transform. “Oh God, Oh Universe, help me to become what I shall become.”

On a more practical note: transformation is enabled through community. So much of my transformation happened thanks to the community that held, challenged, and encouraged me through the process. Yes, I needed to take the first step and many steps on my own, but community helped me carry on faster and further.

An “aha” moment this question reminds me of happened in July during the family move. As I was rummaging through my old papers and books, I came across my high school year books. Flipping to my senior profile (a most special one because you got a full quarter-page to add extra personal photos and writing), I ended with a quote:

This story has run its course. I’m grateful for it because it pushed me to pursue goals that I otherwise would certainly have never started and pushed through when the going got really tough. I’m proud of the battle scars I have that remind me of my ability to persevere through extreme challenges.

However, now seventeen years later, I realize the story is obsolete. It’s run its course. It’s time to move on from this level of black and white thinking maxim with the word “never” in it. I’m wiser now with the discernment to see it’s ok to quit, it’s fine to be a quitter, and sometimes it’s the way to winning. My new maxim to live by instead:

The four things I’m most committed to are: 1) doing less, 2) sabbaticalizing, 3) converging more, and 4) working my life goals systems map. Collectively, these improvements will help me to further let go of the stories of “more is always better” and “there’s not enough time”. It will also help me to improve my integrity by more consistently upholding my word as I “undercommit and overdeliver”. Much easier said than done, to do less is truly a “noble art”:

❓ How can I most effectively complete the biggest identity shift of my life of being a “father”?

❓ How can I be a Wise Father and a Wise Husband for my family? What does it look like to consistently show up—synchronously and asynchronously—as such?

❓ Am I attuned to where the waves and winds of life are flowing and blowing? How do I open myself to ride the energy and power of grace?

❓ What are my fears and will I allow myself to be with them courageously?

❓ What “false Bodhisattva vows” might I have that I can release to unlock greater joy and love?

❓ What constraints must I install to un-constrain my limitless potential?

❓ How and how much of my journey shall I share with others?

❓ How can I build more leverage into my personal and business systems?

❓ How do I empower others and bring out their greatest potential?

❓ How will I more consistently immerse with God/Divine and embody the Oneness I've witnessed?

❓ What is the ALOHA response?

👂 Let go to the paradox that you are. You are a turtle dragon pursuing the path of contented ambition, slowly and gentle at times and quickly and bold at other times. Transform at will.

👂 Your child coming into the world will be a glass shattering moment, a threshold crossed where nothing will ever be the same. Seize the last chance opportunities you have before it happens. Embrace the first chance opportunities that will arrive after it.

👂 Play more. You are a Wise Educated Adult Child so keep learning, creating, designing, laughing, dancing, making music.

👂 If all else fails, remember kindness. Just be kind to yourself and others.

Last year, I answered: “Being a Multipotential Dreamalizer Living Pure Aloha”. This year, I can answer the same with a slight tweak: “Be(coming) a Pure Aloha Dreamalizer”.

As I’ve explored this idea deeply in 2021, I’m able to cut further into the essence. In this simplifying, I’ve removed “multipotential” as a separate concept, instead embedding it into “Pure Aloha Dreamalizer”. In other words, being a Pure Aloha Dreamalizer means actualizing one’s multipotentialism.

Furthermore, my new identity of “healer” now exists as integral to and within be(coming) a Pure Aloha Dreamalizer. This new identity and dimension of who I am certainly brings me even greater joy than before. It adds a wholeness to my previous string of identities of learner-creator-designer-entrepreneur.

By moving from “thinking about being it” to “being it”. Moving from theory to practice.

In 2022 then, it is about taking action with conscious alignment to making 100% of my life an embodiment of being a Pure Aloha Dreamalizer.

It will also be supportive to take this growing inner knowing and identification and share it outwardly. Specifically, this is about continuing to move forward with concretely establishing my personal brand and monopoly as the Pure Aloha Dreamalizer and building the “PAD”.

A quick brainstorm:

The theme here seems to be all tied to my “creator” identity. I’m open to developing whichever one aligns most with the goals/projects I’ll commit to

💞 First Child

💞 Katie

💞 Dad

💞 Earth

💞 Future Generations

I discovered the root meaning of parent: “to bring forth”. Parenting is the act of “bringing forth”. The same exact words I wrote above!

So taking “Converging Wisdom” one step further by putting into the most significant part of this year—fatherhood and Katie and I becoming a family—the phrase that would best exemplify 2022 is:

It is through Fatherhood that I will bring forth wisdom. I will seek to understand and apply truth—in knowing who I am and how to live—as I nurture and love my child that I bring forth with Katie—so that it may benefit the wider circles of all people (One World ‘Ohana) and our shared planet (Honua/Earth).

I add ‘Ohana in addition to Fatherhood because I desire the convergence of wisdom to extend beyond myself, son/daughter, and Katie. Convergence of wisdom will also come through and with Sonhood with my parents. Furthermore, ‘Ohana is about the wide circle of all humanity as “One World ‘Ohana”. I seek the converging of wisdom extending into the wider circle of past, present, and future generations.

Taking insight from David Perell’s 2021 Annual Review: How can I put more focus on already existing partially completed projects? To use a football analogy: what projects are already in the “red zone” (80%+ done) and just need the final push to put major points on the board as they reach the glorious end zone?

After reviewing my Life Systems Goals Map, I realize that these “goals” are more like “intentions”. A general directional star to navigate towards but not an exact target with a clear deadline and specified deliverable. These intentions can benefit from completing well-aligned projects with clearly defined deadlines and outcomes. These projects are like milestones. Making progress and completing them will fulfill the intention and move me closer to that directional star. I visualize these projects on the backside of cards.

PRIMARY: “Exponential Effortless DreamALIZATION” (2022) ”Heal Thyself, Heal the World” (2021)

SECONDARY: “Heal Thyself, Heal the World” (2022) ”Exponential Effortless Dreamalization (2021)

So, here we go.... What would I like to be my biggest win? What would make this year my best year ever?

...

It’s apparent. It’s the “A” that I wrote immediately and first on the long list of wins: Growing in Wisdom as a Father and Husband.

From this perspective, I will have grown in wisdom as a Father and Husband by including my child and wife in the way I live. In deeper intimacy with life as a process, I will have made the life of my child and wife more integral to who, what, and how I am. So what would make this year the best year ever?

Just after writing above, I caught the news of the venerable Thich Nhat Hahn’s physical passing. I read this article, and this quote in particular deeply resonates to the above thoughts: