shauna l. k. kahiapo

I’ve always felt like an old soul who was born in the wrong century.

My heart yearns for a time past that I heard echoes of in my Tutu Annie’s stories growing up in her hale in Ka‘u.

Is there is a word for the type of longing you have for things and places that no longer are?

Because that’s what I have.

I want to sew lei and mu’u.
Grow healthy mea ‘ai for my ‘ohana.
Sing old mele that haven’t been sung for decades.
Learn at the feet of kūpuna.
Honor our beloved ali’i.

But maybe I wasn’t born in the wrong era, but I exist here and now to keep the old ways alive.

Hopefully I am not the only one.

Because the more of us who want to keep doing things in the real old style, the better chance they have of surviving.

🤍shauna