The Bizarre Life and Times of Tara

Well here I go, yet again, embarking on another very interesting day filled with trials and tribulations. I have now embarked upon another interesting although “not very” journey down what lane I absolutely never want to go down and it is called pain in the outrageous. I don’t like to talk about pain very much, but in fact it seems like that’s a lot of what’s happening in my life at this point. You might remember that I had a serious bout with pain in which I gave myself a serious black eye, about a month ago. Can you believe it? I have just begun to deal with a ripped tendon in my leg, or is that in my calf, I’m not sure which one. Either way it goes, I am dealing with something that I fear never having to do again and yet here it is. It’s landed on me to be in a place where I’m in pain that I have been dreading to have happened to me. And yet here we go again. So it is that I am trying to deal with something I thought I was done with hopefully forever. So it is that I am trying to find the best humor I can muster up because that’s what I do best, is gather up the energy to start again, brush myself off and set on my path to hopefully a greater future.

As for how this has happened, it is as simple as going to the swimming pool, which is one of my loves to do. All of the sudden I just lost my footing, slid down and my leg buckled, I went down on my knee, as I went down on my knee, I went down into a slide backwards, so that my tendons were more than stretched. In fact, when I go to the doctor tomorrow, I hope to learn more of what I have done. Is it broken? You know when you have a tendon that snaps, or something horrific, similar to that? Exactly what I don’t know at this time. What I do know is that I am on another journey, which I find kind of crazy, considering the fact that I am so careful with myself to not do anything that would cause me to fall. That’s just the kind of person that I am, is that I like to be careful, and it seems that being careful is not something I have figured out how to be just yet. If I want to have a fun life, I want to play the game as it should be, by having fun. And fun is what I am all about… Or so I thought. Hahaha. In any case, I just thought I would write a little diddy about the continuation of the craziness of my life that the reasoning of which is hard to explain. I think that when my mother hears about this, she will probably just go, “Oh my gosh, Tara, what have you done THIS time?”

I prayed to God that this would never happen again, yet here it is. I just have to laugh at my circumstances.

Stay tuned for my next blog, in which I will explain my latest bout with the crazy events in Tara’s life. I should write a book about it. In fact, that’s what this is becoming, is a mini-blog/book, or so it seems. Aloha for now. –Tara J

The Importance of Friendship

What does friendship mean to you? I had quite the opportunity to learn about the meaning of friendship just this afternoon. My trustworthy friend did not show up when I expected her to. I was really frightened. So much so that I wept and felt tremendously alone, a feeling I do not like to experience - ever. This gave me an opportunity to examine myself.

It stands to reason that trust is a really important part of friendship, as we obviously need to trust the people we are embarking on this journey of life with - at least on some level or another. It was a beautiful afternoon on Maui, my beloved home, when I had this experience of feeling like I had no control, of being stuck and totally alone, with only my music and prayer to keep me company.

I suppose that the most important realization I learned is that God is always there so we need not fear being alone.

Another realization I came upon was how lovely it is to have good friends, hopefully in abundance, so I don't have to feel alone, because solitude is not something that I thrive on. In fact, I prefer to have the company of my lovely friends, of which I am blessed to have many. However, when they're not around I feel disconnected and a little lonely.

So how do I solve the problem? I need to feel confident that, no matter what happens, I will always be "covered" by God's love for me, no matter how grim I feel about the circumstances I am experiencing.

I think what I'm really trying not to say is that I, too, have fears that make me very human. I need to always remember that through God's love I am strong and always protected. I can find laughter and great joy if I will just turn around and look so that I will see that it's been there for me all along.

In essence, "Don't worry, be happy."

Lyrics Reflect the Signs of our Times

What I would love to speak about today is the magical correlation between music and the signs of our times. I believe that music is essentially another form of writing about such interesting subjects as love, war, the environment, personal relationships, politics, family upsets, and such.

For instance, the vibrant lyrics that came from Billy Joel in his epic tale about "We Didn't Start the Fire" reflected the times that many of us grew up in. Many thanks to Billy Joel for such a brilliant portrayal of life in the 20th Century. In my opinion, Billy never sounded wiser or more "hip" to what was going on in our life and times.

Let's also remember Joni Mitchell, Sonny & Cher, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bob Marley and many countless others of their genre who are to be saluted for the contributions that they made.

Memories of the Sweet Scent of the Plumeria Tree

Can you recall a scent that triggered one of your favorite memories? Mine was, undoubtedly, the scent of the plumeria flowers in the haku leis that I used to make for Henry Kapono when he sang in a small venue on Maui in the early '80's. They were memories of the most special kind, because they bring me back to a place in time that I now can only dream about. I wish I could take you there, as it was so vibrant and lovely. I'm at a loss for words to even come close to a way of describing this insanely beautiful memory.

It has been a huge statement coming from my heart, as I had never experienced anything similar ever before. I was positively in love with this new land that I was to call my home.

Stringing my haku leis for Henry Kapono became my gift of Aloha that I made as an offering to this artist from Maui. It was important to me because it was my way of thanking the Islands for their wonderful gift they had given to me - enabling me to merge with nature - beautiful to hold, beautiful to smell. The sweet scent of the plumeria flower on my very tanned skin lead me further into the full Maui experience. It was all a part of it to me because my heart and soul were enraptured with Maui. It gave me a sense of belonging that I could produce and enjoy these gorgeous haku leis that had these wonderful scents - the scents of Hawaii.

The Positive Effects of Negative Ions

What most of us don't know is about the positive effects from the negative ion charges that we are surrounded by every day. Negative ion charges are amazing.

The importance of negative ion charges to a healthy, happy body are incredibly important to know and understand. For instance, if one understands why they feel so invigorated when they spend time in the mountains or at the beach, that is just the beginning of the story. The story continues whereby the negative ion charges continue to invigorate people when they are surrounded by a natural environment. For instance, these areas would include beaches, forests, areas of rapid water movement such as rivers, streams, oceans, and waterfalls, as well as areas that experience thunderstorms and lightening.

Did you know that the negative ion charges created by the rapid movement of water at Niagara Falls are perhaps the greatest energizer of all? If this interests you, then listen up! It may not be just because of the excitement of getting married and all the joys that come with it that couples honeymoon at Niagara Falls, but maybe there's something possibly even greater than getting married, and that is to do with the negative ion charges that exist at Niagara Falls and other places similar to it.

Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy.

Conversely, the areas that we should watch out for are those where there is a lot of smoke or smog in the air, computer terminals, fluorescent lighting, air conditioning, and modern building materials, all of which generate an overabundance of positive ions.

The bottom line to living a healthy and happy life really has everything to do with the way we choose to live and where we choose to live.

In essence, we must Think Nature First.