Aloha 2010

Sitting at the computer, back at home in Vancouver, with the Olympic preparations literally at my doorstep, it does not seem possible that were on the Big Island for just two weeks and that it is now 2010! So much has been accomplished in such a short time, both simply enjoying the quiet beauty and the vibrancy of the Big Island and especially the remarkable people who call this home and those drawn to its amazing spiritual and recouperative properties as well as its absolutely authentic, majestic quiet beauty and the options for activities that thrill us and provide us with the rush of adreneline through sheer excitement.

I was able to share a remarkable visit back to Waipio Valley and my first time to the 14,000 foot summit of Mauna Kea with some of the most special people on earth. The views from the summit with the shock of temperature (no matter how well prepared you think you are) almost defy description. The colors and special prayers given there will always remain close in my heart.

Forgetting an offering, amazing entrepreneur and energy healer, Maxima, inadvertently offered her glasses, which really became a symbol for our project here on the island...opening our hearts to see instead of just using your eyes. Luna eventually lost his headset, which was subsequently found, run over. It brought further understanding that we must listen and pay attention to the still, small voice rather than the loud overlay that sometimes amplifies things that seem more pressing or important.

It was ironic that about twenty years earlier, we were some of the first people allowed to walk on the still warm,freshly erupted lavafields at the volcano. January 3, when we went to the Kalapana observation area, the lava flow had inexplicably stopped that very morning, with my husband carrying 35 pounds of camera equipment, and with me with my own collection of media paraphernalia left with the words of incredulity of the professional photographers at the inexplicable lack of any flow. We all shook our heads at the fickleness of Madame Pele, with whom I had a powerful encounter just a scant two months earlier. To add to the mystery, not understanding fully, several people instinctively new that "Madam Pele was done, and moving".
And move she did, when the day before we left, we were told that a small flow appeared about 11 miles from the visitor viewing area, too far out to be seen other than by helicopter or boat.

During our drive to Hilo and the volcano, we passed so many changes of topography, climate and terrain, it caused the altimeter on Sam's watch to look like a roller coaster. Driving past the volcano, we encountered even more sulfuric air than I had experienced my previous time at the volcano. Our friend, who had asthma when younger, was definitely affected, and many of the areas in Volcano National Park were closed to visitors due to health concerns. These two issues are very important to take into consideration when planning a visit to the park, especially if anyone in your group has any kind of breathing issues or is pregnant, or very young. We were eventually able to go to the caldera and to the Thurston Lava Tubes before we left, but did not get to hike, and explore or get the photographs we wanted.

While the waves prevented our end of the trip snorkeling on the Kona side, it instead provided us with great opportunities to watch the magnificent whales at play, spouting and diving offshore. It also gave us lots of great photos, albeit sans lava, but equally powerful memories to cherish. We had already swum respectfully close to spinning dolphins and sea turtles in the ocean sans a swim with the dolphins or other program...they just showed up, like we did.

To me, it was another clue about managing expectations. Experiences start and end in our hearts and heads, and even more so, how we interpret (or some others would say rationalize)them. Labels about good and bad, timeliness, and expected purpose are just external manifestations of our reactions to the events around us that we often have no control over. What we do control 100 percent is our ability to control our own personal reactions and actions around any news or specific events (like what is happening now in Haiti) and non events like a lack of a desired action or event on the part of others.

My time on the island also confirmed my profound belief that travel amplifies the ability of the right people showing up in your life at the right time, even though, at the time, we may not always appreciate or understand why without the perspective of time and insight. Like in Kosovo, when working on wonderful humanitarian story, a film project became possible, and with no preplanning, the right people just showed up, each person adding their own perspective and became a link in the chain towards telling a remarkable story. It was the same feeling standing in line at the airport in Albania, and meeting someone who would be instrumental in helping get Jared and my book on diabetes published around the world. Here in Hawaii, I was able to see real growth of self pride in local heritage and locally based solutions, especially in the field of wellness, and the Hawaiian values of Ho'oponopono, similar in many ways to the Albanian concept of Besa-"keeping the promise". I sometimes shake my head at the far flung destinations that my passions carry me, while marveling at the unlikely similarities of cultures.

In Hawaiian, Ho'oponopono means "to make right". Essentially, it means to make it right with those who came before you (our positive inherited values), or to make right with the people with whom you have relationships (ideally everyone in the world). They call this the Hawaiian Code of Forgiveness, and it's a very important concept, because when we forgive others, we are also forgiving ourselves.

Simply put the process of Ho'oponopono involves the following steps:

1.Bring to mind anyone with whom you do not feel total alignment or support, etc.
2.In your mind's eye, construct a small stage below you
3.Imagine an infinite source of love and healing flowing from a source above the top of your head (from your Higher Self), and open up the top of your head, and let the source of love and healing flow down inside your body, fill up the body, and overflow out your heart to heal up the person on the stage. Be sure it is all right for you to heal the person and that they accept the healing.
4.When the healing is complete, have a discussion with the person and forgive them, and have them forgive you.
5.Next, let go of the person, and see them floating away. As they do, cut the aka cord that connects the two of you (if appropriate). If you are healing in a current primary relationship, then assimilate the person inside you.
6.Do this with every person in your life with whom you are incomplete, or not aligned.
The final test is, can you see the person or think of them without feeling any negative emotions. If you do feel negative emotions when you do, then do the process again.

I believe this process can be practiced daily by saying these few simple, but powerful words... I love you, I forgive you, Thank You. These words are the basis for self esteem, forgiveness and ultimately the core values we need to thrive and not just survive in this world-LOVE and GRATITUDE.

I guess than brings me back to the theme that I believe is continuing and amplifying for 2010. Through travel, we open ourselves us to a universe of new people and experiences. We must know from a core level that we are able to make a significant and positive difference in the world-pretty much every day. Once we understand that we are all inextricably linked together, and that we each hold a different key to the mystery of life-and quality of life, which every single person born onto this earth deserves, we can indeed serve as a rainbow bridge in 2010 and beyond.

I hope you will also share your thoughts and feelings, as well as the experiences that travel has brought to your perspective and committment to be part of the solution. May we all find inside ourselves, our Places of Refuge where we can be unconditionally sheltered and turn our hearts and lives into the same for others.

Make 2010 a time when you are consciously adding years to your life and life to your years.

Press Release For UN Opening...come this month

http://www.prlog.org/10047652-united-nations-inspires-visitors-with-besa-muslims-who-saved-jews-during-the-holocaust-exhibit.html


Source: PRLog.Org - Global Press Release Distribution
United Nations inspires visitors with "Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust"
Exhibit
By Randi Winter / The Eye Contact Foundation
Dated: Jan 27, 2008
United Nations Hosts The Eye Contact Foundation's Exhibition of Norman Gershman's "Besa: A Code of
Honor. Albanian Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust― curated by Yad Vashem as part of the
world holocaust remembrance ceremonies.
Norman Gershman
The Eye Contact Foundation
0529 Emma Road
Basalt, Colorado 81621
(970) 927-1742 (970) 927-2282
http://www.eyecontactfoundation.org
For a review copy, media info:
Randi Winter (425) 283-7690
randi@passionatetravel.com
UNITED NATIONS TO HOST THE EYE CONTACT FOUNDATION’S EXHIBITION OF NORMAN
GERSHMAN’S “BESA A CODE OF HONOR ALBANIAN MUSLIMS WHO SAVED JEWS DURING
THE HOLOCAUST” CURATED BY YAD VASHEM AS PART OF WORLD HOLOCAUST
REMEMBRANCE CEREMONIES
Basalt, Colorado How many countries’ principles are aligned between what they preach and what they
practice? Few would guess the irony of these answers would develop from a little known secret hidden
behind the shroud of the iron curtain for over fifty years and from a most unlikely source.
A show of photographs by Norman Gershman, depicting Albanian Muslims who rescued Jews during
World War II opens at the United Nations Visitor’s Lobby in New York City the evening of January 29,
2008, and runs until early March. http://www.un.org/holocaustremembrance/remembranceday08.shtml
This is the first travelling exhibition sponsored by Yad Vashem, the Museum of the Holocaust in
Jerusalem, which has United Nations NGO status. It first opened November 1, 2007 at Yad Vashem in
Israel. The subjects are Albanian Muslim families who have been designated as Righteous Among Nations
by Yad Vashem. Each photograph is accompanied by a defining quote and insight from Gershman’s visits
with each family telling their story.
http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/gershman/temp_index_whats_new_Gershman.html
Albania, an Atheist country, and one of the poorest,is the only Nazi occupied country that sheltered all the
Jews within their borders and actively accepted all who came from other countries. Albania's population
mix is 70% Muslim, 20% Orthodox and 10% Catholic. Albanians take great pride in their religious
tolerance. They credit three things as the source of their good deeds, the Albanian tradition of Besa, the
Kanun, a codified body of laws and the Koran. The power of besa is epitomized in the spirit of Albania’s
Mother Teresa.
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Source: PRLog.Org - Global Press Release Distribution
Norman Gershman traveled extensively through the fledgling democracy of Albania for more than 4 years,
searching for families who opened their doors to strangers in desperate times, and what he found was a
culture dedicated to helping those in dire need. Yet, saving Jewish families and others from almost certain
death, to them was an integral part of their daily life. “Any Albanian would do this,” they would say. He
found that to be true. While Yad Vashem has designated some thirty Albanian families (63 people) as
Righteous Among Nations, Gershman has already found evidence of over 150 families who sheltered Jews
during the Nazi occupation, with many more accounts to be corroborated. Records from Albania now show
over 2000 lives were saved.
Five years ago, Gershman, who is Jewish, and has studied the Sufi tradition of Islam, traveled to Yad
Vashem in Jerusalem to gather information on the Righteous who are getting older, and little known about
them after their original recognition. Mordicai Paldial, then director of the Righteous Program at Yad
Vashem, opened his records for Gershman and piqued his interest in this small group from Albania and
Kosovo, Muslims Who Saved Jews. The Israeli – Albanian Friendship Association, founded by Jews
rescued in Albania guided him to The Albanian – Israeli Friendship Association who became his hosts and
living experience of the principles of Besa during his travels. Led by Professor Petrit Zorba, and using the
documentation and personal experiences of Professor Apostal Kotani, a noted scholar and partisan during
the war, Gershman has been able to visit and photograph over seventy Albanian families who rescued Jews
during World War II. Mustafa Rezniqi founder of the Kosovo-Israel Friendship society and one of the first
Kosovars actively being considered by Yad Vashem for Righteous status will be in attendance at opening
night at the UN as well as others who have either saved or been saved.
The UN show, sponsored by Yad Vashem shows Muslim families that have been designated as Righteous
Among Nations. This designation only comes about when initiated by a saved Jew, and indisputable proof
of rescue is presented. As Albania came under a strict and repressive communist dictatorship immediately
after the war, which continued for over 50 years, contact between rescuer and rescued was almost
impossible. There are many stories Gershman collected that end with “…and then all contact was lost. We
never heard from them again.” Followed by, “please help us find them so we can return items they left in
our trust”.
A more extensive show of the project and their stories (many of the 40 profiles came to light in the course
of Gershman’s research and not all designated as Righteous by Yad Vashem at this time) will open at
Hebrew Union College in New York in February of 2008, with a special opening February 28, 2008 and
will be exhibited for approximately 6 months. On April 14th, the 92nd Street Y will host Gershman and
Jason Williams of JWM Productions, the producer of the upcoming film, "God's House", scheduled to be
released in 2009, based on the work done by Gershman and The Eye Contact Foundation. A book about
the project is nearing completion and will be published in 2008 by Syracuse University Press. A preview
from the movie will be shown at the opening ceremonies and is available online at
http://www.eyecontactfoundation.org .
Gershman was assisted by photographer Stuart Huck. Both trained in the Ansel Adams tradition of fine
photography. Huck concentrated on the technical end while Gershman concentrated on creative portraiture.
Huck crafted a 25 minute movie about the project, utilizing only the still photographs they made in Albania.
Steve Kaufman, a videographer and television producer, also based in Basalt, recorded an interview with
Gershman (Gershman, Huck and Kaufman are the principals of The Eye Contact Foundation.) When
Gershman heard the story of the Weitzman family being rescued by King Zog from her daughter who lives
in Aspen, he flew to New York to interview and photograph Fritzy Owen (nee Weitzman), who, as a young
girl lived for 2 years sheltered under the umbrella of Besa. Elan Bogarin of JWM Productions videoed that
interview. Those three video pieces and the film introduction will be show at The 92nd Street Y. All of
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Source: PRLog.Org - Global Press Release Distribution
these videos, photographs and more information are available on the Eye Contact Foundation website,
http://www.eyecontactfoundation.org .
These exhibitions, which are designed to travel the world, were shot in black and white, fittingly chosen as
each of the subjects and their families understood that when it comes to saving a life, there can be no shades
of grey.
Contact : The Eye Contact Foundation
Norman Gershman (970) 927-1742 (970) 948-2282
Category Religion, Photography, Non Profit
Email Click to email author
Website http://www.eyecontactfoundation.org
Phone (970) 927-1742
Address 0529 Emma Road
City/Town Basalt
State/Province Colorado
Zip 81621
Country United States
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