Ka Puana: Aloha Joe in Hawaii
Joe Holt (aka Aloha Joe) was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1978. After living in orphanages, foster homes, and even a forced child labor camp, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on his seventeenth birthday.
He was an Aviation Electrical Engineer in the military and served two tours overseas during which time he attained the rank of Sergeant. After a series of traumatic brain injuries and other physical injuries on and off duty, he was medically retired at age 23.
He spent the next 10 years as a member of five nonprofit organizations involved in the betterment of the local community and its citizens.
However, he had never truly healed from the traumas of his past life. He spent a fair amount of time with psychologists during those 10 years.
“I learned that I could be happy. My entire life up until that point had been about survival; I had no concept that happiness was an option. It took me almost six years from that point to end up here on an island.”
Joe moved to Hawai‘i in 2011 to regain his health and mental well being. During this time he chronicled his journey of self-discovery and Hawaiian adventure in his first book Aloha Joe in Hawaii.
Contact author Joe Holt: AlohaJoeInHawaii.com
Following are excerpts from Kealakekua resident Joe Holt’s book, Aloha Joe in Hawai‘i. Used with permission.
Try this next time you want to talk to someone that you care about, about something that is stressful. Get out two coloring books and some crayons. Now I know that you are laughing at this point, and that is good. That is the entire point.
Insist that they color with you, while you talk. What you will notice is that you will both remain intently coloring and your communication will become much more open. Your speech will become unguarded and your thoughts won’t be based in emotion. You will just speak your mind openly and honestly.
You will find that your words do not cause physical reactions in your body at this point. I wish that I was a doctor so I could explain why this works. I only know that it does in fact work. My best guess is that the distraction of your brain and your hands while coloring bleeds off excessive energy that allows unbiased communication.
Of course, it always seems to bring me to a happy place to be coloring with crayons. There seems to be something very youthful and hopeful about it.
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In my reality, I have survived more than thirty separate instances where I could have died, and in some instances almost did. If the purpose of the Marquesian tattoos is to show a man’s life events, then I am way behind on my tattoos. I would have a full body suit by now if I tattooed myself every time that I made it through another life threatening situation. Of course, there is always this answer: I am a man. I am spending my own money. It is my body. It is my business.
Please let me explain to you what I think is entailed in being a man. This is not simply based upon your age. Men are kind, loyal, and always willing to help those in need. They hold doors open for complete strangers. They also open car doors for women and guest passengers. Real men protect women, children, and the elderly. They do not abuse the weak or downtrodden. The head that you are spitting upon is your own.
Every time that you say something nasty to another person, you are destroying part of your own soul.
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I found myself at an impressive 270 pounds and severely depressed. My birthday was in a couple of days and I wanted to do something for myself: I decided that I wanted to feel better.
I had always wanted to visit Hawai‘i, and I had a friend named Chad who lived there. He invited me to crash at his place until I could find a room to rent. I found someone to sublet my apartment, and I put my things in a storage unit. I traded my TV surround sound with my friend Bull for a one way plane ticket to Maui.
I had only $700 to my name but I went anyway. I figured that the “right time” I had been waiting for might never come. I landed on Maui and went to Lāhainā to see Chad at the Blue Lagoon. While I was sitting there having a Mai Tai and telling stories, I mentioned that I needed a place to live and was looking to buy a car. A guy sitting further down the bar said he knew of a room for rent and someone with a car for sale. I ended up renting a room that day for $400 a month and buying a two door hatchback for $300 cash.
My point is—anything is possible.
At the beginning of the week I was clinically depressed, suicidal, obese, and had lost all desire for life. By the end of the week, I lived on a tropical island in the South Pacific Ocean. I could see two other islands from the lanai on my house and I enjoyed watching the cruise ships come and go out of the Lāhainā Harbor. The sunsets were always incredible over the ocean too.
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Trust me, the reality here in Hawai‘i is better than you can imagine. Of course, that depends on your frame of mind.
If you are rude and impatient, you will find Hawai‘i to be a dangerous place. If you walk around with aloha in your heart, then you will be just fine.
It is also great to use the terms Uncle and Aunty to address those that are older than you to show respect. Aloha and Mahalo go a long way as well.
Just understand while you are here that you are in a sacred place of extreme beauty. Smile, say aloha, and treat the people and the land with the respect and reverence that they deserve.
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