And I really was.
I had moved to Maui on what I tell people was a "well-researched whim." It was a whim, because, well, I don't know of too many people who pack all that they will live on in two suitcases and head to an island where they know absolutely no one, and they have no job lined up, and only have a tentative place to live. It was "well-researched" because I had been playing with the idea of leaving Portland for over a year, and then, in the winter of 2010, I started planning on which island in Hawaii I was moving to after the company I worked for began laying off most of its employees.
For anyone who knows me, moving to Maui was a very big deal for me. I don't think of myself as a very spontaneous person. I like to meticulously plan things and draft to-do lists before settling on a final master task list.
For a while, moving to Maui was at best a dream that kept me warm on cold, drizzly Portland nights. It was a dream of sunshine, salty air and warm beaches.
I finally made that warm and fuzzy dream into a reality, and I arrived on Maui on the evening of October 15th of last year. In just ten days it will be my first year anniversary, and I intend on celebrating because moving to Maui has been one of the best moves I have ever made.
Writer Konigsburg says that "[h]appiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around." These two sentences ring like the noon bells from Maria Lanakila Catholic Church down the street from my house. They are loud, pure and cut through all the background noise.
Happiness is excitement, but it is also consistent and comforting. I love Konigsburg's idea that happiness is excitement that has settled down but still can't help but flap around out of sheer joy.
Of course, I still have my up's and down's--even on this beautiful island of Paradise, but I find that I am happy. every. single. day. Maybe not all day, but I find something to be happy about every day.
For those of you who know me, you are probably fearing for my sanity. The above statement sounds much too mushy to be written by Paige, you are probably thinking. And it is mushy, but it is a true statement.
Now, I'm not talking about jumping up and down on Oprah's couch kind of happy. I'm talking about feeling settled, but still being excited. I'm excited for my next set of adventures and the next set of people I will get to meet, and those that I will be reunited with (I've been lucky to have been able to hang out with a handful of Portland friends already, and I've run into family friends as well while I've been here). I'm excited that I have the option to swim in the ocean every day. I'm excited that there are still so many places on the island I have yet to visit and explore. I'm excited that at the end of every day there is a beautiful sunset before it gets dark. And at night, the stars are so plentiful and bright you can't help but keep looking up. I hear that the sunrises are just as beautiful, but I'm excited that I have a job that doesn't require me to be up early enough to see them.
Although I make no guarantees, for the moment, I have found my "settling down place" and even though I do credit Maui for injecting a lot of excitement into my day to day life, I believe that Maui has most importantly made me a more exciting person simply because I am so happy to be here.
And once more, with feeling:
"Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around."
- E. L. Konigsburg
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