Toward the end of my trip to the islands, the sweetheart Uber driver Roger drops me off in Paia, Maui. 

Mama Maui's love is palpable.  Maybe it's the negative ions pouring in from the Pacific, or the orchids growing wild out of the trees, maybe it's the plethora of beautiful women, but whatever it is- almost everyone smiles here- they grin in fact, ear to ear.  "Aloha! Mahalo!"

Walking down the street of the local beach town, inside a quaint shop window I see a t-shirt  "Alice in Hulaland."

I look up and see it's not only on the t-shirt, but it's also the name of the store. Delighted and curious,  I walk in. 

The clerk Madison, a transplant from South Carolina, greets me surrounded by a sea of t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, and groovy vintage souvenirs.  

Like a little kid, I blurt out "my name is Alice!" 

"It's not every day we get an Alice in the shop. Did you know this shop is named after a Willie Nelson song?" 

And before I...

Dear Brave One,

I’ve spent the last four months off of social media slowing down, getting quiet, and spending time on my personal healing path. 

Coming back into this online space, I've deeply questioned my intention of why I am here, what really and I mean REALLY matters right now, and how can I share in a way that will be of support and service?  

In fact, letting go of social media really helped me to notice how the world goes on, how you are still loved and loveable without it.  How you can take a walk in the desert without thinking "will this look good on Instagram?"

The other night I told my husband that it feels as if my claws have been taken out this last year; the claws that have always given me the drive, fever, burning ambition to work, to do, to perform. I have been left with several questions in their absence:  How do I create from softness, from spaciousness, from devotion?  

In turning inward, what came to me is what...