One more week and I’ll be back here, on Maui.  Amazing that this place is what I call home. Maui made me. The more years I grow up, the more years I spend away from home, I  realize how Maui–the people, the community, the lifestyle–made me who I am.  Now I live in a place that could  not be more opposite than my hometown. The island of Maui has a population of 145,000 and New York City has one of 8.4 Million. Maui’s tallest building in sight is only eight floors high, while New York City’s is 104. With all these contrasts there is something that Maui has taught me that has been useful in New York–patience.

In a city where you share all your space with everyone, friend, neighbor, unwanted or wanted stranger, you also have to learn patience. When the lines to check out a the Trader Joe’s wraps around the store, or the subway platform is compacted with busy commuters trying to make it home, sometimes you have to learn to wait. When a subway car comes and it is packed with people, you let it go and the next will arrive a little more empty. In New York, many things come at an instant and many do not.  People bump you, but usually not on purpose. There simply is not enough space for everyone. Today I waited in a very annoyingly long Post Office line. Thankfully it moved pretty quickly, but the woman behind me thought otherwise. In this moment she could have practiced more patience. If I let all these little moments bother me, I would be fed up with New York. Instead, I have to think that it’s just how it is and I need to get used to that.

Maui is the rock (literally and figuratively) that keeps me grounded in this fast paced life. I think about home while being away from home and how each step of my journey on and off the rock, has made me who I am. Well, next week, I’ll be back on it. I really can’t wait to be there, so until then I’ll just have to practice my patience.