‘Imi ola means to seek life in its highest form. As we take this journey of learning to balance our lives, we discover that ‘imi ola can help. Seeking life in its highest form means we take action, and that action is learning. If we aren’t learning, how can we improve? How can we discover things we like or don’t like? How can we learn to think for ourselves? How can we seek “life in its highest form?”
Education and learning helps us seek life in its highest form by providing clarity. It can improve our mental health by encouraging our brain to function properly. People who have been through trauma sometimes have a difficult time making connections. I know that several times in my life, the reality of my trauma has hit me hard. At those moments, it was like I hit a mental wall, and the simplest things, like explaining something, talking, or even reading a book became incredibly difficult. It was like I was 2 years old all over again, trying to figure out how to express myself and how to use words.
The thing that saved me was education. Reading books, writing, learning, conversations with teachers and college professors, and doing my best in my classes helped my mind advance far greater and faster than I ever thought possible. My ability to make connections, speak, and write increased. My confidence increased because my knowledge increased.
Education is a key to success
As a young child, I was somewhat disappointed to find out that I would be homeschooled. I really enjoyed Kindergarten. I liked the freedom of leaving home, riding the bus, and being in school. I looked forward to learning, and I loved my teacher, Mrs. Sanders.
Each day, after Kindergarten, I had to go to speech therapy. I had a horrible stutter and I really couldn’t say anything without stuttering for minutes. My little sister came with me because she, too, had speech issues. These therapy sessions were very difficult for me. I felt stupid most of the time, and I wondered if I’d ever stop stuttering. Eventually, I did. But by that time, Kindergarten was over and my parents decided to homeschool us.
I whizzed through the workbooks my parents gave me. I loved science and math, and I loved English and the stories from ancient civilizations. The world fascinated me, and my brain soaked up every bit of knowledge like a sponge.
When I was finally able to go to school, as opposed to being homeschooled, I was a sophomore in high school. I loved school. I loved learning, even when things were hard for me to understand. Science was a weak point, and sometimes English didn’t make sense but I still tried. I wasn’t the brightest student—I got B’s in Math and a C in my AP history class. But I wasn’t about to give up.
Education provides control
My education provided my brain with energy. It became something I could control, because everything else in my life felt out of control. At the time, we lived in a small, homemade house. Our house was in the process of being built, but we were so poor that the neighbors, who owned the property next to ours, offered us to live in their shack while they were on the mainland.
Without running water and electricity, we took baths using the pool water in the backyard and used a generator to charge things. The bathroom was an outhouse on the side of the house, and we cooked food in a box oven or a camping stove. When the generator was running to charge batteries for lights, my siblings and I took turns using the computer. When it was my turn to use the computer, I felt so stressed about wasting gas for the generator that I’d do a poor job of my homework. I eventually never went on the computer because every free minute at school was spent doing homework that was due online.
I worried a lot about food. My mom got a job at local grocery store and brought home clearance items for dinner. I worried a lot about being hungry. I worried about how we were going to get through another week. I worried that my dad was going crazy and my mom was sad. I worried about my siblings and the welfare of their physical, mental, and spiritual health.
But while I worried about all these things, I found power in my education. I knew that if I educated myself and learned as much as I could about the world, then one day my life wouldn’t be like this.
Years later, attending the University of Hawaii at Hilo, I discovered the same thing. Reading literature, studying history, and learning the basic foundations of science and math taught me how the world works, and what it looks like to live a healthy life and have healthy relationships. Participating in deep, rich discussions in my classes helped my brain fog disappear. I studied other cultures, spoke at conferences, worked several part-time jobs, and I read as much as I could about anything. I studied my scriptures and attended church activities with a close friend, balancing my spiritual learning with my temporal learning. All of it helped my brain function at a time it should have just shut down.
As my parents went through an ugly divorce, and the trauma from all of it fogged my brain, I found clarity in learning. Manipulation, toxicity, and lies held no power over knowledge and truth. I knew that with my education, I could process through and above all of the trauma.
Seek for the highest
‘Imi ola means to seek life in its highest form. If we are to seek for life in its highest form, we need to learn what that is and how to get there. Knowledge and learning open the gate to this highest form. I’ve learned what is the highest form and it began with my own diligent search for truth.
Some might read this and say education was a distraction from my problems. I believe that’s true, and I also believe that my education empowered me. It became a pillar of hope for me. My friendships with professors have lasted until this day—they showed me that there are better ways to live. There are better ways to serve and be happy. In my own dark world, it was so difficult for me to see a way out. There were times, in the darkness of my mind, I thought it would be better to just end it all. But the support of my teachers, and the things I learned, helped me see that I could do it.
To bring balance to your life, to empower your brain, and to find hope, start with learning. Read good books, study things that interest you, take notes, record feelings and impressions. If you feel like you don’t have the desire to read, then write. I used to write fantasy novels, and they brought me lots of joy. Writing helps your brain process things. If you don’t have the desire to learn, ask God for the desire. He will help you.
No matter where you are on your journey, seek learning. Whether you decided to read a book, try a new skill, write, or go to class (college or high school), remember that with knowledge, there is power.
I am so grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained through my college career. When I walked with my older sister to receive my diploma, it was much more than a paper. It was literally a life saver. I know that school and “getting an education” may sound old school (get it?), but as I learned to invest time (and money) into it, it paid off, in more ways than one.
Love,
Lei
P.S. Want to learn more? Sign up for my 5 Hawaiian Days to Wellness Mini Course and begin your journey towards wellness, Hawaiian style!
