Living in Paradise: what? you're still here?

"Aloha" - my name's Sharyn Stone (no, not the movie star ... but I used to run a video store if that's any help!) With my husband Jeff, we moved to Maui in 1992 and started something everyone dreams about - a small Bed & Breakfast, called Huelo Point Lookout - here on Maui's unspoiled, non "touristy" north shore.

Living in what everyone thinks of as "paradise" can be challenging, to put it mildly.

I was chatting with an old friend in the neighborhood yesterday. And a comment she made set me thinking. "Sharyn, I'd lost your number, so I looked it up in my address book." (Yes, she still has one of those. And, I'm embarrassed to admit, so do I). "And as I went through it, I realized that almost all the people in it were no longer here. But you're still here. I'm glad."

It's quite an experience, moving to "paradise". What I've noticed over the years, as people come and go, is that unfortunately, people bring themselves with them. And here where it is so spectacularly beautiful, all our personal issues can no longer be ignored. Guess it's like an advanced workshop in metaphysics - and you sink or swim ... back to the mainland.

So what does it mean for YOU? Living in Paradise? Have you ever done it? What made you pursue the dream in the first place?

For me, it was easy. I'm a gardener. And in Hawaii's climate, everything grows! But once you're here, you have to earn a living, right? You know when you're really here by measuring how long it's been since you've been to the beach! THEN you know ... you LIVE HERE!

Are you thinking of moving here? visiting? Then be sure to touch base with us!