The end is the beginning

When I first entered my little barn on the Pfannenstielstrasse in Meilen, the building was no more than a run-down storage room, four walls and a roof. Build my Hale here? My future? Difficult. What I recognized immediately: the incredible view. To the lake! To the mountains! The view was the reason I took the step.

In the meantime, 16 years have passed, and I know that renovating the barn and turning it into Hale AlohaSpirit was one of the best decisions I ever made. A big thank you to homeowner Sämi Widmer for this opportunity. So much has changed in my life since then.

The vastness outside the windows has taught me to breathe in a completely different way. To the horizon and beyond. With this new internal expansion, I was able to think in a liberated way. And with the view of the mountains, especially the Rigi, I could make my visions reality, sink more and more deeply into the art of Lomilomi and develop new training programs. These four walls became both a second skin to me and a piece of Hawai'i in Switzerland. Therefore, another mahalo/thank you to our teachers Kumu Keala Ching and Kumu Dane Kaohelani Silva, as well as to our Kupuna Tutu Myra and Kumu Helaka and all who have supported and shared our vision. They have all been essential in helping the Hale begin to breathe the Aloha Spirit.

That spirit, I believe, is what my team and I were able to pass on. We were able to welcome so many people here and accompany them on a part of life's journey. We were able to whisk them away to this island in the rough ocean of everyday life and release them back to their own lives, strengthened.

Everything will change soon. I need to prepare myself to say goodbye. In one year, these walls will no longer stand. What we have experienced in these past 16 years will dissolve into dust, will irrevocably become the past and thus a memory. When I close the front door behind me for the last time, a uniquely beautiful time will have come to an end. That is very painful, already now.

Nonetheless, an end can also mean a new beginning, the start of a new era. Accordingly, we are already looking for a new Hale, a new second skin. I know that I will hardly find what I have here at the Pfannenstielstrasse again. However, I also see this change as a chance, as an opportunity for metamorphosis and further development. New paths that I don't even know about yet can open up. I am very hopeful for that.

Connected to this search for a new Hale, I’m taking the liberty of approaching you with two questions. Your answers can contribute to AlohaSpirit having a home again soon:

• Please let me know if you hear of a suitable rental property with at least 100 square meters on the right bank of the lake or the city of Zurich. The rooms can be part of a commercial property, a family house - or as now, a barn – all of the above are conceivable.
• If no property can be found in the Meilen region: How much travel time are you willing to take to get to the new Hale?

We, the AlohaSpirit team, thank you in advance for your answer. Every echo is important. Behind every hint there may be a new Hale.

Warmly

Noëlle & Team