Day 1 Manaʻo for Cohort Kaulua Monday, July 21, 2025

For this first day we spent together during our July session of Cohort Kaulua, one word sticking with me is appreciation. I greatly appreciate our team for working so hard in the months and weeks leading up to this session, and I also feel so much gratitude to our participants for being open and willing to trust our process. While the beginning day of anything might be a little nerve-wracking because of a new experience starting, our team observed laughter and smiles even in the first couple hours of everyone being together for the first time. We are so grateful when folks show up as their best selves and are willing to help others, even through the act of building pilina. 

Although I always feel appreciative of each cohort, I have been reflecting today in particular about the ways these moments of appreciation are another form of building pilina. Feeling grateful for someone, or even a group of brand-new people, is a source of connection that isn’t easy to forget, so mahalo to everyone (and a special shoutout to the participants in my Pilina Circle and my co-facilitator Chris!) for making today so memorable.