Recovery is a Healing Journey

The Hawaiian Oha’i Lehua tree is the first thing to grow in the hardened black lava which remains after a volcanic explosion. It flourishes in the fertile volcanic ash. The Lehua flower is the ultimate expression of beauty from ashes.

When a volcano lies dormant, there is a movement happening below the surface. Like a volcano, painful life experiences can be repressed and shoved down deep inside. However, there is a point in time when an eruption will occur. In a volcano, pressure and intensity eventually build to a point of explosion. In the same way, we as humans have breaking points where our capacity is overwhelmed and we explode.

It can be a messy brutal process. It is honest, though, and serves as a release of what our body can not contain. In a volcanic explosion, the hot molten lava eventually turns to black rock. At this point, all seems desolate, dark, and extinct. Then a tree emerges with bright flowers, a symbol of life and beauty. In the same way, new beginnings come into our lives just as they do in the black lava rock of Hawaii when we choose to recover.

Recovery is a healing journey.