Faida Whitaker and Anita Garrett’s friendship goes back nearly 30 years. Over the course of that time, they’ve gathered and shared much wisdom together, like the concept of “ponopono,” the practice of mental cleansing, forgiveness, and conflict resolution.
In 2024, they visited StoryCorps to reflect on their family histories, life’s lessons, and their hopes for future generations.
TRANSCRIPT:
Garrett: Time, really…that’s a very deep concept.
Whitaker: I was thinking about this little statue that my mom has, and it says, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.”
Garrett: Oh, my goodness!
Whitaker: If we had to make a list of, like three essential things, maybe that we were going to put in a time capsule. And it doesn't have to be like a “thing” thing. It could just be like, “this is essential.”
Garrett: Wow. What would you put in? Let me think on that one.
Whitaker: Well, or, and again, not even so much from a physical place, but its essentials, to me, seems to be, like, music. Like, that's so timeless for me, that's really important.
Garret: That is!
Whitaker: Just understanding the role. Like, I'm getting chills right now just thinking about, you know, how important vibration and music and energy is like to us human beings working out.
Garrett: It's universal.
Whitaker: It's a universal thing, right?
Garrett: Yes, it is.
Whitaker: Obviously, we continue to hopefully think about knowledge and learning.
Garrett: Right.
Whitaker: Just love for learning and understanding that the importance of deducing and figuring out and using your brain--
Garrett: That's right.
Whitaker: --for things. So that it doesn't become mush.
Garrett: Yes. Okay. So, if I could put a concept in that time capsule, it would be the creative spirit.
Whitaker: Right.
Garrett: Because you think about all the great things that we today enjoy. Somebody had to think about it. Somebody had to go outside the box. Someone had to use their creativity. Because things that don't exist tangibly, you have to imagine. You have to imagine them.
Whitaker: I think it was Einstein. And I'll have to look up the quote, you can teach math and you can learn this, but if there was one thing that you were going to pass on to your children, it would be imagination.
Garrett: Imagination.
Whitaker: To have that. And so, as you were saying, the creatives, the curiosity, the curious spirit is crucial.
Garrett: It is.
Whitaker: I hope we don't lose that.
Garrett: Love has to be there.
Whitaker: Yes.
Garrett: Love has to be there. There's no way around it. Loving, no matter what the circumstance, what the situation, finding something to love about the person and keeping that humanity. That's so essential.
Whitaker: Yeah, ponopono.
Garrett: (gasp) Oh, yes!
Whitaker: Just moving past. And that's got to go in the capsule.
Garrett: It does. Thank you for that. You shared that with me and it's become a tool for me.
Whitaker: Love has got to go in the capsule.
Garrett: Yes, yeah. This has been amazing! Wow.
Whitaker: All the essential stuff that we tend to talk about in passing. But yeah.
Garrett: The time capsule.
Whitaker: Encapsulating it, kind of, about continuing to evolve.
Garrett: Yes, evolve. Not devolve,
Whitaker: Evolve.
