Norma Wong’s journey as an author began through conversations.
Though more inclined to oral tradition, she says, what inspired her to put pen to page was discussions with different people about what’s currently going on and what’s needed to support a sustainable future for communities around the globe.
“I was encouraged to write as a way to further that conversation,” she told Aloha State Daily. “It's really important right now to see both our current circumstances and our future as being more fruitful if we are in pursuit of the common good versus our individual interests.”
The lifelong Oʻahu resident, who's Native Hawaiian and Hakka, started practicing Zen decades ago, around the same time she began getting into politics, advocating for issues impacting Native Hawaiians and serving as a policy lead and negotiator for former Hawaiʻi Gov. John Waiheʻe.
“I was going through health challenges at the time and was fortunate to go to a training dojo in the back of Kalihi Valley," she said. "It got me thinking through: how would it be best to live your life, how do you think about how you live and how do you take care of yourself, as well as pursue your purposes.”
Wong says the spiritual practice has given her “a steadiness” that helps set aside things that are not as important to worry about. Fun fact: She is an 86th generation Zen master, having trained at Chozen-ji for more than 40 years.
Her first book, "When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse" has sold more than 15,000 copies worldwide.
Released Feb. 11, her newest book, “Who We Are Becoming Matters: Courage, Wisdom and Aloha in the Timeplace of Collapse,” piggy backs off her first book’s chapter about the human quotient, “which is how the characteristics of being human play in this time when things are chaotic and collapsing. The second book is an expansion of that one chapter,” Wong said.
The message across both books is: “It’s that we are in a very, very challenging moment in human history. ... It's calling us to think differently, and it's about having more multigenerational view about our successes and our purposes.”
In "Who We Are Becoming Matters," she also breaks down Native Hawaiian values such as aloha and kuleana.
“Do you have views with respect to the whole of humanity and the whole of the earth and whether or not you are going to be considered a good ancestor generations from now? Being a good ancestor is a paramount responsibility, especially during a time where there's so much chaos,” Wong said. “You have to work at it. There are behaviors that you have to interrupt, there are practices you have to undertake, not judge people by their identity and make a presumption of their goodness or badness by virtue of their identity.”
She added that there is a price to setting aloha aside. “When you discount that, you don't hold it at the center of how you're going to be, even when you're in conflict with other people, the consequences generally don't turn out very well.”
When asked how she plans to expand her reach, Wong said with the help of publisher North Atlantic Books, word-of mouth and the community.
A self-described introvert, she enjoys interacting with readers and is “always surprised,” she said, adding, “I had hoped the writing would be accessible to many people and pique curiosity for further exploration.”
Her favorite subjects to read about include science and food recipes.
She said she does her best writing “first thing in the morning when I am fresh and my thoughts are uncluttered.”
When not writing books, she teaches at Collective Acceleration for community leaders.
Wong says a third book is already underway.
Her best piece of advice for up-and-coming authors? “Turn off all that AI. Editors in the last couple years have said writing has begun to sound all alike. Even good writers have the temptation. I had somebody come in and turn off all those applications. So, don’t be tempted to validate your writing by replicating the thoughts of other writers. “
“Who We Are Becoming Matters” is available locally at Native Books, as well as online and on Audiobooks, which Wong recorded in a Big Isle sound studio.
For more information, visit normawong.com.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
