Lee Cataluna: The writing’s on the wall (and it’s mostly really sweet)

Along a nondescript concrete breezeway between Foodland and Don Quijote in Pearl City is an ever-changing testament to the human heart.

Someone has written, “Stay strong. It will pass.”

And, “There is always a bright side.”

And, “You deserve to smile.”

Each note is written on a Post-it stuck to the wall. Each is written by a different hand. There are hundreds of pieces of paper, perhaps thousands of messages of love, hope, sorrow, want, gratitude and encouragement.

Barry Villamil goes to the wall every morning to clean up here and there, replenish the sticky notes and Sharpie pens, and marvel at what people have written.

“The wall is a special place of healing where people from across Oahu, neighbor islands and visitors to our state visit to read and post their inspirational messages,” Villamil said.

In November 2017 Villamil started the Messages of Life Healing Wall in the Pearl City Shopping Center, a 1960s-era collection of boxy buildings along Kamehameha Highway that house the grocery stores, a Longs, three banks, a bowling alley and various dentist offices. The idea came from Villamil’s boss, Duane Kurisu, owner of the shopping center, who had a vision of turning a 100-foot wall along a walkway between buildings into a monument of inspiration and encouragement. Villamil, who serves as community liaison and web editor of the shopping center’s MyPearl ­City.com website, took on the project. He has watched it grow into a massive crowd-sourced expression.

“I have met families who come to the wall to post their messages together. Also, seniors who have lost their soul mates, children who have lost parents, grandparents that leave messages on the wall of love,” Villamil said.

It’s remarkable how well it works. It’s part high school yearbook, part wailing wall, a little bit office brainstorming session, as unguarded as a confessional. There are no stated rules of conduct or full-time monitors, yet for the most part, the posts are very sweet and heartfelt.

As the messages grew from dozens to hundreds to, by his estimate, around 4,000, it occurred to Villamil that “wall” was an acronym for “With Aloha, Love Lives,” so when he posts updates on social media about the project, he refers to the wall in all caps, as in “the WALL.”

Whole sports teams have commemorated their friendships and winning spirit by posting notes of celebration on the wall. Sweethearts have pledged their undying love on sticky notes. Sometimes the messages are enough to bring you to tears.

“Parents have posted messages pleading and praying for their runaway children to please come home,” Villamil said, “and later … posted messages of thanks for their prayers being answered as the child returns home safely in their arms.”

The project has inspired a book, titled “Stuck on Aloha,” which will be published this spring by Kurisu’s Watermark Publishing. It will feature profiles of people who have left messages on the wall and images of hundreds of posts from the project. The wall has a page on Facebook; however, it is its own kind of social media, a collective conscience where people choose their words carefully and wish the best for one another.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.