As I continue to work towards completing my forthcoming book, Mindful Movement – The Art of Self Coaching, our general manager and master of music engages our hearts with his story for Life at the Center.

Please enjoy the story below “You Just Gotta Flow” – The Unstoppable Light of Patty Sakal by our own Dustin Hara!

Resting in stillness and moving in Joy with you,

Renée

Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.
— Lao Tzu.

By Dustin Hara

The Unstoppable Light of Patty Sakal

The Problem:

What happens to a child when they are told to perform — to make music — but their heart is closed? When they’ve been taught the rules of rhythm, the scales of perfection, but feel none of the Joy? When fear speaks louder than sound?

At age ten, I had already decided: music was not for me. Despite years of piano lessons and my parents’ hope that I’d be their little maestro, something inside me had already shut down. I didn’t feel confident. I didn’t feel free. I didn’t feel… anything.

Until one day, in a small, worn out church in Pearl City, Hawai’i that silence inside me cracked open.

The Spark:

There she was.

A 50-something year old woman, radiant, with curls bouncing as she stomped her feet, belted out hymns, strummed her guitar, and clapped on the off-beat like no one was watching.
Introducing Patty Sakal.

She wasn’t just performing. She was music — in motion, in spirit, in body and soul. She could blend gospel with country, rap with soul, hymnals with honky-tonk, and wrap it all in a smile so infectious it made your heart leap.

“Who is this woman?” I whispered in awe.

That moment planted a seed within me. For the first time I felt something. Something wild and alive. But it would take five more years before it truly bloomed.

The Turning Point:

By age fifteen, I was still stuck. My musical self still silenced, hiding — literally — behind a church keyboard with the volume turned all the way down.

I didn’t want anyone to hear me. Not really… I was just… going through the motions.

But Patty wasn’t having it.

She walked over with her signature mischievous grin, leaned in close like a guardian angel disguised as a gospel singer, turned up the volume, and whispered those eternally iconic words that would forever change my life:

“Honey, ya just gotta FLOW.”

That was the day that music came alive in me.

You can read the full story here in a previous Life at The Center letter: Doing What We Love Vol. 126, December 2023

The Gift:

That whisper became a mantra. Patty became a mentor. And I began a journey of music that would take me through stages, classrooms, and hearts. A journey where freedom, not formality, would be my guide.

Patty didn’t just teach music. She was an encounter with heaven and an inspiration. Raised by two deaf parents in a world of silence, Patty grew up immersed in the rhythm of hand gestures, the poetry of stillness, and the raw honesty of American Sign Language.

And from that silence, she sang.

She sang for joy.

She sang for justice.

She sang for the deaf and hearing alike.

She sang with her voice, her hands, her hips, her humor, and her heart.

As a professional interpreter, Patty became a familiar face in homes across Hawai‘i during the COVID-19 pandemic. While officials delivered grave messages, Patty delivered them with humanity. Her expressions, her hands, her storytelling made sure the deaf community didn’t just get the information but that they felt included. That they were seen.

The Loss:

On January 15, 2021, the music paused.
Patty Sakal passed away at 62, after contracting COVID-19 while visiting her daughter in California. She’d taken every precaution — a face shield, mask, first-class distancing — but the virus moved quickly. Too quickly.
Her passing left a silence far louder than the one she was born into.

The Legacy:

But Patty’s story doesn’t end there.

Because legends don’t disappear — they echo.

Before her death, Patty co-founded the Georgia E. Morikawa (GEM) Center, named after her mother, to support the deaf community with resources, empowerment, and love.

Today, Patty Keeps Giving — literally. The annual grant in her name awards thousands to interpreters and members of the deaf community, continuing her mission of connection and access.

See here to learn more about Interpreting Services Resources

And me?

Whenever I teach voice lessons, I hear her voice echoing through me.

Whenever a student dares to sing off-key, off-genre, or off-the-wall — and we laugh instead of judge — I feel her wink from above.

Whenever someone finds their sound for the first time, or bursts into spontaneous dance mid-rehearsal, I feel her presence like a warm hug of rhythm and soul.

The Victory:

So… the “big problem” was never just about music. It was about fear. Silence. Isolation.

Patty Sakal’s life is the answer.

She showed me that even from silence, we can birth a song. That even in the midst of crisis, we can still connect. That freedom isn’t the absence of structure — it’s the presence of spirit.

So today, I don’t just remember Patty. I honor her.

In every note.

In every class.

In every moment when someone dares to flow.

Thank you, Patty.

 

Your melody plays on.

Dustin Hara