The Aloha spirit infuses California too

Those fancy-pants East Coast people get a lot of laughs making fun of the “Left Coast.”

Pilates. Yoga. Organic food. Sushi. Zen.

And, it’s true. Hey, we are a little like that. It’s because we are on the Left Coast. Consequently, we are exposed to a lot of Hawaiian, Polynesian and Asian influences and, being open-minded and intelligent people, we absorb those influences. Call it the spirit of Aloha.

One of these Polynesian-Asian ideas is that it probably makes sense to live a simple life full of peace and beauty. A life full of — how should one put it? — “good vibrations,” as stated by those famous philosophers of good living, the Beach Boys.

Sometimes, indeed, it can be hard to cut through all the exotic mystification to the underlying reality. Yet it can be done. Here are a few ideas about simple living that may make universal sense:

• Love the world. As you love the world, you will care for the world. As you care for the world, it will care for you.

• Love yourself. As you love yourself, you will love others. As you love others, they will love you.

• Know what you need, and meet your needs. Be free, be independent, take care of yourself.

• Take care of those who depend on you. Reach out. Be accessible. Be reliable.

• Appreciate the beauty of the world. The blue sky. The sun shining off the water. The wind in the trees.

• Savor your life every day. The scent of jasmine and the taste of mangoes. The sound of laughter and the glitter of bright eyes.

• Treasure relationships. At the end of the day, this is where we all live.

“Good vibrations,” finally, perhaps, is about, learning to hear the music of the waves.

DR. STEVE DAVIDSON is a clinical psychologist in Newport Beach.