How I feel about Toki Pona

Toki Pona is an experience. Toki Pona is art. Toki Pona is many things to many people. It is one of the most important things in my life. The passion put forth by the community is unmatched, and I am thrilled to be a part of this community every day.

Toki Pona is a thought exercise: how can you communicate using fewer than 150 unique words? You ask yourself, what is this object? What does this object mean to me, and to my listener? You have to simplify, breaking down to only what is required, and what is most important.

Toki Pona is a simplifier: once you break down an idea, it gets harder to miscommunicate. In English, it is common to enter an argument and only later realize the discussing parties were talking about different things despite using the same word. In Toki Pona, this sort of miscommunication is rare.

Toki Pona is meditative: the mind is a complex world, and thoughts fly through it at a moment's notice. Toki Pona is one tool among many that help you discern what thoughts are important and what feelings are yours.

Before I discovered Toki Pona, I had made several attempts to learn other languages in my life. None stuck until Toki Pona. Toki Pona gave me a language I could understand, discuss, use, and be excited about. But most importantly, Toki Pona gave me a bridge to learning other languages and a deeper understanding of my communication that I would never have had without it.