Well, I have been in Japan for a handful of days now… and I am doing well – it feels like I never left, while simultaneously feeling like it has been ages since I left.
I think I will have a great time here.
And I believe that I will be ready to go home, once it is time to head home.
I have lots to say and share, and now is not the time.
Now is the time for sleeping.
Goodnight!
Post-a-day 2019
I gave up watching and reading the news several years ago, due to the fact that almost nothing in it was ever positive.
What was the point?
Rather than being the new information being shared, the news has merely become the show about as much negativity shared as is possible.
‘What other bad thing can we share with people?’ felt like the question news channels seemed to be asking themselves constantly.
It made society feel horrible and almost hopeless… made humanity seem utterly terrible…
And that is not something in which I want to participate, so I just gave it up altogether – if something noteworthy happened, someone somehow would let me know.
And it has worked really well these past several years.
Truly.
I am grateful that I did it.
No, I don’t necessarily know what they’re talking about on SNL’s Weekend Update most of the time anymore, but I don’t really watch any television anymore in the first place, so it hardly matters.
(Can you believe it’s been over a decade already since I gave up watching television?!… wow…)
I’ve contemplated many a times creating a magazine or newspaper – almost certainly digital – that only shares good news, positive news, because that’s the stuff that we all really want to hear about anyway, and almost no one seems to be sharing about it… and, if someone is sharing about it, very little time is given to it, especially when compared to the negative and sad stuff in the news.
Tonight, for the first time, I crossed someone who did something quite similar to what I would like to do: share things worth sharing.
By the end of the article – okay, I only looked at the pictures, but that was totally the point, anyway – I was delighted, my spirits were totally lifted, and I was really interested in learning more about all of the topics given… basically, I want articles to go with each of the positive pieces of news…, but I guess that’ll just have to be something saved for my future newspaper/magazine. ;P
Enjoy the picture article here!
It is well worth the quick read-through! 😀
Post-a-day 2019
I have been thinking lately more and more frequently about my upcoming trip to Japan.
It is now only two weeks away (not even, actually), and I am nervous but excited, and somewhat stressed.
But the stress isn’t about typical things, so much… not typical for most people, anyway.
It is about feeling a need to make plans for my trip.
Have you ever been busy and away from home for so long, that all you want to do is just go home and do nothing in particular other than be home?
Well, this is kind of how I am feeling about this trip to Japan.
I don’t really want to have to plan anything, because I feel like I am just going home and want to be home for a while before I start making any plans… plus, when we are home, we have time to figure out when to do things, because we live there…’we aren’t going anyway anytime soon.
But I am only visiting for a couple weeks…, about three weeks all together, I suppose… I don’t have all the time to schedule later.
Or do I?
…
I think I might just…
Anyway, I find it odd that going back to Japan feels like going home… like I’ve been off at college for the semester, and am finally returning home for the winter break…
But my semester has been two and a half years this time.
I wonder if it has to do with the fact that this was the first place where I was entirely on my own, as an adult.
I couldn’t go have lunch or tea with my mom, or ask her to help me do something or other, or go to her house for dinner and a movie… or anyone else who had become part of my staple people in life… I was on my own in my day-to-day.
And I built a home for myself, even though it became all too clear that the culture was not one in which I wanted to stay living and working long-term… I had said that I wouldn’t have to be paid a lot of money to go back to working in and living in Japan…, and that still stands.
However, a visit to Japan, as I always said, is a great idea.
And I am delighted.
I will test this idea of not scheduling anymore for now… I think it might help significantly for me… mhmm…
Post-a-day 2019
I asked my mom what time she needs me to have breakfast ready for tomorrow.
I asked her to find out a better eta for the family driving down.
She didn’t understand why, at first, but eventually got it… somewhat…
I wanted to know what time breakfast needed to be ready to serve tomorrow.
But she just kept telling me that it was okay to have it ready at 9am…
Family won’t event be arriving until ten at the absolute earliest, based on their most recent check-in with us.
AND my mom doesn’t like eating breakfast until closer to lunchtime than breakfast-time…
I don’t see a need for me to be up early tomorrow just because my mother is… I am not a morning person unless I must be… which is almost never.
I don’t care if it is Okay for me to have breakfast ready at 9am… I care about knowing when it needs to be ready, so I, therefore, am able to sleep as long as is possible tonight…
I have been to bed way late, and then up super early… I need to sleep in for once, especially if I will have little girls running around me all day… hmm…
(Fun fact: I just realized that I might be able to do some photos of the kiddos…that would be awesome!)
Anyway, goodnight. 🙂
Post-a-day 2019
What would happen if I had an accountability partner?
My room would be cleaned, completely organized, and kept that way – it would be glorious.
I would write quality pieces, just about every day (maybe something like an average of five to six days a week, with about eight days off per month).
I would take photos every month, and have them ready within a week of taking them.
I probably would take photos about once a week.
I would meditate intentionally, and often.
I would do laundry weekly, and put al my clothes away almost immediately.
I would be working actively on writing a book.
I would learn the extra details of sewing clothes that I have wanted to learn for years now.
I would paint.
I would bicycle-ride.
I would teach my art and yoga class I have wanted to teach.
I would read an average of 30-40 books per year. (Actually doing well in this one without a buddy, but the official book challenge on GoodReads has kind of been like an accountability partner…. so yeah…)
I would play music often.
I probably would do some acting and performing.
I probably would wake up early on most days.
I probably would spend more time with friends.
I would be doing all sorts of wonderful things I have only imagined and haven’t even imagined yet, and it would be awesome.
Yet I have no accountability partner.
Perhaps it is time to find one, already…
Hmm…
Post-a-day 2019
Aka “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”
I watched this movie today for the first time.
It was with my aunt and cousin and my grandma.
The movie was silly and not necessarily something I would watch again.
However, it holds a place of significance within our family, despite the fact that only my grandma and cousin had ever seen the film before today.
What is its significance?
The wedding dresses, of course.
That quick scene at the end of the film, about a minute and a half total, in which the women appear in matching wedding dresses… that is what is significant about the film to our family.
The movie released July 1st, 1953, in the USA.
My grandma went to see the movie in the cinema with a friend of hers.
At the time, my grandma was engaged to be married to my Opa.
And she was struck by the wedding dresses at the end…
So much so that she wanted her own wedding dress to look quite similar to these two dresses.
However, in 1953, there were no smart phones, no point and shoot cameras, and no imdb.com.
There was no way to have her mother see the dresses except right there in the theatre, for that minute and a half.
And so, when she asked her mother if she, her mother, could make this dress for my grandma, her mother agreed to check out this film.
She brought a notebook for sketching the dresses, and she and my grandma went to the cinema together… three times.
The film cost, for each of them, about “a dollar and a quarter,” according to my grandma, which was somewhat hefty at the time…. especially for two people to go three times to the cinema.
Her mother sketched furiously, my grandma says, and had to spend a whole visit working on figuring out the sleeves of the dresses.
Eventually, though, my grandma was handed a better, badder, and much improved version of the dress.
And it looked gorgeous on her, of course!
Could you imagine doing that?
P.S. Since she worked so hard to see and draw and create the dress, I’ll leave the easy modern-day task of finding the dresses to you – you can manage it, I dare say. 🙂
P.P.S. Okay, I couldn’t resist sharing the photos:
Post-a-day 2019
I am leaving for Japan in only a matter of weeks… and I am slightly terrified.
I trust that it will be a perfect trip, however, that doesn’t mean that everything is automatically sorted for me for the trip.
I still am figuring out where to stay and when.
My Japanese needs a serious boost in preparation.
I need to figure out price options for when my brother is there with me, and then find and book that place, whatever it will be.
I need to reach out to everyone else I want to be sure to see.
I need to figure out if I can manage dance shoes in my packing.
I need to figure out what to bring.
I need to pack.
I need to relax just a bit, and still get my stuff handled.
Today, I started a bit of Japanese review, by watching the next episode of this silly Japanese Netflix Original I used to watch when I lived in Japan, “Good Morning Call”.
And it felt good.
It actually excited me about my upcoming voyage, as opposed to leaving me stressed about it all.
I looked up this week Airbnb options, and now have a bit of an idea as to what I might end up doing for all three parts of my Japan time.
I have reached out in the past week and a half to all but one of my super important visit people (the one had already agreed about my visiting a month or two ago).
My knees are continuing to heal, and I am gaining confidence that they will be okay by the time I am in Japan.
Hopefully, they will be healed and at full, comfortable function well before then.
Also, I am exhausted…. and my teeth hurt… my lower teeth, especially…
I had to change my aligners today, so my teeth are all sore and in pain… however, this is the first day of my final month with these aligners all the time(!!!).
Yay!!
Anyway, gotta sleep… 4-ish start in the morning… 
Love the World.
Peace
Hannah
Post-a-day 2019
The other day, I was sharing how I love doing photography for people… that we meet up and go have fun and take some wonderful photos…, and that it really happens like that, that we always go out and have fun…
And I found that interesting… I hadn’t considered it before then, but I realized how true it was.
Every time I go out and do photos with someone for him/her we have fun.
And, as it happens, we end up with some pretty, stellar photos… however, that is not my point tonight.
It is the fun that matters most right now.
I love that it is a sort of adventure, and that it is always fun for us both.
Today, after having completed an afternoon of running around with someone, doing photos of a vehicle, I reflected on the time we’d had together.
And I found that it was fun.
Wow… it really is true that we always have fun whenever I go out to do photos with someone… Cool
😀
It was lovely to discover.
Another wonderful discovery of today happened about twenty minutes ago…
I have known the voice, and I knew what song has had me know it so well in my life, but I couldn’t have said the owner of the voice… but, when a different song from that usual one came on – iPod playing connected to the speakers again…. I really want to make that even more regular, now that I have started it… anyway – I went to find out whose voice it was.
I know I love his voice and style, so I wanted to be able to listen to it more.
Turns out it was James Taylor.
So, I love James Taylor music.
🙂
And I will listen to much of it in the near future.
😀
Goodnight. 😀
P.S. Today was National Tongue Twister Day, so I read my mom (over the phone) one of my favorite books from childhood, Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss…, and it was lovely and funny for the both of us. 😀
Post-a-day 2019
Q: What are you doing on this fine, crisp, beautiful Friday night?
A: Sitting on the floor at home, filing my next set of aligners (for teeth, like Invisalign), contemplating life…
Truly, I am…
I had two big things today… one was a total win, and the other is something I would like to call a win, but which doesn’t quite feel like one yet…
The first, it was great(!).
It happened this morning (well, noon-ish, really) at the gym.
For the first time e-v-e-r, I took off my shirt in public.
Okay, except for the time at the topless beach in Barcelona, but that is a totally different situation…. and all the times at the onsen in Japan… again, totally different situation.
This today was during the workout at the gym, when I experienced my long-sleeve shirt to be too much in the middle of the workout… I had contemplated losing it at the same time as the gorgeous latinos were ditching their shirts early on – aka my favorite time of the workout – but was not ready for it, nor desperate enough for it.
However, on the last two of seven rounds of fast squats and burpees (as fast as was sustainable), I had hit the limit of caring about how I might come across to others and how much I wanted not to be wearing my long-sleeve shirt anymore.
I mean, I had even considered how I wanted to lose my pants/leggings, but I didn’t have shorts with me, so the shirt was kind of the only thing I was willing and able to lose without being too ridiculous, even for my own standards… I mean, this was public, not home (and we all know I go without pants at home quite often… like right now, even), so pants needed to stay on.
Anyway, I ditched the shirt, stayed present with myself and my intention of improving my efforts and performance in the workout by having removed my shirt, and I did just that: improved my performance in the workout.
And I wasn’t embarrassed when the guys encouraged me in my workout, but actually encouraged.
And it was kind of totally no big deal that I had no shirt on.
And that was wonderful and absolutely beautiful.
And, though the whole experience was new and slightly uneasy for me, I was comfortable… and that was great.
What’s more, after I had grown comfortable with this all, and the workout was finished, I did a brief evaluation in front of the bathroom mirror…, and I discovered that I not only wouldn’t have been bothered by seeing another female in my physical condition shirtless, but I would have even approved it as quality enough to show off comfortably in other settings – aka though it isn’t required for being shirtless, I look fit enough to show it off, which is a whole ‘nother win for myself today.
I was comfortable and confident enough to ditch the shirt, and I am at a fitness level that I’m even a bit proud of how I look…. I already have been proud of how hard I have been working in these past several months, but today I got to be proud specifically of how I look from all of that work… which is a wonderful little bonus to all the rest. 🙂
So, that was awesome.
Now, the second thing was kind of total suck…
I was told, after practice today, that blah-blah-blah I am not allowed to coach the boys anymore… and not by any fault of my own, mind you… administrative blah-blah-blah was the declaration.
Based on many other events that have happened since… well, over the past while…, it definitely didn’t feel like that was the reason, and I definitely, for the first time in my life, could relate to the desire of throwing a flaming bag of s*** on someone’s front porch – dog, not human, because human would be just too much… eew… anyway…
Naturally, I dismissed the idea easily, for I didn’t actually want to do it, but part of me wanted to release the extreme upset caused by certain others.
You know what I mean?
Anyway, so I don’t get to coach the boys anymore – I love them dearly and I miss them already, and this was a conversation I was expecting to be having one day soon… and I am glad that it is over and done with now…
Yes, total heartbreak for me.
No, not the end of the world.
Just the end of this part of it…
And, the reason I want to call this one a win, even though it definitely doesn’t feel like it at present, is because I accept that this is a clear sign from God and the Universe that something else is coming for me… I had to be removed by shock from the place and state and situation of dis-ease – because there was just too much unease for me in that place, despite the fact that I felt so much love from the lacrosse folks – so that I would make a change in my life to develop something infinitely better in my life and with my life.
As I said to myself earlier today, I have so much to offer, and that just wasn’t the best situation for me to offer myself and my life fully – something better will arise, now that it has the space to do so.
Now that I did not have that time commitment, I have loads of time open for something else, something better… something more specifically tailored to using my skills and God-given talents to serve the world, to be God in the world around me, to let my light of God within shine and have it inspire those around me… this little light of mine has been growing, and it is starting to burn like a fiery blaze… not everyone is ready for that yet, so I must find whoever is ready for it.
And that’s what I’m contemplating tonight, as I file my teeth aligners and prepare for bed on this beautiful Friday night that everyone else seems to be out celebrating (but I have to be up really early tomorrow morning, so I can go earn some money for this insane life I seem to be leading). 😛
Anyway…
Let’s roast some marshmallows, y’all… this fire is ready.
🙂
Post-a-day 2019
I watched the film “Dances with Wolves” tonight for the first time.
It stressed me out a lot.
It was a really, really well done film…. really…
Kevin Costner is adorably handsome in it.
It hurts my heart that people like the “white men” in the beginning and end still exist today – they are the kinds of people who give me stress whenever I cross them, for I cannot understand their misplaced, narrow viewpoint of the world… and I do not yet know what to do about it – I know something must be done about it, however, if we are to survive as a people on this planet.
Anyway… it is a beautifully done film, and it is very much worth watching… I am glad I finally saw it as an adult, for I think it would have been perceived extremely differently by me as a child, and I want to have had this experience, as an adult watching it for the first time.
And the soundtrack is spectacular, totally worth hearing.
Give it a watch (and listen).
And then, just because it is related through the director and main actor of the film, go look up some of Kevin Costner’s music – he has a band, and they perform together, and the music is wonderful… that man had spirit worth sharing with the world, and I am grateful that he shares it with us.
Post-a-day 2019
hannah ananas 