May 29
2009
2009
Archive for May, 2009
I heard that the Japanese movie “Departures” has finally opened in the U.S. in the past few days. The Japanese title is “Okuribito“, meaning a person who sends out (something or someone). This movie won an Academy Award for best foreign 
language film, though I don’t believe many Americans know of this film (and it will most likely not become a blockbuster movie). I watched it about a week ago after borrowing the DVD from my colleague. I cried on several occasions. I was watching it alone, and there were some scenes that made me think of my grandparents, both of which passed away in their own home, at different times. It made me wonder if they were taken care of as well as the ones that were shown in the movie when they were “encoffined” i.e.: being placed in the coffin.
Recently I attended an educational event at the San Diego Women’s Foundation. The topic of that day was “Inspired Philanthropy”. The first presenter talked about the physiological, mental and emotional effect of the act of giving, and in the end said the quote on the title. This is from Ben Sweetland and goes like this; “We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own”. 
When I heard her say this, what popped into my mind was this fact; If you want to be helpful to other people, you have to be the best you can be – whatever that might be. In other words, keeping the low profile and not exploring your full potential will make you be and feel like everyone else, and that might be comfortable thing to do for some people – especially if you are from Japan, where we have this saying “A nail that stands up will be pounded down”.
May 16
2009
2009
霧の中を歩めば・・・
鎌倉時代の僧、道元（曹洞宗の開祖）の「正法眼蔵」という書物の中に、「霧の中を歩めば覚えざるに衣湿る」という言葉があります。薄い霧の中を歩いていくうちに、いつのまにか衣は水気を含んで、気がつくとじっくりと湿っているという様子を示す言葉で、その意味するところ
は「人間は知らず知らずのうちに周りに影響されるのだから、自分の身を置く環境を選ぶことが大事である」ということです。お子さんを持つ方、特に日本人は、この言葉を聞いて「やはりいい学校に入れなければ」と思う方もいらっしゃるでしょう。もちろん、学校をはじめ、お子さんがいる地域や周りの人々、友人との関係が大事なことは言うまでもありません。
May 14
2009
2009
Pain is Inevitable, but Suffering is Optional
The title is a phrase that I just heard today while listening to Haruki Murakami’s book “What I talk about when I talk about running”. It’s Murakami’s memoir, a book about being professional writer and a (amateur) runner. Chris Guillebeau, who I just got to know of about 2 weeks ago, talked about this book(Chris is a big fan of Murakami) in his report “279 Days to Overnight Success“. I’ve read most of Murakmi’s novels, but didn’t know this one partly because I had not gone back to Japan for a few years. I immediately checked the local library and got the book on CD - my favorite way of “reading” books these days during my commute. It was strange listening to this book translated in English - I tried to imagine how it’s written in Japanese, the original language, while listening to the story.
May 10
2009
2009
Celebrate Your Child (or anyone for that matter)
English blog | Japanese blog
I attended a presentation for the New World Leadership Academy which is going to open in September this year in Encinitas, CA. During the presentation, the founder was answering a question, and shared this story which stuck with me. The question was around the new school’s philosophy - there were some words such as “child’s God given gift” in the presentation slides, and several participants asked if this is a religious school. The answer is no, this is not a religious school, but they believe that everyone is born with divinity within. Everyone is magnificent just by being. (more…)
May 9
2009
2009
子どもに何を期待するか
English blog | Japanese blog
「期待」というのはやっかいなものです。親が子どもに期待すると、何が起こるでしょうか？特に日本から越してきたばかりの場合、親は子どもにはすぐに英語（あるいは現地の言葉）を覚えてほしい、学校では友達を作ってほしい、よい成績をとってほしい、異文化にもうまく適応して人気者になってほしい・・・などという期待をします。中には非現実的な期待もあるでしょう。過剰な期待をかけられた子どもは、親の期待に応えることができないと、最初から何かを始める前にあきらめてしまうこともあるかもしれません。でも、まったく期待しないとどうなるでしょうか？ (more…)
May 2
2009
2009
Why My Peaceful Family?
English blog | Japanese blog
If someone had said to me 10 years ago that I will marry a foreigner, move to San Diego and will have two sons, and I will have my own business around coaching parents (especially mothers) and teaching others about how to create a peaceful family….I would not have believed it. 10 years ago, I just started working for one of the United Nations organizations, which was my dream job since high school. (more…)
May 2
2009
2009
国際結婚・異国での子育て
English blog | Japanese blog
子育てという人生で初めての体験を、自分の国を離れて異国でしている日本人の数は年々増えています。私もその一人で、いわゆる「国際結婚」で渡米、現在に至っています。二人目の子どもが生まれる前に、アメリカ人の夫とともに受講した子育てについてのクラスに大変感銘を受けて、この手法をマスターすべく、インストラクターの資格を取った後、これを仕事にしたいと思うようになりました。縁があって受講していただいた日本人のお母さん達と話していて感じるのは、子育てとは本当に手探りで行うものだということです。また、育児書を読んだり色々な話を聞いて情報を得ることはできるものの、もちろん万人に通じる方法なんていうものはなくて、基本的には自分の経験を思い出しながら、これは嫌だったから自分の子どもにはこうしてあげたい、または、こうされて嬉しかったから自分の子どもにもこうしよう・・という試行錯誤の連続ではないでしょうか。 (more…)
