HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 - A KAORI WATERCOLOR
Our household holds a 13-yr-old and a 15-year-old this New Year’s Eve, going into NEW YEAR 2023. The girls are at the mall and ice skating. I’m listening to a Wayne Dyer video and he gave me the idea for the title because the girls were struggling with cleaning their room and daily chores before they left.
Dyer is one of my favorite lecturers and today he is talking again about describing the REAL SELF inside each of us. He says, “I am the same me that I remember as a teenager and now with a bald head, I am the same me.” Funny, because I went to the bathroom, combed my hair, and the comb is full of hair!
I went to fill my thermo cup with some more tea and someone left a note on the fridge: THE BAD NEWS IS TIME FLIES; THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE ARE THE PILOT! I’m using people like Dyer to teach me to confirm that I know how to fly, and continue to learn more.
Dyer goes on to suggest the thinking of our life like a clock - Twelve is our real self. As one’s clock moves to six, We move away from self. Some of us stay here and die. The key is to move forward, back to twelve and enlightenment - with loving, accepting, moving toward a no limit life. The clock doesn’t tic backwards. Dyer explains his five secrets of the universe and getting back to twelve:
1.Quality rather than appearances - get to not needing approval - success is “being busy being myself”. Busy following my dreams, to not notice if anyone approves.
2.Ethics rather than rules - seeking the truth - seeing things as they are not as I want them to be.
3. Knowledge rather than Achievement - knowledge rather than awards and goals - trusting my inner sense and living in the present. He says JFK just did, each day, what made the most sense. What a relief to not make any more New Year resolutions.
4. Personal Authority rather than being an Authoritarian - never needing to dominate someone else - listening to what other people have to say. Know myself. When someone treats me badly, that’s their Karma. How I react is my Karma.
5. Serenity instead of Acquisitions - serenity comes from the way I think - living in the light - learning forgiveness and being love.
Suki, our Berniedoodle, “lives in the present”: wants to be be fed, let out to pee, poop, exercise, and cuddled with love! Her mission in life is to let us know when strangers come up our driveway. She doesn’t bark with the garbage truck, the Fed-Ex truck or the UPS trucks. But if the UPS just delivers to our neighbor across the street, she barks to see if he will come over and bring her his usual treat. She just jumped up beside me to cuddle because she is worried about the New Year celebration noises.
THERE IS NO WAY TO HAPPINESS: HAPPINESS IS THE WAY TO HAPPY 2023!
![CELEBRATING 2022 AS WE MO...]()
CELEBRATING 2022 AS WE MOVE INTO 2023
Right now, there is a big FED-EX truck stuck in our driveway. He was turning around and got his right back truck wheel “high centered”, so it spins and has no traction. He eventually called a tow truck to pull him out of his dilemma.
The tow truck looks considerably smaller than the big Fed-Ex truck, but got the job done.
The truck is no longer blocking so, Grandma and Kaori are on their way to an Orthodontic checkup. Earlier, they had discussed what Kaori would like to watercolor for Grandma’s blog this week. Kaori had answered, “I like the fireworks celebrating New Year, but maybe the celebration can also be of the best parts of this past year.”
Turning left on to West Mercer Way, Grandma explained, “Maybe I’ll write about Fed-Ex truck and think about the ‘Tow-Trucks’ in our life.
Kaori was enthusiastic, “I like that!”
“So what are some of the Tow-Trucks we can celebrate?”
Kaori answers from the back seat of the Subaru, “Community! Of course family, and yes, friends.
“Let’s start with you, what was the best part of 2022 for you?” Grandma asks as we turn right at the corner with all the special holiday lighting in Mercerdale Park. “There is no doubt the watercolors you got for your birthday in June is your highlight?”
“I was kind of thinking of our Hawaii trip, but yes AND all the pencils and watercolor stuff for Christmas,” Kaori adds.
Back at home, Kirin has no trouble responding to what she plans to celebrate, “High School and Drill Team. I like the discipline, I get a lot of exercise and I love the camaraderie!” Mercer Island Drill Team got first place in their local tournament a couple weeks ago. They are determined to win state.
Mom, Kelly, lost several pounds on her Keto Diet with her coach, but she’s not ready to celebrate because she is not done yet.
Grandma is pleased to celebrate the monthly random guests, since May, participating in the STORIES AT THE PANAMA. Listening to many podcasts about “finding and expressing the truth - of who I am”, she heard and embraces the phrase “FINDING THE RICHNESS OF LIFE IN EVERY STORY”. What a mission statement for her new life path.
There was a smile on his face, as the Fed-Ex driver hollered out his window to the Tow-truck driver as they were leaving,“That was ‘POWERFUL HELP’, thanks!!”
![ANOTHER KAORI WATERCOLOR]()
ANOTHER KAORI WATERCOLOR
Yesterday was a snowy day. Kaori (13) and I talked about what I might blog about our thoughts and she wanted to think about the good feelings with a warm fire in our living room.
Kelly has been sitting in front of this warmth all month as she taps out, on her computer, the right words for the book she is putting together about her Dad, his philosophy and art with his 250 cartoon strips he completed before he died five years ago. Starting in 2012, Dad Sam’s weekly cartoon strips were published by the North American Post for five years.
December reminds us of the 2017 month of illness Sam endured producing his last cartoon strip for January and passing on December 31st. As the family gathered that day, sister Irene noted, “Sam was born on the 13th and today is the 31st, thirteen backwards!”
In 1971, when Sam and I took our first trip to Japan, we had to quickly get our visas and went to the City of Seattle Vital Statistics office to get Sam’s birth certificate. That’s when he officially learned he was born on January, 13, 1933, at 3am, on Friday the 13th, at 1303 Washington Street in Seattle, was the 3rd child of a mother 23 and a father 33 and their address was Route 3 in Renton.
Publisher Bruce Rutledge, of Chin Press, was here yesterday for lunch and he likes the idea of the title of our book being, THE WAY OF SAM, which might resonate more with all who seek truth and being American. The North American Post comic strips were titled SEATTLE TOMODACHI.
School is out, no homework, the girls and Suki the dog are filling our home with music, lights and love for the season.
![Gift of family]()
Gift of family
As I was hiding Christmas gifts for the girls this 2022 holiday season, I found this story Grandpa Sam had written on the shelf of his writings and drawings in my closet. It is representative of the gift of life and the gift of family.
UMBILICAL CORD TEA
By Sam Goto
I was eight-years-old and living in Bully Creek, Oregon. We lived in a house Dad built on to an old chicken coop. This was before WWII – no electricity, no plumbing, an outside privy; but I have many memories of the place.
One memory is the time I was going through Mom’s medicine box. It contained Japanese herbal cures like “gorin” (small BB size silver pellets), a piece of brown root that had a medicinal odor that was shaved for tea.
The thing that interested me most was a dried up piece of something, light brown, wrapped in cellophane that looked like dried up cuttlefish. I remember asking Mom about it and she said: “It is your UMBILICAL CORD, saved especially for you. If you ever get real sick, we can make tea out of it and it will make you well!”
I never saw it after that or ever needed it. Maybe there was something to it. Stem cells are now being studied by scientists – Stem Cells?
Umbilical cord traditions in Japan:
In Japanese culture, many believe that the umbilical cord directly impacts the baby's health. So, when a mother gives birth in Japan, the hospital will usually give her a special box to preserve the cord after it falls from the baby's belly button.
![SOURCE?]()
SOURCE?
According to Sudhguru, “connecting with source” starts with appreciating colors, wearing natural product created clothes, noticing sunrises and sunsets, being passionate with nature and exuberant about living.
Love is described as transitional sweetness of emotion. If my body become pleasant, I can call it good health. If my mind becomes pleasant, I can call it peace and or pleasure and further feel joy, blissfulness, ecstasy!
So today, as I am taking time to empty the dishwasher and clean the Kitchen sink, I am taking more time to appreciate the pleasantness of moments. It makes me feel good to see a clear kitchen counter ready for the next round of cooking and eating.
I come back to my room and it feels good to see a made bed, but some of yesterday’s socks are under the rebounder. I toss them into my laundry basket, then I take out the waste basket to be emptied into the garbage can outside. The sun is mid-day in the sky, there are a few clouds. How glorious to feel the cool November air.
Getting in the car to drive the 13-yr-old to Karate practice, I am explaining my feelings to her because I am asking her to do another watercolor to illustrate this blog.
I’m writing it all down and imagining how readers can be feeling their own joyful moments?
Neuroscientist at Stanford, Andrew Huberman, explains this thinking as “dopamine releasing” moments. Dr. Rahu Jandial, surgeon and neuroscientist, suggest we pay more attention to our breathing.
Growing up in the fundamental Christian home I agreed to be baptized at age six. I remember the other girl around age 10 went on and on about how she was transformed. At that time I thought, “Nothing changed for me?” I prayed as I walked to school. I still have the same habits of thinking-praying, but it’s becoming more fun. “SOURCE”? Hmmmm? Lots to learn!
![BECOMING AWARE OF MEANING...]()
BECOMING AWARE OF MEANINGFUL COINCIDENCES
Being involved in things that make life better, being a grandma, making my bed, getting at least 5000 steps on my Fitbit, making healthy diet choices, living in harmony with nature and continuing to learn fills my days. When I awaken and I have thoughts and ideas, I work to follow my instincts.
Today, I decided to google a podcast on “synchronicity” and found Phillip Merry PhD who wrote 9 KEYS OF SYNCHRONICITY - They’re Hiding All Around Us. The first 3 first keys, “Notice something different that is happening to one’s day. Become aware. Then act on it.”
Merry's 4th key is to celebrate and the following is a fun example in my life:
On one of my trips to Japan in 1991, I was staying in Chiba, not far from where I landed at Japan’s Narita Airport. A few days later, I had a business appointment in Roppongi, one of the eastern districts of Tokyo. My host asked me to wait in his office while he ran to a 30-minute-errand and then he would take me to lunch.
I felt I was not far from Den-en-Chofu and decided to call Mrs. Nihei while I waited. I had gotten to know the Nihei family here when they lived on Mercer Island for a few years as business reps for a Japanese company. Mrs Nihei was not home, but her son Tats answered the phone saying, “Mrs Goto! How wonderful to talk with you. I actually live in Kobe, but I dropped by the house because I made the trip today to make some wedding plans. I would love to get together, but I have to go back to Kobe.”
I responded, “Tats, I’m planning to go stay with my cousin in Kobe next week. Let’s plan to get together there.” Then, I gave Tats my cousin’s name, Harumi Sumitomo and address.
Tats screamed back in response, “HARUMI! Mrs. Goto, I am a representative of the Sumitomo Bank in Kobe and just last week, I went to their home on business and met them for the first time!!”
Following Merry’s second set of suggests I’m putting my awareness into being a servant citizen. Therefore, I’m using my blog to keep me thinking, set intentions and integrating my heart/brain.
I asked my 13-yr-old to watercolor a visual that I can include with my thoughts of living with hope and possibility. I have my next blog planned with Merry’s 9th Key of “Connecting With Source”.
![BETWEEN 6TH AND MAYNARD ...]()
BETWEEN 6TH AND MAYNARD ON MAIN STREET
IN SEATTLE'S INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT
Spring of 2022, Nana and I started meeting at the Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee on Tuesdays to discuss Seattle Japanese Immigrant stories and writing. The place was always humming with a variety of activity with Seattle City Tours, school field trips and those who come to see the real HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford. Of particular interest are features such as the belongings stored downstairs because of the WWII incarceration of those of us with Japanese Heritage. In general the rooms are filled with pictures, artifacts, vintage decor and documentation of the Japanese Experience in America!
It’s of significance to me because my father-in-law, Nisaburo Goto, once considered the Hashidate Japanese Bath in the Panama basement and the NP Hotel next door “Home”. There is a picture of him working as a bar tender at the Jackson Cafe hanging on the wall.
One Tuesday, Jan, the owner sat down with us to visit, and it flashed in my mind, “Why don’t we start a session of Stories at the Panama.” Jan got excited and commented, “Sunday is our slow day for the Tea and Coffee business.” It occurred to me, Sunday was also a day we could park free on the streets. We decided the first Sunday of each month between the hours of 11am to 1pm would be a good commitment. My granddaughter drew and made the flyers. Jan posted a sign on the entry door.
May 1st, 2022, was our first session and we had a dozen individuals join us to chat. One couple was from Australia, others were from North Carolina, Japan, New York and all over. The visitors did come from all corners of the world and it was fun to ask questions like, “Where did you grow up? Why and when did you come to Seattle? What is the story of your heritage?”
Sunday, November 6th was our seventh monthly session with another dozen of us or more. Cassidy was from England via Portland and was staying at the Panama Hotel to see a couple of the comedians in Bell Town. She had a Japanese boy friend inspiring her to learn more about Japan and Japanese.
Reed, a world traveler - having grown up in California - was with us with his girl friend, Emily, from Taiwan. She is at the U of W and enrolled in their Entrepreneurial Program. It was fun to hear her explain her life path and how her parents fell in love in Okinawa.
Jim and Karen met taking Japanese class at the U of W. Subsequently, they learned both their fathers were part of Boeing’s Space Program. Karen saw the Stories at the Panama sign on the front door and they also came to check out Jim’s, Mukai grandmother’s Koto - musical instrument, that is displayed in the entry window showcase. Karen also shared some about her family heritage from the coal mines of Pennsylvania.
Eric told us about his first job as an engineer at Boeing and his experience in selling the first Boeing 737s to Japan’s Nippon Airlines. He explained that it helped to have Japanese heritage, but having grown up in Kona, HI, he had to learn the Japanese way of doing business. He commented, “Most of the decision making was ‘getting to know each other like family’ and after business hours endeavors.”
The Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee is a gathering place and international crossroads of visitors of every age. Current business owners as well as former residents, of what was once considered Japan Town, come for coffee and lunch breaks. Several of us choose the location for business meetings.
Those of us interested in history, psychology and philosophy are finding it a lot of fun to share our own heritage and life stories as well as hearing from all walks of life. Stories can change how we think, change behaviors and add fulfillment for well being. Nothing like talking, asking questions, sharing and being inspired!
![KAORI WATERCOLOR]()
KAORI WATERCOLOR
![How much does a PIRATE pay...]()
How much does a PIRATE pay for corn?
A Buckeneer!
This morning started with a drive up 148th to my eye appointment with Dr. Coday near Crossroads. Last Saturday was the burial service for Henry Goto and this drive amplified the fact that I could no longer stop by to chat as I passed 6th Avenue. Kaori's watercolor reflects the sentiment R.I.P.!
![WHAT IS THE “WH...]()
![WHAT IS THE “WH...]()
My “Why” on this day is: WHAT CAN I DO AND THINK ABOUT TODAY THAT WILL GENERATE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN THAT ARE: Self Reliant, Responsible, Kind and Joyous Contributors to their community?
I generally sleep well, but last night I was awake at 3am thinking about my WHY questions. Why is the OMOIDE writing program important to me. Why do I want to work to raise money so the Japanese Cultural and Community Center will be impacting our community for the next 100 years?
Last Sunday evening I brought two new neighbors from Guadalajara, Mexico, with me to a Seattle Symphony Community Concert at the Benaroya in downtown Seattle. The reason I asked my neighbors to attend was because I wanted them to learn about some of our Japanese in America experience.
The evening’s experience was the collaboration of composer Paul Kikuchi putting wings of sound to our OMOIDE (memories) stories of Executive Order 9066. In 1942, 110,000 of us with as little as 1/16 Japanese Heritage living in the west coastal states of Washington, Oregon & California were incarcerated. Families could only take what they could carry, leaving their homes and businesses.
Why is it important to capture and remember the stories of such a tragedy in American History? Why are we writing stories that will impact the 5th grade?
Today, I’m listening to a podcast by Navy Seal, Jocko Willink, who explains why he writes children’s books. He is explaining how his older daughter wasn’t learning her times tables in school. It dawned on him that she would benefit from some of his Navy Seal training. Subsequently, he chose to write a children’s book about dealing with “bullying” which became a best seller. The most satisfying review was from an adult woman that said the book changed her life.
Jocko Willink goes on to say, “The most important part of life is to learn to face our setbacks. Anyone’s heritage is full of cataclysms!! It’s important to remember, shorten our reaction times, and practice ways to overcome.” His daughter practiced math skills and the victim of the bullying found out the person who was bullying him was just as scared as himself.
Similarly, our OMOIDE books are generating the most reviews from adults. For 30 years we have documented stories of the Japanese Experience in the Pacific Northwest of Immigration and the Incarceration with first person stories of the experience as children of the Issei, Nisei and Sansei.
Everything rises and falls on “leadership”, ”Infinite Parenting” and waking up at night asking “Why”. It is exciting to see our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren doing spectacular things with their learning, writing, music and art as humanity continues to evolve.
![JAPANESE CULTURAL AND CO...]()
JAPANESE CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER OF WASHINGTON
Immigrants 1912 making major contributions to our Seattle community
The other day, I asked my 15-yr-old granddaughter, “How do you feel about your Japanese Heritage?
‘
She answered, “It gives me energy and I feel more power.”
“Give me an example of when you feel like this,” I implored.
“Well, a couple times when I was with some friends and the subject came up, I said I’m ‘Go-sei’ (5th generation Japanese American) and I felt good.”
This response is thrilling to me. Perhaps our parenting, my husband’s comic strips for the North American Post and our books are resonating. I have a vision for a better Pacific Northwest community because we are sharing our OMOIDE (Memories), a program of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington. The stories of our Japanese in America experience and heritage values have been published in five volumes, written for 5th graders. We have plans for OMOIDE VI.
With the Covid Isolation and the passing of my husband, I am on an added path as I move into the 8th decade of life, I’m excited to share past learning and stories with new technology such as podcasts and cooperating with other venues such as STORIES AT THE PANAMA and EVENING AT THE SEATTLE REPERTORY THEATER.
I am surprised daily with leading scientists around the world citing examples from the Japanese culture as they lecture and talk about their research. This clearly backs up the benefits of passing-on our Japanese Heritage Values, not only for our own decedents, but for the benefit of our neighbors here in America. The following are a couple examples.
Ethologist Frans de Waal, in a recent podcast talked about conflict resolution. His example was about how in Japan, adults and teachers do not intervene in children’s fights. They consider it natural learning and let them work things out for themselves at their level, without adult or community rules. De Waal did a lot of studies with Chimps and Monkeys, citing, “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?”
Psychiatrist, Iain McGilchrist, who researches the difference between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, says, “The Western Culture has been mostly created by left brain activity which deals with numbers and goals for “parts” of our life.” He suggests we incorporate more of the Asian and particularly parts of the Japanese culture into our lives. This would bring the right brain emotions and look at our world as “whole” instead of just parts.
Although it’s not empirical studies sanctioned by a modern University, the Japanese had 200 years of the Edo Period which brought the practices of the arts and cultural expectations to a researched science and social norm.
As a member of the board of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington, I am picturing a tour guide, 100 years from now, bringing attention to the strong heritage values like “being honest” and “resilience” shaping our Northwest community along with similar values with other ethnic communities.
The stories and words we share today, 2022, will guide that vision of our future.
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