USING THE EXAMPLE OF WATER
TO FIND OUR OWN PATH IN LIFE
We’re in the rainy season here in the Seattle Northwest. When the rivers are overflowing in the wrong places, water is not appreciated. But appreciating water scenically, hydrating nature and harnessing the power of water is how we live well.
The same goes for the “energy” that we all have for making decisions, communicating and getting things done. It helps us live well.
The difference between water & energy is that we can see and feel water. On the other hand, we can’t see energy, but we can produce it - going with the flow, persisting, focussing:-)
![What were the circumstances i...]()
What were the circumstances in Japan & US promoting Japanese Immigration to US & Seattle around 1900?
The 1868 Meiji Restoration, brought Japan out of 200 years of isolation (foreigners as well as Japanese citizens were killed or imprisoned setting foot on or returning to Japanese soil). The Samurai Shogun was overthrown and the Emperor restored. New political, financial and military leaders chose European imperialism and the American model to transform their country as quickly as possible into a major power. Therefore, “GOING TO AMERICA” was publicized and encouraged.
America was expanding westward and still needed cheap labor. The Civil War was over and slave labor was no longer available. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, enacted because American politicians reacted to the outcry that the Chinese were taking all the good jobs, created a shortage of labor. Especially, workers for railroad and mining were still needed and the Japanese were willing to work hard for cheap. The average $1 (whites earned $2.75) a 10-hour day in America compared to 16 - 25 cents a day earned in Japan.
Japan was experiencing over population, economic problems and climate related farm crop failures. My Grandpa, K Tsukamaki, explains, “In my farming village (Hiroshima, Japan), every other household had someone who had come to America. They would come back to Japan in their fancy western clothes and brag about all the money they made. My father saw no future for his three sons in Japan. My father was 47-years-old (average life expectancy was age 50) when he came to Seattle in 1897 as a railroad worker. He made three trips to America.
I was 19-years old when I immigrated in 1905. Since I was the oldest son I didn’t have to worry, but many of the young men in the village left Japan so they wouldn’t be conscripted into the Japanese army in the fight against Russia.”
Japanese emigration to the United States for the 30 plus years from 1890 to 1924 totaled 275,000. In only one year, 1913, there was 283,000 Italians who entered the U.S. The 1924 Immigration Act and Asian Exclusion act stopped all immigration from Japan, for the same political reasons the Chinese were excluded 40 years before.
Tsukamaki’s father was clearly aware of the politics on both sides of the Pacific ocean, reading newpapers and books like AMERICA BOUND. He arranged for his three sons to emigrate. The second son sneaked into the United States in 1923, using an underground network. The third son, Ted, was brought as a 15-year-old minor on the last boat in the spring, before the exclusion July 1, 1924.
Ted joined the class at the Orillia, WA, grade school and quickly advanced. Ted is remembered in the community as a baseball all-star catcher on the White River Valley team.
![IT'S MORE FUN TO LIVE MY L...]()
IT'S MORE FUN TO LIVE MY LIFE THIS WAY!
Studies like the one at U of Illinois by Hernandez confirm that we sleep 78% better when we practice optimism.
What does it mean to be optimistic? “An optimistic person thinks the best possible thing will happen, and hopes for it even if it's not likely. Someone who's a tad too confident this way is also sometimes called optimistic.”
“People who are the most optimistic tend to be better sleepers, a study of young and middle-aged adults found. More than 3,500 people ages 32-51 were included in the study sample. The participants included people in Birmingham, Alabama; Oakland, California; Chicago; and Minneapolis. The research was led by Rosalba Hernandez, a professor of social work at the University of Illinois.
‘Results from this study revealed significant associations between optimism and various characteristics of self-reported sleep after adjusting for a wide array of variables, including socio-demographic characteristics, health conditions and depressive symptoms,’ Hernandez said. “
I generally sleep well, but the grandkids accuse me of a lot of loud breathing!
![SMALL IMPROVEMENTS EVERY...]()
SMALL IMPROVEMENTS EVERY DAY!
What does it mean to seek small improvements every day? Each and every human life is more important than the world. People are given a special privilege to live a precious human existence.
Similarly, Ike chose Tofu as a representation of the basics necessary in personal development. My banker, Lissette, recently returned from a visit to Japan and suggest that one of the highlights of her trip was to dine at a place in Kyoto where they serve nothing but variations of tofu from appetizers to desserts.
Yesterday, we had lunch at the Katsu Burger in the Factoria center. Our 12-yr-old is partial to Carbs and regularly leaves a lot of protein on her plate to be wasted. She had a Tofu Miso Burger and ate the whole thing! A small dietary improvement???
![Birthday Greeting & Break...]()
Birthday Greeting & Breakfast for Grandma Dee
Celebrating #81
Dee's present is a poem. Sam must have written it in the 1980s, on his blue Lab desk placemat, when Alice was secretary and the girls were gone. Kelly found it in the basement yesterday sorting and cleaning out the GOK (God Only Knows) room and put it in a frame.
A DAY WITH DEE
by Sam Goto
A day in the life
of Dee Goto
Awake in the morning
about seven or so.
Tells Sam, her husband
about a dream or two
Then does the things
that we all do.
Shaklee Makeup
gives her skin a glow
Vitamins and Slim Plan
and she’s ready to go.
Phone orders to fill
customers to call
Sets the answer machine
so she can do it all.
Alice, her secretary
can hardly talk
She’s our of breath
after her morning walk.
Counseling a man
about his life
A teen age boy and
a Japanese wife.
Teaching English
can be fun
Then a music school meeting
keeps her on the run.
Chairs a Japanese
history project meeting
Then on to U.P.S. cause
time is fleeting
Delivers products
along the way
Smiling and talking
like she’s got all day.
Loaning and borrowing
from Kay and Fran
Helping everyone
the best she can.
Stopping to rest
she reads instead
Can’t seem to get
enough into her head.
![Living Well!!]()
Living Well!!
Today was Sam’s earthly birthday, January 13th. It’s snowing and the girls are throwing 13 snowballs at the representative dogwood tree. They are making snow figures as well as snow caramel & hot chocolate to savor like “Little House On the Prairie”.
The ten-year-old was staying home from school with a fever & headache, but she is having no problem fully “LIVING” this snow day. She is providing a model to creatively alleviate suffering - putting the energy into something fun?
Without “suffering” we would not have most of our inventions and conveniences? It’s suggested that: “SUFFERING IS LIVING”
![NECESSARY OR UNNECESSARY ...]()
NECESSARY OR UNNECESSARY SUFFERING?
Crescendo through to the end! And More?
Just passed, is the December 31st anniversary of the day my husband died. Sam’s goal was to live well to the end and he accomplished that. We keep finding quotes on stickies, drawings from high school and notes on things Sam saved as we sort what we want to keep ALIVE.
I'm looking at one of the drawing pads. It's an action sketch of a "dog chase". One summer, when our girls were in grade school, we spent a few days on Shaw Island, taking my parents and our dog, Abigail. The Herards brought their dog, Rags. Under the drawing is the remarks of our 7-yr-old: “Rags is trying to get Abigail to have babies, but she’s spayed; all that work for nothing?”
I’m listening to BJ Miller - Executive Director of San Francisco’s Zen Hospice Project - and his TED talk. “Most of the fear of dying is the fear of suffering.” Dr. Miller survived “the early death of his legs” in a random and stupid college antic. He chose to become a palliative care physician with the ALIVE parts of his body.
Dr. Miller talks about his patient, Frank, who had Prostate Cancer, HIV and end of life issues. But Frank chose to water raft the Grand Canyon and was elated to experience freezing waters and the excruciating fatigue of being ALIVE.
Again, how we take “life” all depends on our perspective? Research is proving we can change our brain and our responses! "DIE WELL, BY LIVING WELL"
![GRATITUDE MIND SET FOR A G...]()
GRATITUDE MIND SET FOR
A GREAT AND FULL LIFE!
It’s New Years Eve and one might say we are following our Japanese Heritage tradition of cleaning up to start a new year - making sure all our obligations are satisfied and we are prepared with affirmations for the new Year, 2020.
In cleaning up to make room for our new life we found a six-year-old’s attempt to keep up with her older sister’s inspirational quotes.
A lot of unfinished choices ahead???
![WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE P...]()
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO BE PROACTIVE?
BEING PROACTIVE means taking responsibility for MY life and actions rather than just watching how things happen. Being proactive takes time, since I have to consider MY options, weigh alternatives and make MY own decisions in order to achieve MY goals that include respect and consideration of family and community.
The adjectives I want to be known for in pursuing proactivity is - kind, courageous and physically, mentally & spiritually balanced.
![NO TALKING DURING PROBLEM ...]()
NO TALKING DURING PROBLEM TIMES!!
![USE THE AGE OLD "COUNT TO...]()
USE THE AGE OLD "COUNT TO 10"
DURING STRESSFUL TIME
1. NO TALKING DURING PROBLEM TIMES!!
2. REMEMBER THE AGE OLD STRESS REACTION? "COUNT TO 10"
3. HAVE DISCUSSIONS DURING NON-PROBLEM TIMES.
4. TAKE THE DIFFICULT DISCUSSIONS ONE-ON-ONE TO A PUBLIC PLACE.
5. BE PROACTIVE!!!
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