Nature and Life Archives - Page 6 of 11

How to Make a Change in The World

A lesson from two totally different sources.

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
“Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson, lyric by Siedah Garrett

In college, I was a fan of Michael Jackson. The main media of my music back then were cassette tapes, not even CDs. You can guess how old I am. I used to play the tape so many times that the music eventually sounded quite different from the original.

I remember I once skipped going back to see my parents in Osaka for the New Year because I got a ticket for Michel’s concert in Tokyo on new year’s eve.

“Man in the Mirror” was undoubtedly my favorite song. It was different. It was not about a girl who claims the father of the child, zombies, or about street fighters. The song was down to earth and penetrated into my deepest emotions.

For the longest time I forgot about this song, until recently I came across the quote below:

It is easier to change your thinking than to change the world. Changing your thinking will definitely change the world.
by Sadhguru

Sadhguru is a yogi from India. I like his messages so much that I have his app downloaded on my phone and listen to his talks occasionally.

Sadhguru and Michael Jackson… It was a surprise to find out these different figures have a similar message. Today this message strikes a chord with me deeply, I just want to share it with you. How are those messages striking your chord?

Accidental Tourist Bought Two Books

Village Bookstore in Fairhaven, Bellingham was a magical place.

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Fairhaven is an old part of Bellingham City, Washington State. It takes only two hours by car from Seattle, but I had never been there until this weekend.

The historic district of Fairhaven stretches no more than several blocks. After having lunch at the hotel restaurant overlooking Bellingham Bay and Lummi Island, my husband and I parked our car on 11th street and began meandering. Getting lost was our main purpose for this weekend’s getaway.

“I’m cold. I want a cup of coffee.” “Oh, it says there is a coffee shop upstairs. Let’s go in.”

We didn’t even know that the building was a bookstore. We got in the elevator and went up to the second floor. There on the left-hand side was a display of a huge chocolate cake and the counter for ordering drinks, and on the right-hand side were shelves and shelves of books.

While I was waiting to order our coffee, my husband went ahead to find a table for us. He got a small table by the window. Next to ours, I found a larger table with nobody sitting. Why not enjoy the larger space?

I walked up to the table and found the sign. It said, “THIS SPACE RESERVED for writing workshop tonight from 5:45 – 7:30.”

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Beyond the large table was a counter also overlooking the window. It was “Writer’s Corner.”

Just because I’ve been writing on Medium for just over 70 days, I felt as if this coffee shop was MY place!

I just remembered somebody wrote on Medium that you have to read twenty times as much as you write. OK, it’s a sign. I have to buy books here!

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

I have never been an avid reader of English literature. It still takes me twice as long to read in English compared to reading in Japanese. Fictions have never been my cup of tea. But my compulsive reaction was to purchase two classics by Mark Twain.

The magic of Village Bookstore in Fairhaven.

Are You Healthy?

What is your definition of health?

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Only a day after I visited my doctor for an annual checkup, I received an email from her.

The email was encrypted, and I could read it only after I logged in to my health vault. On the website, there was a list of test results. Thirty-five items altogether.

Three items were flagged. Two of them were about my cholesterol. Both values are high, which makes the ratio to be normal, so it’s not a concern. My white blood cell level is a little low, but it has been low for over several years. It might be due to my genetic tendency, so don’t worry.

Thank God that my doctor interpreted them all. The list is all Greek to me. Without my doctor’s message, I would have had no clue how to read any of them.

Once again, my health has been assured, thanks to my doctor. I assume I’m healthy until another checkup occurs next year.

These test results are vital to detect any symptom of disease, I understand. But looking at this long list of incomprehensible terms acronyms and numbers, I started to wonder about my own health.

Years ago, the list must have been a lot shorter. As time goes by, more research will find more things to be measured. And I’m sure they will find some “abnormal” values in my result. The longer the list becomes, the more possibility that I’m categorized as “unhealthy”?

What is the definition of “being healthy”, then? Do I have to rely upon those numbers to prove to me that I’m healthy?

So I began consciously asking myself if I’m healthy. How?

Every morning when I wake up, I silently ask myself, “am I healthy today?” If I’m full of energy and ready to get out of bed to start a new day, I tell myself “Yes, I’m healthy.”

I may be tricking myself. But, you know, I’m a control freak. I want to be in the driver’s seat about my health, too. What’s wrong with trusting my own sense to check if I’m healthy?

Once a year, I rely on so many numbers of different components in my blood to tell me if I’m healthy. But every day, why don’t I rely on my own sense to declare my health?

This morning I stretched my arms, and I heard my inner voice telling me, “Yes I’m healthy today.” I trust this inner voice.

In Seattle, the Sun Sets in Different Positions

The ever-changing season is always the wonder

The Sunset on July 16: Photo by the Author Akemi Sagawa

The large window in our living room is facing west.

Weather permitted, from this window, I can see the roofs of the neighboring houses, evergreen trees that have grown so tall in the last 25 years, the quiet surface of Puget Sound, the shore of Bainbridge Island, and the snow-capped Olympic Mountains.

Enjoying the sunset from this window is one of my secret joys. I love traveling and am always mesmerized by the beautiful sceneries of every exotic place I visit, but the sunset from our living room remains top of the list.

In Seattle, whose latitude is 47.60 N, the sun doesn’t set until 9 pm on the summer solstice, and it sets at 4 pm on the winter solstice. The contrast between the long days in the summer and the short days in the winter is so much greater than that of Osaka, my hometown (the latitude is 34.68 N).

Not only the length of the daytime but the contrast of where the sun sets is also drastic.

I wish I had better photos, but I hope these three photos taken from the same window in my living room help you get the idea.

When the days are long, the sun sets further north in the mountains, on the right side of the photo. (See the photo above taken on July 16.)

The sunset on September 19: photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Near the equinox, the sun sets in the middle, due west.

As the days are getting shorter, the sun sets further south in the mountains, on the left side of the photo.

The sunset on October 27: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

The ever-changing position of the sunset with the change of the season reminds me of the impermanence of life. For billions of years, this cycle of sunset has been continuing.

Compared to this almost eternal cycle, my life on earth is so minuscule. How lucky I am to be able to experience this awe, considering how minuscule my existence is.

Broccoli Flowers, Brown leaves of Spirea and Maple

What I found in my tiny backyard today.

Flowering Broccoli: Photo by Author

Broccoli

Early in the spring I sowed broccoli seeds directly on the ground, and I forgot about it. My tiny backyard is full of such what I call “experiments.” I sometimes “buried” potatoes that have sprouted and harvested a bucket-full of potatoes later in the year.

Broccoli bud: Photo by Author

By any gardening standard, my broccoli was a total failure. I never harvested a big round broccoli, but only bunch of small buds like the photos came out. Whenever these buds came out, I plucked them before they flowered, tossed them into my fried rice. It was tasty enough.

Then we went for a trip to Vienna over Thanksgiving. By the time we came back, the tiny buds grew large and yellow flowers blossomed all over.

The bright yellow flowers showed sign of full life in the shivering cold weather. But a sudden gust knocked off the tallest stem right after I took the picture. Oh no! It will wilt soon! Before it wilts down, can I enjoy the flowers a little longer?

Brown Leaves of Spirea

Spirea bush: Photo by Author

The spirea leaves were turning colors to orange and brown (yes, Brown!), so were maple leaves. Why not combine these to capture the end of autumn/ the beginning of winter?

Here is my tiny Ikebana arrangement taken from our tiny backyard. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Time to Apologize to My Camellia Tree

I almost killed it years ago.

Camellia buds: Photo by Author

Seattle is known for gloomy, rainy days in the winter. Today is such a typical Seattle weather, although just about for a second I saw bright sunshine.

Even on such a day, I found a bud with a hint of vivid pink/red dot on the camellia tree in my tiny yard. Maybe it’s only a day or two away from blossoming!

For about two or three months, this camellia is practically the only flower I can enjoy for my Ikebana from the yard. Not only the striking flowers, the thick, shiny, vivid green of its leaves are so attractive, aren’t they?

Sofu Teshigahara (勅使河原蒼風, 1900 – 1979), the founder of Sogetsu School of Ikebana, loved camellia so much and he created many Ikebana arrangements using only with camellias. Looking at his photo books, I’m always amazed how versatile his depictions are about this lovely flower.

I have a confession to make…

It must be over 25 years ago. We just moved in this house and I was a new student of Sogetsu Ikebana. Inspired by one of the works of our Grand Master Sofu Teshigahara, I decided to plant a camellia tree in the yard, hoping to use it for my Ikebana someday.

I got a small sapling at the local arboretum and planted it.

I didn’t realize how long it takes to grow it. After 3 or four years I planted the tree, it was still tiny. I gave up the idea of using this tree for my arrangement and started planting perennials next to it. Those perennials were already in bloom.

I lost my balance when trying to dig a hole, and inadvertently I stepped on the still tiny camellia sapling. It was bend and also heavily damaged. I almost gave it up, thinking it won’t last another year.

The trunk of the camellia tree: Photo by Author

You can see how crooked the trunk is at the bottom of this tree. That’s my doing. But the tree is still alive, and each winter it gives me so much joy with the abundant flowers.

I’m sorry, Camellia. It must have been painful when I stepped on you. Thank you so much for thriving now regardless. You look so beautiful!

How to Prepare Yourself to Welcome the New Year

It starts with deep cleaning.

Photo by ochimax studio on Unsplash

Year 2022 is coming to an end. Twenty-six days left, to be exact. How would you like to spend these remaining days?

There may be a lot of holiday parties you are invited to. There is nothing wrong with saying farewell to the passing year with your friends.

If you want to welcome and head start a fresh year 2023 come in January, however, why not spending a few days in December to prepare yourself for that head start?

In Japan, Christmas is not even a national holiday. I used to go to work on Christmas Day. The largest holiday is the New Year’s, and in order to welcome the New Year, people spend extra time to deep clean everything at the end of December. They call the deep cleaning “Oo Soji” (大掃除). It’s been 28 years since I moved to Seattle from Japan, but I still continue this deep cleaning custom to mentally prepare myself to welcome the New Year.

My focus on this deep cleaning is to take a closer look at each space and get rid of things I don’t need. In the drawers, in the closet, on the bookshelf… I go each space one by one. I find things I had thought I might need later, but I ended up not using anyway. Do I really need it in the future? Not quite. Then toss it!

This simple process of tossing things methodically, is quite meditative. Not only getting rid of things physically, I feel I’m emptying my mind. Clearing out my mental clutter.

Once I toss out things I don’t need, I now find enough empty space in each drawer, closet, and shelf. When the new year comes, I’m prepared to fill in such empty space with brand new items.

Just like I emptied the physical space, I feel as if I have created empty space in my mind, ready to welcome whatever comes the next year.

Maybe you need only a few extra hours. Or a coupe days. How about spending some time in December to prepare yourself? Make empty space physically and mentally to welcome the brand new year?

No, Time doesn’t Fly Any Faster in December

Let’s face it. It’s all in our heads only.

Photo by Lucian Alexe on Unsplash

Thanksgiving is behind us. It’s already December. Soon year 2022 will be over. Time flies scaringly fast, doesn’t it?

Really?

We all know that time passes at an equal pace. There is no short one minute nor long minute. Then why do we use such an irrational expression as “time flies fast”?

If you look back the past three years since the world experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, do you feel that each year, 2020, 2021, and 2022, has passed at the same rate? Maybe not.

Depending upon what you accomplished or didn’t accomplish, what happened or didn’t happen, the length of each year seems to be so different.

As for me, year 2021 seems to have been as short as only a couple of months. I can’t quite recall what I did that year, that’s mainly because I didn’t travel by plane at all.

I had to go back the calendar, tracing all the online classes, meetings, and events that hosted or attended, in order to convince me that 2021 was actually the whole year.

My inclination is to blindly follow my perception where time is elastic like a rubber band. Hence words like “time flies fast” slips. But let’s not. Let’s acknowledge that elasticity is happening only in our heads. Let’s face the existential reality.

The nature has been marking the passage of time on a constant pace. (I’m not a physicist and General Relativity is beyond my comprehension.) A day in December is no different than a day in January or a sunny day in August in terms of length.

There are still 27 days left this December. We can get a lot of things done in 27 days. Let’s not give our mind an excuse to let the time slip by.

The Magic of Christmas Market in Vienna

It was the best place to catch up with our old friend

Photo by Author

In the flights from Seattle to Vienna (via Amsterdam), we seldom slept. Two o’clock in the afternoon in Vienna time was five in the morning in Seattle. We lost almost a day of sleep and we were pretty much exhausted.

“Would you like to rest in bed for a while?” Asked our friend. If we sleep now, we won’t be able to sleep at night. In order to get rid of jet lag as soon as possible, it’s best we keep awake until the night comes.

Fortunately, the weather on that day was accommodating for an afternoon walk. We didn’t see the sun, but it was not raining, snowing, nor windy. It was not too cold, either.

After unpacking and enjoying a cup of coffee and the apple pie our friend baked, we put on our shoes again and went out into the town.

A large campus of Vienna University was within a walking distance. The building used to be a hospital. At a first glance, the building looked so huge that it encircled the whole block. Without our friend’s lead, we would never have crawled the entry way inside.

Inside the walls of intimidatingly long building was a nice courtyard-turned-to Christmas market and a little amusement park. It was Sunday and there were many local families with little children.

Sorry, the market folks. We didn’t do any Christmas shopping. All we bought was a cup of warm liquor and a small bag of roasted chestnuts. Over this drink and snack, and by strolling around the pathway under the twinkling illumination, we (especially my husband and my friend) were able to fill in the gap of over 10 years quickly.

The magic of Christmas market in Vienna.

5 Wishes I Wrote for a Retiring Pilot

Delta Flight 81 from CDG to SEA on 11/28/2022

Photo by Author

When I saw the flight attendant on the other isle handing out a piece of paper to each passenger, I felt strange. There is no more immigration paper or custom document to fill out. Everything is digital these days. What’s that paper for?

The flight attendant came on our isle and handed me that paper. It was a message card. She was asking us passengers to fill out and write wishes to the retiring pilot. This flight was his last as a captain.

What a nice gesture! I picked up the card and took out my pen.

The card was half-blank.

Retirement Wishes

Always ________________________________________________________________

Never __________________________________________________________________

Remember _____________________________________________________________

Enjoy ___________________________________________________________________

Visit ____________________________________________________________________

Ideas for your next adventure

__________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes.

I filled out the blank as below:

Retirement Wishes

Always be happy.

Never regret.

Remember to breathe.

Enjoy daily walk.

Visit neighborhood cafes.

Ideas for your next adventure

You have flown to many places in the world. Now you might want to explore within 10 miles radius from your home by walking.

The landing was impressively smooth. A proof of 40 years of his dedication to his career. After landing, two fire engines splashed water from right and left. Those fire engines were merely 250 ft apart, and the captain’s last task was to bus the A339 (wingspan: 210 ft) in between. Another high skill he develop in the course of his career.

Thank you so much, Captain, and best wishes on your life version 2.0!