A way to live for people.

Live Like A Mirror.

If you are the sun, shining daytime,

I'll become the moon, sending your light to those who need it at night.

If you are the star, giving hope for future,

I'll become the wind to blow away the clouds.

If you are the bird, making the morning joyous and cheerful,

I'll become dew that makes your stage even more gorgeous.

If you are the light, shining others up,

I'll be the mirror that shines you up.

And when you walk,

I'll walk with you.

And, when you stop,

I'll stop with you.

Without a word,

I sense your mind.

Without a word,

I feel your heart.

That's the way I will live,

if you allow me to do for you.

365 Days of Feeling Happy and Grateful ~Day11-15~

Day 11: Say thank you to the bed.

We usually don't even think about the privilege of sleeping with a comfortable bed. However, if you have experienced overnight camping or overnight mega-bus trip, you know your sleep is as tough as the "bed". So, let's thank it when we get up :)

Day 12: Notice what rain gives us.

Do you like rainy days?
To me, many people don't like rainy days. Well, personally, I prefer sunny days, but the truth is that sunny days and rainy days are not good or bad by themselves. We just attach personal meanings to these days, and feel "Oh, gosh! It's raining!"
I'm not going to try to convince you not to dislike rain here. That's not my purpose. But, let's just feel what rain gives to us. After all, we can't live without rain!

Day 13: Reassure yourself that you are on the way you want.

Where are you heading physically, mentally, spiritually, in terms of relationship, friendship, etc.?
Stop your walk for a moment and check where you are again, and make sure you are going to the right direction :)

Day 14: Feel the beauty that you havent' noticed yet.

There is always things we don't see, and yet very beautiful. Ask yourself, "What other beautiful things do I have?" Take your time for yourself to care and praise him/her. What did you find?

Day 15: Dissolve yourself in silence.

Every moment, we're surrounded by sounds. Car horn, subway, rattle of windows, flip of paper, chatting, typing... Even when we're sleeping, we hear some sound. Let's take some time to find silence. Rest our ears and feel our consciousness melting into the silent world. I'm sure that'll give you a positive calmness.

365 Days of Feeling Happy and Grateful ~Day6-10~

Day 6: Close your eyes before and after you eat.

In Japan, we say "いただきます (itadakimas)" before we eat to thank nature, life, farmer, fisher, cook... for the food. We say "ごちそうさま (gochisousama)" when finishing eating to express thanks again. I really like these concepts.
Just take a moment, close your eyes, and feel this special event that keeps us connected to the world :)

Day 7: Have a morning walk :)

"No! I don't have time in the morning! I have to sleep!"
OK, but you can find one day just to wake up 15 minutes earlier than usual, right? You can't imagine how beautiful you feel the morning is. Just 15 minutes earlier than usual. Just one day, maybe on weekends :)
"Well, yeah, someday."
If you can do it someday, do it tomorrow morning! Or this coming Saturday! I promise that day will be WONDERFUL.

Day 8: Read books that you've been interested in :)

Many people have desires to learn more about what they are interested in; however, they usually dont' follow through. Well, reading books is an easy and fun start for your learning. It's fun because you're interested in that area! :)
Go to a bookstore or a library, and get a book in your band! Then, you just had the first and prospective steps!

Day 9: This day is for my poem :)



Day 10: Change your viewpoint.

Everyday, we see what we always see. Trees, cars, people, buildings... We feel that we see the same things; however, if we change our viewpoint (from where we look), we'll notice something new even when we're looking at the same thing. How cats see the world? What's under a bench?

365 Days of Feeling Happy and Grateful ~Day 1-5~

Day 1: Smile when you sleep :)

The creator gave us our life today. It's a very precious gift we have ever got. Let's feel the preciousness of our life, and praise our life when you sleep :)

Day 2: Feel the smell of flowers.

There are so many things we don't focus on in daily bases: smell is the one we usually miss. Stop your walk for a moment and take a deep breath. You'll be surprised by the beautiful smell of flowers around you.

Day 3: Listen to birds' tweets.

Morning tweets tell you that your new day is starting. Afternoon tweets tell you to get relaxed and smile. Night time tweets congratulate you on your day.
Bird tweets are cheerful and energetic. Let your body get their message :)
Don't focus only on people's "tweets" online!

Day 4: Absorb the energy from the sun.

Before you say, "It's too hot!" or "So much UV!", I want to get you recognize something. You might be right, but think about what the sun gives to the nature. It's the source of energy of living. All plants and animals cannot grow without the energy form the sun. It's what keeps you alive! So, take a moment and absorb the vitality which is a great gift for you.

Day 5: Notice the colors around you.

What's your favorite color? How many times do you recognize that color in a day? A lot? Not so much? If your answer is the latter, you may be just not conscious of them. Notice the colors around you. Our world is colorful, and so as your life :)

365 Days of Feeling Happy and Grateful ~announcement~

Almost three weeks ago, I decided to focus on one thing each day that makes me smile, feel happy, grateful, powerful, energetic, curious or some other good feelings I can have, and to post it on facebook each day with a photos and a little comments on it.

And, now, I thought myself "this can be a grate opportunity to share it on my blog as well :)". So, from today, I decided to post my daily little happiness from today :)


Since I already have three weeks of pictures, I post them in one page, and then, I will start my daily post from the day 22 :)

So, let me start this with you! ;)

The Dawn of The Soul

THE DAWN OF THE SOUL

Look up and see the color of air

Remember the warmth of hand of love

Wiping the drops of tear from fear

that robbed your heart of sense of self,

And giving a light in darkness of loss

that you never imagined of getting again.

The touch of joy that wakes you up

from dreams of peace, smile on your face

Tweets of birds, the voice of nature

The cry of birth, bright as Sun

Look up and see the color of air

That is where your soul belongs

The Power of Reflection

It is very easy to live our life.

However, it is very difficult to make it a good one.

We can easily live our life without consciousness on it.

Everyday, what we usually do is that we wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to work or school, do what we are supposed to do, have lunch, talk with friends, go back to work/study, talk with bosses and professors, go back home, have dinner, talk with family, watch TV, read books, go to bed, and go back to the very beginning of this cycle. It's pretty easy. However, if we want to focus on the meanings of what we have done, it becomes more difficult, and sometimes, even painful.

What did I eat for breakfast? What kind of feeling did I have while eating?
With what emotions did I go to work/school?

What did the things I did do for my life? What about for the world? How did I contribute? Did I contribute to something? What kind of feeling did I have while I was doing what I was supposed to do?

What did I learn from the conversations I had with my friends? What did they mean to my life?

How did I feel when I get back to my home?

What did TV and books mean to me?
Overall, what did I do today?

It might be surprising to realize how small a day is.

It may be even more surprising how less we are conscious of what we do, what we think, and what we feel in a day.

Even when we feel we learned a lot in one day, we can easily forget it if we don't look back and think about what we learned again.

It is in this sense that reflection is important.

What most people usually do not do is actually important. Most people usually do not reflect on themselves. Therefore, reflection is actually important.

I know this is false deduction, but it makes sense, doesn't it?

(Well, at least, it does for me!)

Reflection is powerful.

We can store what we learned in our brain longer and deeper.

We can find a different meaning by thinking after a period of cooling down the idea.

We can pay attention to what we think and be more conscious of ourselves.

It gives more meaning to each day.

If we keep what we reflect in a short paragraph, we can look back and track our thoughts.

Sometimes, me in the past teaches something important to the present me.

In order to become more conscious of our thoughts, our feelings, our words and our deeds, and in order to learn from them, I recommend to have time to reflect every day.

Even 5 minutes will change the quality of our life.

Reflection is that powerful.

小さな勇氣。Pray for Japan.

3.11 の地震から一年が経ちました。 

自分の周りにいる人達が、facebook や mixi にビデオをアップしたり振り返りをアップしているのを見ながら、「震災」に目を向ける勇氣をたった今まで出せずにいました。 

もしかしたら、心の準備はまだできていないかもしれない。 

自分ともう一度向き合って、一年前の震災のことを書くということは、すごく勇氣のいることだと、今、我が身で感じています。 

地震が起こった時は友達と東京に出ていました。 

「自分が大震災の中にいる」という感覚が大きく、自分の想像を遥かに超える環境にもたくさんの人がいるという事実が、映像では観ているけれど、それが脳に伝わって感覚されてはいない、そんな状態だったように思います。 

その後も度重なる停電、発電所の爆発、マスコミの報道、に囲まれ、義援金だ応援だと言いながら、自分の行動の限界に心の奥では納得できないままに時を過ごしました。 

夏には被災地を訪れました。 

５ヶ月後もくっきりと残る津波の爪痕を目の当たりにして、そこに立っている自分と向き合うことができず、ただただ重い心を引きずりながら帰ってきました。 

その後アメリカに移り、日本と離れた地で自分のできることと信じて作ったビデオレター。たくさんの心温まる出会いに、日本は独りじゃないということを身をもって感じさせてもらうことができました。 

それからというもの、人の「心」という存在と向き合おうとし続けてきました。 

幸せ、人生の成功、自身の価値。 

そういったことを勉強するにつれ、たくさんの人が自分の心と向き合い胸を張れる人生を作る、その支えになりたいと強く思うようになりました。 

しかし、それと同時に自分の心のもろさ、弱さも自分で痛いほどみえてくるようになりました。 

頼りなく、力なく、情けない自分。 

その脇で将来の希望に胸を高鳴らせ、将来を考えるたびに興奮を感じる自分。 

そんな、両極端とも言える二つの心が自分の中で存在しているということが、全体の自分の安定感を失わせるような感覚を持ちながら、長い時間を過ごしてきました。 

もしかしたら、一人の人間が幸せになるということは、全体からみると認知できない程小さな変化なのかもしれません。 

人の人生を豊かにしようという活動は、その認知できないほどの小さい変化をせっせせっせと生み出そうとする作業なのかも知れません。 

そう考えると、自分が将来にやりたいと考えていることが恐ろしく小さく、同時に限りなく無意味に近いことに思えてきてしまいます。 

最近、心の会話の回数が減りました。 

近くにそういう話を一緒にできる人が少ない環境なので、仕方のないことかもしれません。 

その分、自分との会話の回数は増えたように思います。 

けれど、どうやら自分と向き合いながら自分を信じ続けるというのは、なかなか難しいようです。 

きっと人は、自分以外の存在との関係があって初めて、自分を信じる力を強くすることができるのでしょう。 

あらためて、人は一人では生きられないという言葉の味を噛みしめています。 

震災から一年。 

まだ、自分達にできることはたくさんあるはずです。 

それを一人で探そうとするのは、途方もないことかもしれません。 

けれど、隣の人と手をつないで、そのまた隣の人と手をつないで、そうやって少しずつ心のつながりを広げていくことで、自分のできることを広げられるのかもしれません。 

そして、日本が、世界が大きなつながりになればなるほど、大きな希望と幸せと、喜びとを感じられるようになるのかもしれません。 

それを信じ続けながら、自分の可能性と向き合っていこうと思います。 

震災で亡くなった方々のご冥福を心よりお祈り申し上げます。 

そして、今もがんばっている日本の方々、世界の方々へ、心から応援申し上げます。

Things go on.

When confronting difficulties and you feel your life is very tough or you are disappointed at yourself, it may help to recognize that there is no permanent rainy day.

I know it's an old cliché, and I know you already know that.

But let's be careful about it. Knowing is pretty different from being able to put it into practice at the right moment.

I think we all have this experience, none the less, that when we are wondering about a problem and somebody's advice just hit our thought right, and after I while when you look back, it was something we already knew but we didn't come up with it at that moment.

Clues for problems always underlie something we already know consciously or unconsciously. Our world is quite simple if we see it in the simple way. But interestingly, we usually don't find the simple way to see the world, and instead of finding the simple, we spend plenty of time considering, wondering at, and sometimes suffering from it.

So, when we face difficulties, what shall we do?

Well, we know that the life never stops.

Then, how shall we put this into practice? In other words, how shall we apply this old cliché to overcome the difficulty?

One thing which I believe helps is not to worry as if you will worry about it forever.
People worry about things when they attack their lives. But the thing is, the very simple thing is, we don't have to worry when we don't have to worry. In fact, people have this predisposition to do nothing to face the difficulty but worry about it. However, if we think about it seriously, we will find that we are usually worrying about things which are already happened, or things which we cannot change.

In this sense, we are putting ourselves against the simple and the well-known fact: life goes on.

If we made a mistake in our job, let's think about how we can prevent from making the same mistakes in the future or how to compensate the mistake, instead of worrying about the cost of the mistake, how much you will be scold by your boss, or how long you will feel depressed.

Well, the truth is that it is very difficult to think in that way when you are in such a situation. But when you get into that situation, try to shift your mind out from your mind as if you were your best friend being beside you. What would you say to yourself?

Just, don't push yourself to think in a positive way unnaturally. It usually ends up with breaking your mind more or causing another problem. Just try to talk to yourself as if you were the third person.

And, remember, the life goes on.