Today is the Day-6 since we came back from Japan. This morning, I finally could wake up normally in the morning. The web article was right. It says six to nine days to fully recover from jet lag. My daughter was the same way. She could finally woke up by herself at the normal time. She made it to the school bus as normal. At the past three days, she could not make it to the bus, so I gave her a ride to school. It is good to get back to normal.

This morning I had a dream of ants. In my room, I saw a whole bunch of big ants here and there. I didn’t feel any negative feeling. Instead, I felt this dream represented to praise my daily efforts.

I feel something was changed in me, after my trip to Japan. My energy was uplifted. My way of thinking was changed into positive.

The biggest change is my feeling about my mom.

In the past, we did not have enough communication. The lacking in communication brought us misunderstanding each other. Eventually, that caused us not to get in touch one another anymore. We went through several years not to talk each other. I had doubt about my mom.

During my recent trip, my mom and I had an intense talk. We communicated well. We expressed our feeling and listened carefully one another. After our communication, now I fully trust my mom. Now I feel comfortable to think about my mom. Now I know about my mom’s true feeling. The truth was she has been loving me all my life. Since she expressed her love in a weird way, I couldn’t understand her.

For the past many years, I had thought and wished to have an opportunity to talk to my mom like this. I think this task was one of my life missions. I am glad I finally cleared it. I proudly checked my to-do-list for this task.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Have you ever heard of the Japanese term “omotenashi”? This word has been often heard through media since Japan got the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games. In fact, when you google the word, you will find about 1,730,000 results.

I am Japanese, and I thought I was familiar with the essence of omotenashi. However, my recent visit to Japan made me truly realize the great value of Japanese people.

In my visit, the heartwarming omotenashi started from the moment when I landed at the Japanese airport. The workers were very nice and friendly.  Everybody whom I encountered during my stay offered me their kind supports. Japanese hospitality is offered in a natural and humble way.

I didn’t encounter even one Japanese worker who was rude or arrogant, whenever I went. Now I live in America, I know how amazing Japanese services are.

Many Japanese people fully realize and appreciate for Japanese people’s soul maturity, after they live in a foreign country. I am one of them. I feel blessed to be able to be born as Japanese this lifetime.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

It has been 4 days since I came back from Japan. I am still suffering from jet lag. I wake up after midnight and cannot go right back to sleep. Then, after I finally fall asleep, I have a hard time to wake up in the morning. Among all, daytime is the hardest time. I have a hard time to stay up after lunchtime. My daughter is the same way. She could not wake up as normal in the morning for these two days.

The web article says it may take six to nine days to fully recover from jet lag. Hopefully, we will be fully recovered by next week.

In my 20s and 30s, I often traveled abroad. I don’t even remember if I ever suffered from jet lag. Maybe it was because my body was used to the time change. And also, it is because I could easily sleep in public transportation.

Thinking about traveling by airplane, I noticed many changes in their systems. There used to have smoking areas within airplanes and airports. Nowadays most airplanes and airports are smoke free. I am glad this system has been changed into this way. The airport security screening system used to be simpler and easy, but nowadays all the travelers have to go through uncomfortable screening of our bodies and belongings. I don’t like the current security screening, but it is for our safety anyway.

Everything in this planet, where we use the linear time system, nothing can go backward. All we can do is adjust ourselves to the new systems as soon as possible. In the future, in our children’s or grandchildren’s age, I hope airplanes might go faster so that they can go foreign countries much faster and more comfortable than now.    

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Now we are in the middle of October. By this time of the year, it is supposed to be autumn with a cool temperature. Therefore, I brought autumn clothing to my trip to Japan.

For some reasons, however, during my stay in Japan, I experienced extremely hot days except for my arrival day and departure day. On my arrival day, they had a rain in the morning. By the time when I arrived at Japan in the evening, the rain had stopped. On my departure day, we had a cloudy day with sprinkling rain. Other than that, every day during my stay, we had sunny days with extremely high temperature. That reminded me of Arizona climate.

I am glad I had sunny days during my stay, so that we could enjoy the clear and sunny sky every day.

After I left Japan, some of my Japanese friends told me they are having a very cold days with high wind and rain. The current temperature over there is like that of December.

My husband told me that I brought “hot Arizona” to Japan. That made total sense to me.

When I was young and traveled to Navajoland, I often had a rainy day in Navajoland during my stay. Since Navajoland is the dry land, they needed rain. The Navajo medicine people often told me that I brought rain to Navajoland from Japan, just like an ambassador between the two countries. They appreciated me for bringing rain to their land.

Somehow, I bring the weather energy with me whenever I go.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

In order to travel between America and Japan, we have to take a long hour tiresome flight. In such the long flight, luckily I did not get bored, because I encountered one great movie. I thought it was a new movie but it was not. In fact, it was published seven years ago.

The title of the movie is Eat Pray Love (2010).  The main character is Julia Roberts.

I liked the movie very much. I even watched it three times straight. At first, I watched it in Japanese voice-over, then, in English, and at last, in English again. I thought it interesting to watch a movie in different languages. When I watched in Japanese voice-over, the main character seemed to be humble and polite. When I watched in the original English voice-over, the main character seemed to be a typical American woman. The voice changes the impact to the audience’s impression. Perhaps, I give different impression to others between the time when I speak my own language Japanese and the time when I speak my foreign language English.   

Anyways, there is one scene that resonated with me so much. Here I want to share with you.

“There’s a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, “Dear saint-please, please, please…give me the grace to win the lottery.” This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, “My son-please, please, please…buy a ticket.” —Note: I quoted from Goodreads homepage: Quotes About Eat Pray Love

The author states “Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine.”

I totally agree with her statement. I believe that when we ask for something, we need to take the necessary action half, then God or spirits takes care of the reminder half. Suppose if there is the long stairs between humans and divine beings. We humans have to climb up the stairs in a lower half way, and the spirits (angels or God, whichever you name) come down a higher half way. At the middle of stairs, we meet up. There, we can talk about our prayer and wish, and the holy beings give us the necessary support and advice to make it happen. Therefore, in order to make something happen, it is a job done cooperatively with a human and the divine beings.

I want to share one more information. This movie was based on the book written by American woman Elizabeth Gilbert. This book turned out a huge hit. I found her TED Talk Your elusive creative genius.

I like her talk very much. She talks about creativity. Creativity comes from divine beings. They don’t care of our humans’ daily life. They come to us and give us amazing idea at our most unexpected moment. She suggests to keep on doing our job whether you can catch the glimpse from divine beings or not.

She ends her talk by saying “Olé!” to you, nonetheless.” I love it.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

We stayed one night at my friend’s house. Today was the last day of our trip in Japan.

My friend and I definitely have a strong spiritual connection. We met in Lakota land in 2006. We both participated the Lakota tour for one week. I was hired as an interpreter, and she was our customer for the tour. We shared some fun and spiritual experiences together such as a sweat lodge ceremony and a horseback riding. We even slept outdoor together. I felt comfortable to exchange our feelings and messages that we received with her.

We also share our life events at the similar timing. She and her boyfriend had lived together for 10 years, then they got married. My husband and I also had known each other for 10 years before our marriage. After four months from their marriage, my husband and I got married. It happened naturally. They attended at our Navajo traditional wedding ceremony held in Navajoland. One year after our daughter was born, their daughter was born. So, our daughters are just one year apart and shared the same birth month.

My daughter and her daughter met each other for their first time. They became friends right away.

An interesting coincidence happened.

Right after we said good-by to them at the airport, while we were walking to the custom, my daughter told me she and her new friend actually knew each other for long time. Before they were born, they were together in the sky, as angels. They came from the same star. They were observing us as their mom-to-be from the sky. When my friend and I became friends, my daughter and her daughter were so happy. Because that meant that they would be able to see each other after they were born.

A couple of days later, I received an email from my friend. She told me that her daughter said the same thing as what my daughter had said to me. She remembered my daughter and that they stayed together in the sky observing us.

In the process of our life, we encounter such strong spiritual connections. It does not happen all the time. And that is why it is very precious. We have to cherish such connections.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I received a 90-minute lomi lomi massage from my friend. I loved it.

I think she started the massage session from her prayer. Although she said her prayer quietly in her mind and it was not audible, I certainly felt the energy surrounding us uplifted. I felt her sincere prayer for me about my good health mentally and physically.

The 90 minutes went by quickly as I was in the deep meditation state. My conscious was somewhat awake but stayed being quiet for me. I was filled with appreciation feeling toward her. Her massage touch was just right; not too strong, not too weak.

So far, I have received a variety of massages from both Japanese and American. I don’t know exactly how many times I had. Perhaps, more than 30 times. With my experiences so far, I am for sure my friend’s massage session was the best ever for me. I definitely would love to recommend hers to anybody I know.

On that night, I had a deep relaxing asleep. On the next morning, I felt much energized. I felt lighter in mind and body.

I love receiving massage, but someday, I also would love to learn it at school and offer my sincere massage to my loved ones. That is my strong desire.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

In Japan, the air is moisten. In this trip, I am enjoying new findings about Japan, which I didn’t pay attention when I was living here. The moistened air is one of them. I am surprised how this moistened air is good for my skin and hair. We cannot experience this type of moisture in our skin and hair in the dry aired Arizona.

During the trip, I walked a lot. I felt comfortable to see the dirt ground covered by green grasses and moss plants. There are also lots of clovers.

Since I was small, I had one thing I could brag about. I am good at finding a four-leaf clover. As soon as I start finding it, I see it right away. It always has been like that. During this trip too, I kept on finding a four-leaf clover whenever we encountered a clover family area. As you know, a four leaf clover brings a good luck to the finder. So, that means I am good at finding a good luck.

While I found a four leaf clover every time we looked for, my daughter always found a five leaf clover. A five-leave clover is far rarer than a four leaf clover. One person says in his blog The Odds of Finding a Four-Leaf Clover that “Irish legend indicates that those who find a five-leaf clover will actually have more luck and financial success than those who just find a four-leaf clover.” So, my daughter is better than me in finding a good luck.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

My daughter and I went to the aquarium with my mom. It was so fun spending time with her. I thought about my younger days. When I was young, my mom was always busy. Her mind was occupied with something else. She has two children; my brother and me. To me, I always thought my mom’s favorite was my brother, not me.

In my childhood days, there was one more child who was my mom’s favorite. It was my classmate in the kindergarten. She had a different environment than normal. Her parents got divorced when she was 3 years or so. She didn’t have any memory of her biological father. Her mother moved to another prefecture leaving her daughter behind. She was raised by her grandparents. My mom felt sorry about her so much. Gradually my mom started taking good care of her, way more than what she supposed to do. When I came back from the elementary school, my mom went to the classmate’s house and she would come back late at night, without taking care of her own children. Those days, I could not understand of my mom’s action. Why she took care of other child, not her own children? These days, I probably started losing my trust to my mom. I had given up communicating with my mom.

While I was spending time with my mom at the aquarium, I started feeling very sad. By the time of the dolphin show, I could not withhold my tears anymore. My tears overflowed from my both eyes.

First, my daughter noticed at my tears. She got panicked of my overflowing tears. Then, my mom noticed it too. She asked me if I had any pain in my body. I said no. Three of us ended up crying in the midst of the dolphin show.

By the time when we came back to my parents’ house, I started understanding of my emotion. It was my inner child who uncorked her feelings. It was me of childhood days. The little me could not express my feeling about my mom those days. I wanted to spend more time with my mom in my childhood days. I was jealous to my brother and the classmate who always had my mom’s attention.

After I expressed my feelings to my mom, my mom apologized to me for everything that I mentioned. She said I was mentally matured and calm since I was very small. She thought I didn’t need much attention. I always listened to my mom and I had been always a good girl. She thought it was okay for her to devote her time to somebody else like my brother and other girl who didn’t have her biological mother close to her.

Then, I also mentioned everything that my mom said to me in my adulthood days. My mom had hurt me by her mean actions and violent wordings.

After this talk, I found out my mom thought it totally okay for her to say these things to me. My mom took the conventional thinking that children have to listen to their parents. I said no to her. I said the thinking is old and wrong. Parents do not own their children. Nobody can own anybody. Children choose their parents because they love them. Often times, children are mentally and spiritually more matured than their parents. Children come to their parents to teach and support them.

For this part, my mom disagreed with me. She kept on saying she does not agree with me.

When I got disappointed and about to leave from my parents’ house, my daughter whispered to me.

“Keep your faith. You have said whatever you had to say. Your angels and family spirits were surrounding you and supporting you. Your angels are all happy for you that you took this step forward. Grandma is just pretending that she does not agree. She completely agrees with you and appreciates you in her soul level for everything you have said to her. Everything is well.”

Can you believe that a 7-year old child said this? I am so blessed to have my daughter in my life. I think every child, especially being born in this new era, is an Earth Angel. If you are a parent, I am sure you have encountered this kind of breathtaking moment from your child.

According to my daughter, while I was talking to my mom, which was like a small lecture to her about spirituality, I was surrounded by a whole bunch of angels and spirits. She saw my maternal grandfather on my left shoulder, my maternal aunt and my son-to-be next to Grandfather, other old men and women spirits who are my paternal side ancestors, and my spiritual family members. My daughter said the room was completely filled with angels and spirits. No wonder why I was sweating. When I am surrounded by angels and spirits, I always feel the warm energy from them.

Thank you angels and spirits for your supports and encouragements. I feel my soul has been uplifted after this good communication with my mom. This trip to Japan is definitely meant to happen. It was done at the right timing and at the right way.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

My life-long friend came to visit us at our hotel. She lives in another prefecture; far away from my hometown. So, it took her more than three hours one way.

While we were at our hotel, I received a text message from her, saying the train was not proceeding normally. When we got at the station, we were notified there was an accident in the local railroad track, and all the trains were delayed to take care of the accident.

You may have heard about the punctuality of Japanese railroad. I once have read one foreigner’s blog. She lived in Japan for a while and reported her readers of her findings about Japan. She mentioned about the punctuality of Japanese railroad by saying “in case of the train delays even one minute, you will hear a sincere apology announcement from the railroad company worker.”

As a Japanese who have lived there myself, yes, her finding is true. Whatever happens, we get a sincere and polite apology from the workers. Unfortunately, I seldom receive any apologies from any workers in America for any kinds of inconvenience. If you are an American who has ever lived in japan, I believe you will agree with me about this perspective.

Anyways, back to the story of my friend. She arrived at the station later than we planned. We were planning to have three hours together, but due to the delay of the train, our meeting time shrunk down to two hours. We worried about it at first. However, our short get together for two hours seemed to be elongated for us. We all were amazed how this short time could satisfied us.

I think this event shows me that we can manipulate time as we like. When we devote our every minute and every second, we can fully enjoy the time to the most, so that we can feel the time is elongated for us.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪