I love the concept of the Now page from Derek Sivers. It’s about people wanting to know right now where we are and what we are doing. This is amplified by the current coronavirus crisis, turning our worlds upside down.

So, I created the Now page to keep in touch with you. I’d love to hear from you!

HOME

I am living in Ochi town, Japan. It’s a small town with around 5,500 in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island, Japan. Kochi produces most of the agriculture for Japan, so there are a lot of farms here, mostly produce but also rice and tea.

Nature is beautiful here. Rolling mountains with green cedar forests. The Niyodo, one of Japan’s cleanest rivers, winds through the town. Small-scale farm plots fill the landscape and mountainside. It’s common seeing the elderly on the side of a hill working their land. Crouched over, they work the soil by hand with simple tools. Maybe it’s one of the secrets to Japan’s longevity.

SCHOOL

I am an assistant English language teacher with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) from the Japanese government. I am working in the Junior High School of Ochi town with students in three levels, from about 12/13 years old to 15/16 years old. There are approximately 100 students. They are boisterous and unruly at times like most students this age, but also innocent, quirky and charming too, most living here all their lives. I learn much in being with them. Schools here reopened on May 11.

TURNING JAPANESE 

I came to Japan through JET because I’ve always dreamt about living and working in Japan. I also wanted to learn more about Japanese culture, improve my Japanese language skills, and find more about my roots. I also love eating Japanese food and have excelled in this past-time!

I am a third-generation Japanese Canadian. My grandfather Otomatsu came to Canada from Japan in the early 1900s. I wrote a story about me finding my grandfather’s gravesite in Japan, which touched me deeply.

WRITING WITH DOGS AND CATS

I have been writing a lot now with more time. I started writing last year in February 2019 when I was a dog/cat sitting in B.C. with Trusted Housesitters.

I challenged myself to write 1,000 words a day for 30 days. This turned into 60 days and is now going on for over one year. This has changed my life and improved my writing.

I started writing about ten years ago after I attended a workshop with Julia Cameron about how to create the life you want. She introduced me to morning pages, which are three pages you write upon waking every morning. I wrote faithfully daily, although there were often scribbles in a half-awake state. However, the process started to wake me up because I began to bring out what was inside to the open and let it breathe.

SHARING IS CARING

I write for myself to capture and reflect on what I am feeling. Sometimes I share my writing to a wider audience when I think it would be useful for others, and if I’m not too afraid to show my work. Well, I’ve realized that fear is always with us and there is no best time and a time when the fear goes away, so I press the send button anyway.

With COVID-19 creating much fear and stress, I am compelled to share what I am writingand how I am coping in my small town. I hope this makes others feel that they are not alone and less isolated. It does for me. What connects us now more than ever is our humanity and compassion. It’s always been there, but we’ve been too busy to notice.

I’ve been writing columns every month for Nikkei Voice, the Japanese-Canadian newspaper. The editor pointed out that my columns are about the lessons learned in being in Japan and mindfulness, and she’s right! Which brings me to the book…

NEW BOOK

Through my observation of life here, I’m working on a book. It’s about the lessons on mindfulness I’ve gathered here; the stories, the lessons learned, and the questions that have helped me to become more mindful and present.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

I’ve had a vision come to me about five years ago, and it hasn’t let me go. That’s how ideas happen to me. They come to me all the time, but some are stubborn and keep on coming back. I decided to write this vision down and share it with others. Through sharing, I believe we create synergy and magic with other ideas and input.

The concept is about food and connection to address loneliness and isolation in urban centers. I started this vision before COVID and wondered if it is still valid, given our social distance protocol. I came to the conclusion that it is needed more than ever, and like most models, it needs to be nimble and adapted to current realities. I’ve been creating virtual circles to workshop the concept.

NURTURE

I’ve been working on personal development a lot here. I’ve had the time, and there is nothing like time and space, and isolation, to do this. Although you probably know this, if you’ve done any work on yourself, beware, there is some deep shit that comes out! No mud, no glory, as the saying goes. So, it hasn’t been easy at times, but it’s also given me more time, space, and freedom than I’ve ever had before. It’s a process, a journey, and I am happier on the trip than I’ve been in a long time because I am more present, and learning more to be the observer in my life, and more mindful than running away or hiding from what is my reality.

As Brene Brown says, the reason we need to deal with our shit is that when we don’t, we suffer and make others suffer. Good point!

CONNECTION

It’s been isolating at times to be in the rural countryside on the other side of the world away from family and friends, where I can’t understand what is being said fully and travelling is discouraged. Gratitude, mindfulness, and connecting with good friends help.

I am finding ways to reach out through virtual means. And I am becoming better with technology. I’ve been deficient and fearful of this area because I left it before to my ex-partner of 17 years. When we separated, I had to catch up on a lot of technology!

I am excited that we are finally using technology for what it is best for; to stay connected and communicate with one another!

NATURE 

I have been taking a lot of walks in nature and made a vow to try new pathways when I can. It brings more of a sense of adventure than taking the same route everyday. With our town in semi-lock down, I’ve had to find experiences close to home and at home.

I had to let go of all the places I wanted to go and come home, physically and emotionally. This found me exploring nature around here. I’ve been rewarded each time with such beauty and wonder. I find it healing. I get lost in looking at nature and taking pictures, and I forget about my worries, and life is perfect.

The sakura (cherry blossoms) have just started coming out, and wow, this is spectacular. I keep on coming back to sakura and writing about it because sakura teaches me so much.

DAILY PRACTICE

My daily routine gets shortened on those days that I am rushing, which is most days, to work before 8:30 am. The practice includes deep breathing exercises, meditation, and a short exercise routine with stretching, yoga postures, sit-ups and a gratitude handstand. In the headstand, I say 50 things I am grateful for, including five things that I am proud of that I did the day before. After work, I take a walk for an hour in nature to unwind and connect with mother nature and myself.

If you enjoy reading this, I have to thank Derek Sivers for his encouragement. I’ve never met him, but through listening to him on the Unmistakable Creative podcasts and emailing with him, I’ve been inspired.

I listen to a lot of podcasts on Spotify and audiobooks. I love paper books, but it’s harder to access and store them when you live in a foreign country, and when you are changing homes as often as I have over the past years.

I often go to bed with a voice from a podcast or audiobook, with the sleep timer on (this is important, believe me, so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night with interview after interview playing). When I listen, it’s like a parent reading to me. The voices are comforting, assuring me that I am okay, and everything will be fine. It’s my blankie in my life now in Ochi, Japan.

Love, Caroline xo