Entry #021:

2021 October 28

This week I celebrated the completion of my RICE100 Project. It was a four year endeavor that likely provided me with the same amount of friendship, insights, acumen, travel, tears, and laughter, as did college. Meeting with farmers across the Japanese countryside who intentionally, every day, are incorporating the learnings from our ancestral wisdom and the teachings of our natural world, into their work and lifestyle choices has been both inspiring and humbling. It is a vote toward the kind of world that they want to enjoy with their family. Every two weeks, for the past four years, these stories have fueled my search for my place in the world and the type of light I want to leave when my physical body is back with the earth. I hope this education continues to be my guiding light as I open the textbook to my next course. 

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

October 28 - November 1

Autumn > Morning Frost > Intermittent Drizzle

Amongst all the “busy”, what do you try to intentionally do for yourself?

Entry #020:

2021 October 23

Yesterday, I made a backwards commute out of the city to a coastal town a couple of hours away. Like many towns in Japan, Odawara is one part sea, and one part mountain. Yesterday I was in the mountain for an introspective study group led by a tea master and a calligraphy artist. We whisked matcha, made an intentionally slow walking meditation through the forest, and a lunch that included aromatic pickled Autumn ginger buds, persimmons with sesame sauce, and miso marinated roasted eggplant. But what was the greatest gift of the day was the 20 meditative minutes of creating ink with a sumi stick. Before even picking up a brush, comes preparing ink. It’s 20 minutes of clearing our your ego and letting the heavens and earth connect through your being and out through the ink. It’s 20 minutes thinking about who you’ll be writing to, in this case myself. 20 quiet, delicious minutes to breathe and connect your heart to someone. It was one of the most special things I had done in quite some time. It made me want to write these entries with proper ink and brush. 

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

October 23 - 27

Autumn > Morning Frost > First Frost

What changes have you noticed in your surroundings in the early mornings?

Entry #019:

2021 October 18

As I mentioned in my last entry, Autumn is the season of “savour”. And it really is my favorite way to appreciate the gifts of the season. But I’s like to take a moment to acknowledge what's been tickling my mind recently. And that is…my soul and body’s request for movement. It comes at a time when it’s also the Autumn of “Sport”. That said, it’s not “sport” per se. The Japanese word actually speaks to movement. “Un-do” is really more like “exercise”, rather than “sport”. And the direct translation of “un-do” is “moving luck”. So in Japan, moving your body: a brisk morning walk, a calming swim, a bicycle ride through your favorite park, ir not just exercise but moving, invigorating, reigniting luck. Stagnant energy isn’t lucky energy. And don’t we all want to lean into some more of that lucky energy. I’ve been called to do more headstands, slow jobs, stretches, and squats. In doing so, I’ve realized that it’s because I want to jazz up my luck quotient. It makes breathing and eating and loving so much more fun!

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

October 18 - 22

Autumn > Cold Dew > Bush Crickets at the Door

What are you hearing at your door? What gift has arrived today?