Entry #33: 2022 January 14

Happy new year!

There’s so much I want to say, yet realize that the notebook I bought recently is quite small. The next time I need to change notebooks, it will be to a much larger one =)

I hope each of you enjoyed a relaxing winter holiday. Mine certainly felt like a renewal. And with unseasonably frequent snow across Japan, it also feels like we were blessed with some purification too. In retrospect, last year can be summed up in the single character “exit”. And as such, I suspect this year will be “entry”.

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

January 15 - 19

Winter > First Chill > Pheasants Begin to Sing

Who are you calling out to this season?

Entry #31: 2021 December 22

I am going to step away and take a long holiday. At least from the computer. So the next time I write you will be January 15, when the Pheasants Begin to Sing. As such, I’d like to talk about the most important holiday in Japan: New Years. While traditionally according to the microseasonal calendar, we follow the Lunar year, but post-WWII, we adopted the Georgian calendar. The week begins with a thorough cleaning of the home, to make room for prosperous energy to flow through in the new year. This is followed by prep for New Year’s Day osechi. A box filled with dishes that symbolize good fortune. And soba is eaten on the Eve. The next morning is the pre-prepared osechi and warm ozoni soup. This is what I’ll be up to!

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

December 22 - 25

Winter > Winter Solstice > Prunella Bloom

While you begin to slow down to enjoy the holidays, what is the one thing that twinkles?

Entry #31: 2021 December 17

I celebrated so many birthdays this week. I must attract Sagittaruses into my life. Birthdays are an opportunity for reflection and gratitude. Do I want to carry X into my next year? Who has partaken in my growth over this past year? A dear girlfriend separated from her partner of 5+ years, ahead of her 40th birthday. An excruciating decision and a process that took nearly a year. But without a viable future with this partner, she decided it was high time that she prioritized herself and the kind of life she wants to build. The next trip around the sun… I’m so excited to watch her journey. The Japanese sense of time is that it comes toward us. We are still. But there are balls that we throw forward with the intention that either yourself, or the appropriate person will pick it up as it comes down the river of time.

♡ momoko

Microseasonal Stars

December 17 - 21

Winter > Snowfall > Salmon Herd

What’s worth going upstream? Going against the grain, against societal norms? Are you living in your soul’s greatest truth?