Blog

I dreamt that I died lost at sea washed up on shore and there they were waiting for me to return home to them wagging their tails licking...

"I was supposed to die many times, but I haven't.” A group of Stanford students were feeling every word Isa said, sensing how she who has...

“She waited for you,” the priest told me. I believe she did. It had been a long trip to get there and Grandmother had been on a long...

What do we do when life gives us a situation that we feel is beyond our control? We are repeatedly forced to deal with such conditions....

February 4 is the birthday of Rosa Parks, a woman who started a movement for freedom and justice by one simple act of bravery. On a...

"Hey mister . . . you're the guy who taught us Japanese!" It was years later and I could hardly recognize the kid who had come alive that...

Following my workshop a student came up to me and asked, “My dog just died two weeks ago, and I am so sad. How I can get over it?” At...

Mom's life began in a mountain village near the city of Matsuyama, the tenth and last child soon to be given to her older sister to be...

Reflecting on a child’s birthday brings a sense of renewed wonder and awe. The emergence of a life, a living creature, from the mother’s...

Did you ever why you’re here –what it’s all about? What better day than one’s birthday to ask. In a favorite film scene (It’s Hard to be...

It was another of those dog days, January 11-- 1/11. Because a dog's bark in Japanese sounds like Wan, I always say it's their day. It's...

"How do you find calm when there is so much stress and struggle with no clear end in sight? I want to share what has been helpful to me...

I was a youth striving to learn everything I could about Japan when the book came out. Driven by the black power movement, I was “coming...

WINTER OF MY LIFE BRINGS CALM SOLACE TO THE SOUL WILL SPRING COME AGAIN? Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year....

We feel an intimate presence with our ancient brothers and sisters, animals and trees who inhabit the eternal, have a belonging and...

Stella sent me her selfie to endorse the book, saying she's still halfway through it but loves it because it's full of good stories and...