Category: Memories
Self-reflection – Mid-January 2023
Although it’s only been 16 days since the inception of 2023, this year has already taught me a lot – what can a year do for you? And think about the real potential of your life. Isn’t it exciting to realize that you’re always one decision away from a totally different life? It’s too early to leave the game – doubt your doubts and trust your journey. Everything will be okay. …
Back to Photography
“There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower Hi international friends. It’s really been a while since I last posted the last photographic journal outside of my neighborhood. Because of the surging number of covid cases, I haven’t had any opportunities to go to cities, including the central districts of my home city, Yokohama. But thanks to my friend who invited me to hang out in the city, I brought my Canon DSLR along for the first time in more than a year. Even though I had had some …
The End of My Open-mindedness
“If you’re too open-minded; your brains will fall out.”― Lawrence Ferlinghetti I used to enjoy my open-mindedness. Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and religion, I open-mindedly allowed everyone to have a space in my life. My former best friend was a Muslim, and despite our religious and ethical disagreements, we enjoyed our cross-cultural friendship that lasted about five years. Due to his job as a tour guide, he occasionally travels back and forth between Japan and his home country, Indonesia. Every time we meet, not only did we exchange our languages but also exchanged kindness. When he married a wife, he brought her all the way to Japan, and I …
How I Dealt with My Dark Past
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”― Robert Frost Life is tough. Life is unfair. Life is… I’m 34. And during the past 34 years of my life, I’ve been through a lot. Joys, struggles, frustrations, and life changes. Even though I had so many lovely memories during those years thanks to my family and close friends, I still repeatedly suffer from my past traumatic experiences. I wouldn’t call it PTSD, but especially during the past decade, I’ve been suffering from these PTSD-like symptoms. Sometimes it is so intense, my emotional struggles frightened my family …
The 200th Post: Seasons of Dreams
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt Dear readers, I’m delighted to announce that Canvas of Dreams marks the 200th post. During the past five years, I’ve been through a lot. And especially the last year – 2020 – told us how unpredictable our life could be. For me personally, it was a significantly difficult year for my photography. Due to the virus situation, I wasn’t freely traveling across Japan. My territory was limited to my neighborhood, and I couldn’t go far. And how have you been? You must have been through a lot as well, haven’t you? I sincerely hope …
Reflections on My Thoughts
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson This is the 191st post of my blog. Since I have left only nine more posts to achieve the 200th, I thought maybe this is the perfect opportunity to reflect on my thoughts, which are my philosophy for life. And please look forward to the 200th post that is going to be a special edition to celebrate my blogging journey for the past five years. For those who don’t know what this blog is about, let me explain a little bit about it. I’ve begun writing this …
The Tree
“Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.” ― Czeslaw Milosz Last week, I published a post The Fish That Tries to Climb a Tree. I quoted Albert Einstein’s words: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” And I shared my life story living like the fish trying to climb a tree. Bad decisions. Opportunities I missed. Countless numbers of failures. I have spent the past decade drawing in regrets and believed in a …
The Fish That Tries to Climb a Tree
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Albert Einstein famously wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” I’ve been this fish ever since I graduated from college in the US. Thanks to my bad decisions and many failures over the course of my career during the 2010s, I switched between several workplaces. But I never found a place I felt I could belong to. A big chunk of my regret is that I spent the final years of my 20s …