After twenty years teaching English in Japan, I’ve watched brilliant women—nurses, office workers, mothers—lose focus during lessons, checking reflections in phone screens, fidgeting with clothing. When did the pressure to be constantly ‘desirable’ become so overwhelming?
Today’s toilet paper run shouldn’t have been noteworthy. Yet between my apartment and the shop, I caught myself doing it again—that internal check-in that’s become familiar since 419 days ago. Am I dressed appropriately? Did I acknowledge neighbors properly? Do you…
I got back from my morning 7-Eleven walk and caught myself already calculating how much ‘productive’ time I had left. When did we all start treating rest like something to feel guilty about?
After my wife of twenty years left for America, I found myself grabbing the wrong jeans from my closet—a simple error that made me question everything. When external stability masks internal turbulence, how do you recognize mental health? What anchors you these days?
Have you ever caught yourself aiming for something that doesn’t truly resonate? I once watched myself pass interviews for a job I didn’t really want, to get a more prestigious position I really didn’t need. Why do we trap ourselves in these patterns?
You don’t need a degree to sit with someone in their grief. You need to have been there. What if your hardest-won lessons are the very things that qualify you to offer the only genuine help that matters? Exploring how pain becomes an unexpected credential.
For me, quality time starts before dawn with a 4 AM walk to 7-Eleven for coffee and groceries. Unhurried, undisturbed, just quiet that works for us introverts. This is my happy place. What moments make up your quality time?
They say you can’t outrun time, and I’m not lacing up to try. These days, knocking on my late 50s’ door, the invites pile up—not parties, but funerals. More names turning into dates on stones. It’s not morbid, just math. Each departure whispers: live fully, pursue what truly matters.