Ways and Ways

Perhaps one of the greatest joys and frustrations in life is simply trying to figure out how best to navigate through it. There are infinite ways to approach it, and nobody really knows what the best one is. What works for one person won't work for another. We all have different experiences and different takes on the events that happen around us, and we all change in response to how we deal with what we are presented. I think of the old cliche, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This is all well and good, but what if you don't like lemonade? What if you really just like lemons? What if lemon cookies are way better than lemonade? What about making sort of a lemon julius? I think most people would agree ~ this could be potentially delicious. Yum!

So in any case, I have come to realize that I function best when I have a lot to work on, buuuut maybe not the best when I have a bunch of different things to work on. It's very easy to get distracted and start dropping the ball on stuff. I guess this is one of those things that I get to work on in my life. In a way our weaknesses make things more interesting than our strengths. If everything was easy, it wouldn't be that fun would it? There's something to be said for accomplishing the difficult. To overcoming the things that we have difficulty with in our lives.

I spent my Golden Week doing pretty much nothing. I have an overwhelming amount of things to get done, and when this happen my brain tends to shut down on itself. "Overload! Overload! Danger Will Robinson!" Beeeeeeeeewp. Down it goes.  It's one of my challenges in life. Figuring out how to best balance and take care of everything when there is simply too much to do. In a way it's sort of exciting in that I know it's something I need to work on, and so it gives me a focal point of improvement. Figure out how I can be better at this sort of thing. Is it organization?  Prioritization? Time management? More discretion in committing myself toward projects? Lack of ninja monkeys?  It could be any of these things! Slowly I prepare myself and see how to make things flow better. I'm stocking up on shuriken just to be safe.

Flowers Flowers Everywhere

When one doesn't actually update all that often, it really makes one stop and think what is worth actually putting up. I usually don't post when the big things happen, so does something have to fall into the realm of amazingly fantastical in order for it to merit posting? No ... no not really. So hey, here's something that doesn't fall into the realm of amazingly fantastical.

Spring has arrived in Japan, and while I was never particularly fond of the season in Nevada, I definitely have developed a warm spot for it here. Instead of gusts of wind and occasional days of warmth followed by fairly random freezes through late May, Japan tends to just warm up gradually and I actually have been able to observe the mythical season known as spring that seems to be so popular with people in the know.

As a result of my new-found appreciation for this time of year, I don't think it's possible for me to love the concept of hanami anymore than I do now. It becomes desperately vital to schedule time before the cherry blossoms fall away to sit down and enjoy them. For hours. This year I was able to go twice, and on one of the days actually spent 8 plus hours at the park just talking with friends, relaxing and enjoying the blossoms. Life is passing by, and you can see it with each petal that floats by on the breeze. It's beautiful, peaceful, and direly important to stop and appreciate it while it's there.

The flowers are almost completely gone now, they only last about a week really, and classes have started up. I have multiple part-time jobs, a full credit load, and 4 different clubs that I am involved with (soon to be 5 perhaps!). I often feel a strain in classes that are taught in English, and with a few exceptions I prefer the ones that are taught in the teacher's native language.

Things move along much more smoothly then, and if there is something inhibiting my learning I am solely responsible for it at that point. Don't understand? Study harder. I am in Japan, and it seems much more natural for me to try and learn things in language of the area I'm in. I often think that American students really don't comprehend how many opportunities are afforded them by being born into a native English speaking country that people from all over the world attend for education.

I think I'll wrap this up for now, but it was nice to pause and appreciate the things I have now while they're here. Maybe I should do that a bit more often.