September 2018 – Creative Meanderings

Digital art lab exhibition / Google Photos

The joy of living in a mega city such as Tokyo is that there is always something to do in whatever area of interest you may have. The downside is that there are always a million (seemingly so) other people who are interested in the same things no matter how obscure they might be. Add to that advertising on Facebook and well, of course, there are going to be crowds.

Some months ago we saw an advertisement for teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum opening up in Odaiba. Both of us were interested in going.

So, we finally had a chance to go this past week.

Overall, the exhibition of digital art was pretty cool – said in the most intellectual tone I can muster. ;)🤣👩🏽‍🎨

The only problem is that trying to absorb the ambience of culture and appreciate what artists may have had in mind is a challenge when there are thousands (okay, maybe hundreds…) of other people attempting to do the same.

Or, maybe it was originally imagined to include waiting in lines and time limits to enjoy the art feature as part of the experience? 🤔

Anyway, along with the renewed lesson that I have to accept we live amongst millions, it was worth the visit. The creative minds that came up with the art on exhibition are indeed far beyond my own understanding. But, it made going to a ‘museum’ a lot more fun! 😛

~T 😀

It has been a little less humid and lot cooler the past week or so. Of course, more rain has come with that, but it also means that the fall blooms are starting to brighten up the paths.

When you live in a place with actual seasons (despite people’s recent complaints that Japan doesn’t have four seasons 🍁⛄️🌸☀️) conversation around weather is inevitable. After living in a country that really had no seasons other than hot ☀️and hotter☄️ I have come to appreciate them more than I did before. Also, I have become more aware of my preference for one season over another.

Before, people would ask me as a small talk conversational piece, “What’s your favorite season?”. I would look at them as if they were crazy and think, “What a dumb question…, who cares?” 😖

Now, I understand. Now, I have a favorite season with a more mature understanding of why. 👵🏽

As a youth, I would say ‘summer’ was my favorite because it meant school holidays and long sunny days of nothing but pleasurable activities. As I got older, I would stubbornly refuse to answer such a question and say something sarcastic, like “I prefer tropical climate”, which isn’t an answer to the question at all. 🙄

These days, I can honestly say that ‘fall/autumn’ is my favorite season. It’s a season that feels like the biggest ‘sigh’ of relief and letting go. The heat goes away lowering humidity levels. The winds blow a cooler breeze that refreshes the skin. The colors become bright on the trees giving the eyes some stimulation. People come out to enjoy the weather with smiles and chatty sounds.

Although the rain increases and there is still some humidity, it feels as if the community (or at least my little place in the world in Japan) has breathed out a collective cool sigh of relief with a quicker step in their feet as we forget about the trying summer times and avoid the need to hunker down for winter. It’s a period of time to just be and breathe.

~T 😀

The downside of going back to work and working for a business rather than an academic institution is that vacation days are limited. Add to that other life challenges, makes for a bit of a difficulty in taking summer holidays.

However, I’m not at all complaining as life is a far cry (positively) from what it was just over a year ago – still trying to work out how to update on that….

Anyway, we were finally able to manage a trip away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo life over a long weekend.

Both of us needed the bit of rest that the beautiful blue waters and sun of Okinawa provided us.

Most of our time was spent on the beaches as we tried out most of the popular ones thanks to being able to drive around the main island. The weather was absolutely perfect and so here are the photos that say it all!

~T 😀

Okinawa / Google Photos

In the three months or so that I did not have my blog outlet I was just using Facebook and, mostly, Instagram to share what’s been going on in my life when my mood suited.

At the same time, I gradually broke my habit/semi-addiction to social media, which has resulted in a decrease in how much I have been posting, in general. As I re-evaluated my purpose with social media while being a bit of a lurker on others’ posts, I found myself wondering what is the purpose of putting pictures and words out there for people – near and far.

The old-skool side of me thinks that if I don’t talk to you regularly, then you don’t need to know what’s going on with me. However, I find that not quite right either as I have full control over what I post and so if I do, then I can’t be concerned about the reaction of those who see it.

The modern side of me feels like it’s just what we do now to keep updated with one another since the art of writing letters and sending postcards while on holidays has gone by the wayside.

Some people keeps blogs with limited access to those who request or know the URL, but then again it’s still on a public forum with a false sense of privacy and security.

Therefore, I have mostly concluded each to her own. Do what you like and makes you most comfortable.

As for me, I have decided that the Internet is an open forum no matter the form I choose to use. Since I enjoy writing and want to recreate my habit of posting here more, I shall attempt to use efficient methods through the features available of automatically posting from here and Instagram to Facebook so that bases are covered, but I will be less likely to overdo the whole social media sharing.

In any case, I will embrace the fact that people I know or have “connected” with can have a way of finding common ground to interact on -whether good or bad – and hope that in some way I am influencing the world in the way I want – through my writing.

Stay tuned for more posts to come!

~T 😀

It’s been a busy period lately between work and enjoying a visit by our friends. So, I’ve barely had time to think let alone post, but we do have some time coming up where I might find a way to reflect and refresh.

Therefore, posts are coming – I promise. 😀

~T 😀

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Creative Meanderings

Art Among Millions

Cool Sighs

An Okinawan Holiday

Online Presence

Phew!

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