I’ve been doing a lot of research for a picture book idea I’ve held for a while. Research was my job for many years. I worked for various organizations researching diabetes in youth, healthy aging and the criminal justice system for different parts of my life. But I find the most joy from history, particularly understanding my past.
Belonging
I was born and raised on Oahu. I’m Japanese American, so I never felt like I belonged in Japan, but I’m not from this land either. It’s a weird place to be especially in the times we’re living now.
Listening to videos of elders who grew up and raised their children on a sugar plantation, however, feels like home to me. Their pidgin accent. Phrases they used. It reminds me of family members. Many who are long gone. I somehow feel like the key, the answers to all our problems, lie in our ancestors.
During moments that feel unstable to me, I remember how much they went through and what they fought for. They fought for me to be here, to be paid equally, to be treated with equality, to have the right to work hard and have enough to raise my family.
One of the woman I listened to on an interview said that she had no titles (even though she worked and helped in a variety of areas to support the 1946 Sugar Strike in Hawaii) but that she was okay with that because she “let everyone else be chief.”
There’s so much in that statement about hard work, about doing things without the need for recognition and reward, and that the bravest and most inspiring people come from just supporting people to be and do their best.
Sometimes we think we know everything, but there’s a reason why with old age comes wisdom.
Exhausted with election results?
I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted from all the election news. I feel like we’ve been under the new President for four years already.
What I realized is that this is a marathon not a sprint, and in order to take care of mental health, I need to slow down. I need to stop reading news stories. I need to stop scrolling through social media. I need to refocus my attention on what’s important. I’ve started working on articles about Hawaii’s local climate issues which you can read here. And I am putting my efforts in writing about my family’s story.
I hope you will join me in 2025! I’m less apt to promote more waste, and more into figuring out ways to tell my story, share ways we can help and also feature writers who are doing amazing things like this woman.
Thank you for being here and for fighting the fight, and writing regardless of your busy life, your fears and insecurities, your challenges in making a living, and with everything going on in the world. In the end, it will be worth the sacrifice. I promise.
