Category: Well-being

Relax and Recharge (and Thoughts About Work-Life Balance)

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Reading and Relaxing” Cedar Park, 2020

I officially have the entire week off from work, so I’m using it to relax, unwind, and play games. But I also check in with work a little bit which is fine.

In the past I would feel bad about checking my work laptop on weekends or days off, thinking that I needed a hard separation between home-life and work-life. Not just separating it with physical space or actions, but also in my thinking. For instance, if I was doing something mundane at home like taking a shower or folding laundry and a thought about work comes into my mind, I’d feel guilty, as if it was encroaching on my space. But beginning a couple of years ago, I found myself letting go of that guilt… it wasn’t really a concerted effort on my part, but I just realized that I didn’t feel bad about it anymore. And it felt great, as if a weight were lifted off my shoulders. ☺

My work involves visual design, and I find that creativity isn’t bound by the 9 to 5 workday. Some days I am just not that productive creatively, but often when I’m doing mundane things outside of work hours, I think about design challenges and formulate some solutions or things to explore when I do start my workday. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of these moments of creative insight? It’s more stressful to force myself to be creative exclusively during my work hours like I used to do. Now, thinking about work outside of work hours isn’t a negative, but a positive thing.

Letting go of that guilt has been liberating. Of course I still prioritize family at all times, but I can’t deny that work is a large part of my life, so I might as well embrace the fact that it always will take up some of my headspace and use it to my advantage.

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Today’s photo is of Bay, reading and relaxing in the massage chair. He’s on winter break from college and it’s been so nice to have him home!

Ukulele Time

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO6400
 “Ukulele Detail” Cedar Park, 2020

I’ve been playing my ukulele every couple of days now, which I think is a nice “pace” for me. I don’t like to play every single day for very long because my left wrist still hurts a bit, and also I’ve read that longer gaps between session while learning a skill helps with the long-term memory. So, I won’t practice a song that I am learning every day, but maybe every three or four days. Once I have the song memorized, I might play it once or twice every day to work on parts that need clean up (there are A LOT of those parts).

I’ve recently memorized Al Woods’ arrangement of La Vie en Rose. I really enjoy playing that song, which reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Wall•E, and it’s fun to note my progress in playing it more cleanly, and also find better fingering combinations that make it easier.

On the new song front, I am starting on Ukulenny’s arrangement of I Will by The Beatles which is another of my favorites. The very last chord uses the 14th fret, which a soprano ukulele doesn’t have, so maybe this is a good excuse to pull the trigger on that concert ukulele that’s been sitting in my wishlist? 😋

I love playing the ukulele. I may not be very good, but it’s fun, relaxing, and keeps my 52-year-old brain active.

Two-Wheeled Therapy

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/4, 1/1400 sec, ISO200
 “Kiki” Cedar Park, 2020

Today I have the day off from work (actually the whole week!) so I decided to have a bit of fun riding my motorcycle around. Motorcycling is an intense experience, where all five senses are on overload. But I also spent some time practicing skills that need some work: u-turns at full lock. For these exercises, I went to the elementary school’s parking lot, which is perfect because I can use the parking space markers to gauge my progress.

My goal is to comfortably make u-turns in either direction, with the handlebars at their maximum position (full lock). The correct way to do this is to look at where you want to go (way over your shoulder), then turn the handlebars and initiate the turn. The trick is to keep the proper speed where you are slow enough that you can keep the handlebars at full lock, but with enough speed that you can lean over without dropping the bike. The secret is to use clutch control while revving the engine a bit to avoid stalling. If you are sensing that you are falling over, then you need to let out the clutch and let the engine power bring you up again. But not too much that you come out of the tight turn.

It’s a real skill to do this well, and only practice will allow you build up the muscle memory to feather the clutch to adjust the power without consciously thinking about it. It’s my one big apprehension when riding, so it’s worthwhile to take the time to make some progress! And even if I feel like I didn’t do such a good job with my skill training, I know that it is progress towards getting better!

In the afternoon, I went for a nice bicycle ride to relax a bit. Bicycling is a wonderful activity. Super fun and good exercise! Plus you can clear your mind and see some great sights. I always feel great after a ride, even if it is just around the block to pick up the mail, but it’s a real treat when the route takes me to see sights like this:

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/7.1, 1/600 sec, ISO200
 “Mango” Cedar Park, 2020

I hope you had a nice day!

100% Mixed Webinar

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
 “Webinar” Cedar Park, 2020

I attended 100% Mixed 100% Nikkei – Experiences of Mixed Race Nikkei Webinar hosted by the JACL, in which the discussion centered around the experience of mixed-race people, and specifically those with Japanese ancestry as part of their makeup. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and especially the discussions that touched on where we fit in with today’s events surrounding racial inequality, the BLM movement, and the rise of white supremacist rhetoric in America. I didn’t realize (and I still need to explore) how the Japanese-American community was affected by the civil rights movements in the 60s, and became the “model minority” as a response to anti-blackness. It’s something that not a lot of people think about, but I think it’s worth exploring.

I’m happy that organizations like JACL exist and provide resources for helping Nikkei explore their roots. It’s refreshing to see and hear people of mixed race speak about their individual experiences that make up a collective experience that so many of us share, even though everyone’s present situations might be different distances from when our ancestors came to America. And it’s also wonderful to see people of different age groups too! There are many differences generationally, but we all are the same in that we are curious and want to know more, and share our experiences.

It seems to me that first-generation Asian-Americans share a stronger bond with each other, and with each successive generation, those bonds becomes weaker, or perhaps less-easily defined. Japanese-Americans (and Chinese-Americans) have been present in America for a relatively long time as compared to other Asian groups, so the Nikkei bonds have to extend a greater distance. And each generation may have additional ingredients added into the mix, so it’s harder to identify a dominant flavor. I’m not sure if that is a good analogy or not. At any rate, I think third-generation (Sansei) or fourth-generation (Yonsei) Japanese-Americans have less common identity to use to connect with each other as compared to first-generation Asian-Americans. It’s very complicated, yet fascinating.

I’m a Yonsei, so Bay and Koa would be Gosei (fifth-generation). But since Mariko is an Issei (first-generation), they could also be considered Nissei (second-generation). 🤷‍♂️

A 1.5 hour webinar is not nearly enough time to cover such a complex subject, but it’s a great start! I’m very happy that I attended. Thank you, JACL, for putting it together! Much more to learn…

Running With a Mask at the Ready

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Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 2.671mm, f/2.2, 1/550 sec, ISO100
 “Covered Up” Cedar Park, 2020

During this pandemic, I stay away from routes where there are a lot of people, specifically the hike & bike paths that are too narrow to keep a safe distance from other people. So that means I stick to my neighborhood streets where I can run in the road or easily cross to the other side to stay socially distant. However, there are some parts where I have to run on a narrow pathway or sidewalk, which is why I always carry a disposable mask.

I will just put the mask around my wrist, and it’s so light that it doesn’t interfere at all with the running experience. But when I am running on one of these narrow sections and I see another pedestrian or cyclist, I’ll put the mask on. It literally takes just three or four seconds, so why not? Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) I haven’t seen any other runners using masks, but maybe now that they’ve seen my put on my mask, it will normalize it to them (or maybe they will feel a little ashamed), and they will start doing the same. Hey, we have to look out for one another!

In other running news, I saw this really great sidewalk art version of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Very cool!

Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1500 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020

I hope you had a great day!