Today I Feel Quiet

There are definitely some days where I revel in the quiet of writing.  Sometimes it’s too quiet and I have to get out and see people, but there are wonderful points where I can be left alone with my thoughts so I can really process ideas and make meaning out of ordinary moments.  I have learned in recent weeks that it is the ordinary that defines our sense of the exceptional.  Without the parameters of the regular, for example, how would we recognize irregularity?  How can we define what is special without the frame of normal life?

My son’s bar mitzvah – as a marker of coming of age for him – has given me pause to consider the idea behind growth that goes beyond the physical.  As I watch my children change practically every day, whether inside or out, I am reminded to take those few minutes to appreciate them.

This week my parents are in town with me to celebrate my son’s second bar mitzvah.  They have not been in Japan since 2003, and at that time, I had babies, not independent children; it rained every day; and we didn’t have language or place skills.  It was a long time ago.  It is only day two of their nine-day visit, and they are already enjoying it more than their first visit.  Today they are taking a tour to Nikko via Sunrise Tours and I am alone with my thoughts.  I’m so glad they are here; I am so glad to have the day to myself, too.

Quiet days are to be treasured.