Daily Yamabushi

Can’t sleep? Do some work, do something creative, write a blog or make a website. Make something. Consumption leads to more consumption but creativity leads to conscious consumption.

I call it conscious creativity. Making the conscious decision to put yourself in situations where you have to be creative. Then you can reap the rewards of conscious consumption too!

It’s the same in teaching. You aren’t teaching anything. What you’re doing is providing the environment for people to learn conductively. I like to say that I don’t teach, rather that I allow people to learn. It’s just a matter of applying that theory to anything creative.

^this piece is a direct result of doing what I just said

I had a piece of advice last year that I’ve been thinking about ever since. The advice? Don’t work jobs that pay you by the hour. Menial labour is not something I could do again if I could avoid it. I’m very lucky to be able to work doing creative things like translation and even teaching, although the latter does fall into the category of being paid by the hour. In my case I see it as more of a stop-gap while I figure out more of what I want to do creatively. One thing being this blog of course.

So I know that I want to do something creative and not menial, and that is about where I am right now.

I don’t mean to criticize those who undertake this labour, for some people it suits them just fine, but I take issue when it attempts to make robots of humans. That’s not what we’re here for. I wish that menial labour had more of a human element, which customer service roles often do, and that people weren’t just working to fill the time.

Shit happens. Just let it go, no matter how hard it is. That’s the sort of philosophy I’ve kind of naturally developed from everything that’s happened to me so far. The problem is, you can’t just say that to people if they’re going through a tough time. What you can say, honestly, is that it does get easier. Because from my experience, that much is true. Mountains and valleys, really. You gotta climb the mountains to enjoy the view at the top. When you go back down, the valley is where you gain your strength back to climb the mountain again. Such is life.

When I was in high school, two friends and I used to love going to the movies. We usually went at least once a week, and we saw most of the semi-decent ones out there at the time.

I never thought about it then, but one of my friends would have gained so much more out of watching them than we did. You see, this friend had been infatuated by music in films since such a young age, and he had even already written a lot of his own stuff by that time.

I think, while watching the films, besides obviously following the story, he would have been analyzing how the emotions and storyline developments were being portrayed through the visuals, but more importantly the audio soundtrack for ideas to add to his repertoire.

I never really caught onto this at high school, I think I was way too immature, but the same thing goes for novels or anything else creative. Well, looking back for me it could have been for learning Japanese, I think I analyzed a lot of the language I came into contact with and had a lot of questions about it too.

The same thing is true when it comes to interior design or architecture, or any DIY project too.

When you have a desire to be creative, you look at things you consume in a different way. This means you look at them deeper too, not just at a surface level, which I think most creatives want their audience to do.

That’s one way why pushing creativity is a good idea, it gives you a sense of appreciation for what others have created.

Of course then we can extrapolate this to nature as well… maybe that’s how religions started.

How to make it easier when you’re sorting out someone else’s house:

Make three piles:

1. Stuff to get rid of, either to donate, sell, or throw away depending on state.

2. Stuff to keep for sure.

3. Stuff to think about.

It’s better if you get everything out and put it in a visible pile. This makes it easier to sort out.

Get rid of 1. as soon as possible, or at least organize it for easy disposal, such as by putting it in the garage or somewhere near the door.

For 2., The stuff to keep for sure, keep it and take it back to its new home.

For 3., stuff to think about, try doing as much as possible as soon as possible. It makes it easier if you have to empty the house cos you have to get rid of it anyway and that means it goes into 1. Otherwise, limit yourself to a certain number of things that remind you of the person, and that’s it. Everything else is either donated or thrown away depending on condition.

Another tip, do this as early as possible, it makes it much easier later on!

If you’re deciding whether to keep a place furnished or not for rental, don’t. It’s more stuff to have to keep track of that won’t benefit you anyway.

That’s about all for now. Good luck.

Success means having a positive impact on the greatest audience.

This is how I define success, which would put some religious leaders at the top, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, etc. but then also the more modern Steve Jobs etc.

By defining success like this, I have also given myself a new aim. Have a positive impact on the greatest number of people. My new goal in life!

What this means exactly, I am yet to see, but now I have some direction.

When you’re moving out of a home, it really hits you when you see just how empty a house could be. All the anticipation of moving out doesn’t prepare you for when the moment really comes, but when it does, it’s really brings you down to earth, even if you have been preparing for it for more than a month…

Now having had to empty two places, I have a pretty good idea why we shouldn’t be collecting so much stuff, and just how easy it is to accumulate things that we simply do not need. My father was the worst culprit. I remember throwing out cans and cans of paint, some of which had dried completely, and a whole lot of tools that are no longer usable due to things such as rust and broken handles.

The sentimental things are hard though. Well, yes and no. Photos can be categorised and put into albums and even digitised, but the big things like antiques and big pictures are a bit harder to deal with. Unless, you really do have no space for it, and you aren’t able to take it home. I took some antiques to two local dealers, and they both basically said that they may have sentimental value, but they aren’t worth much. So, that was easy. The only real reason to have these things for us is for money, except for really personal things I guess.

All in all, it hasn’t been too hard. It’s just a matter of going through things, and even following Marie Kondo’s method, well what I can remember from seeing the show on Netflix, has helped.

There’s a bit of an odd phenomena that I’ve noticed between Japan and New Zealand; sitting on the floor.

In Japanese elementary schools, each child has their own desk and chair and they often sit in rows usually with a pair.

In New Zealand primary schools, at least in my case, we had chairs and desks in groups of about four, but we also had a mat for all the children to sit on, on the floor.

What’s strange about this is, of course, that after intermediate school in New Zealand, at about the age of 12, we hardly ever sit on the ground ever again. On the other hand, Japanese people sit on the ground at home all the time, so they’re spending their whole lives used to sitting in such positions. Then when it comes to religious or other events, often they would be sitting on the ground, whereas in New Zealand, we only ever really sit on chairs.

This is of course a bit different when it comes to things like picnics, or sitting outside, but for the most part, it’s true. That the Japanese elementary school students sit at desks could be due to the allied occupation after the war, which they just didn’t change back from, but it’s interesting how both cultures get their kids to do the opposite of what happens when they grow up.

It’s hard to argue which is better, because although Japanese people are mostly quite flexible, they have a lot of back and shoulder issues, that could be due to sitting on the floor so much. Then again, New Zealanders, such as myself, aren’t as flexible, which has its disadvantages, such as when you want to pick up something from the floor. Then again, height could come into it.

The reason I noticed this, however, was that on Sunday night and last night I attended vigils for the recent terror attacks in Christchurch, where I was required to sit on the ground for at least part of it. I could tell from the people around me that they were not at all used to sitting on the ground, as I heard a lot of complaining and watched people struggle to stand up, but I didn’t really notice that in Japan.

As a Yamabushi, we do a lot of sitting down, either on our knees in Seiza, or Hiraza with our legs crossed as in meditation, so I am somewhat used to sitting down on the ground, although I could still be a lot more flexible.

Well, I noticed that sitting down on the ground was something that humans do in prayer a lot, and I felt a sort of connection between us. It may be obvious now that we have so much information about the cultures of the world, but I find it interesting how we all developed to worship in a similar way. This is probably due to succumbing to the power of whatever god we are worshipping, but I think it’s all related.

Isn’t it wonderful but also strange that the hardest things to put into words are the most common themes for songs and art.

Love and heartbreak is so hard to describe that we need different media to do so, and I feel that we still miss the mark. This is not a hit at artists and songwriters, rather that they are doing an admirable job at doing the impossible.

We talk about your place on the team, because that could change, but your place on the family? If you’re part of the family, you’re always part of the family, but teams can be split.

In a family, love comes first.

In a team, goals come first.

In a family, the shared goal is happiness and harmony.

In a team, the shared goal could be anything.

In a family, your place is guaranteed.

In a team, nothing is guaranteed.

In a family, growth is important.

In a team, growth is tantamount.

The distinction between family and team is an important one.

Families are families. Countries are families.

Business teams are teams. Sports teams are teams.

Elements can be shared between both, but never shall the two be confused.

I’m trying to improve my swim time for the triathlon this year, and this morning I wasn’t as fast as I hoped I would be. I want to swim the 1.5k in under 20 minutes, and at the moment I’m just over, at around 20 minutes 30 seconds. Well, that was when I timed myself in January in Japan so I should be faster than that now (this was in a pool without a wetsuit mind you).

In order to beat that time, I’m swimming three times a week, with each session slightly different to the next, and each focusing on quality over quantity (although it may be an idea to have one focused on quantity, will think about that).

Mondays I normally do 12x100m at 1’25 pace, and then I do 4x100m medley at 1’40. To swim 1.5k in under 20 minutes, I need to be doing 1’20 100s. So, on Wednesdays I’ve been doing 4x 4x100m at 1’20 pace and an easy 100m. Fridays are my long swim where I do 2x800s on 11:20 (that’s 1’25 pace).

As you can tell, only part of the Wednesday sessions are at the pace I want to swim. So, to try change that, this morning I tried doing 2x 6x100m on the 1’20, with a break in between. I was able to keep pace for the first 3 100s, actually the first 100 I did on about 1’13. I had originally planned on doing 3x 4×100 on the 1’20, but I thought I’d be able to do two lots of six, which failed.

I guess this means that next week I’ll do the 3x 4×100 on the 1’20 with a break between each set. I now know that I have to slow down a bit at the start, I guess I need to get used to 1’20 tempo, which I’m not at yet.

Wednesday’s sessions can stay the same, but Friday’s I will need to also speed up a bit. I’m not sure how best to do that because it is so long. Perhaps I can start by doing them on the 11’ (10’40 is the pace I need). Last week I think I struggled with the second 800m because I went too hard in the first. I also don’t think I’m fast enough to make up that 20 seconds yet, but this is also a matter of pacing.

So, as with everything, it’s a matter of tinkering with what I’m doing at making slight adjustments all the time. It’s hard to know if I’m on track, but I still have three months to train, so I guess that’s a good thing to keep in mind. Keep it up bro!

Don’t over-focus on the solution, focus on the problem.

Know the problem.

Constant refinement.

Design.

Always make someone’s life better than before they met you.

These are all from this short podcast called Business is Boring on Asuwere by the Spinoff team. Great advice to keep in mind.

My dad gave me some advice to overcome adversity. He told me the important thing was keeping the same routines, no matter how tough it got. Dad had broken up with my mum, but he still did things as per usual. To be honest, it was as if it didn’t faze him, which sounds harsh, and I’m probably wrong, but that’s what it looked like. Either way, I think he was right in his advice.

When the Tsunami hit the east coast of Tohoku more than 8 years ago, we constantly watched the news and checked the Internet for updates, until finally it got too much. We were just bombarded with information, all of it sad, that didn’t do anything to help the cause at all. So, we turned off the TVs, promised not to check our phones, and went outside for a walk. Looking back, that was probably the best decision, albeit it took us a while to come to it.

We were not turning our backs on adversity, by no means. I think we understood that the best way to get through it would be to carry on as per usual. What else can you do really? Spending the whole time worrying would get us nowhere, as we had already worked out.

So that’s what we did. We continued as normal as possible, helping those in need whenever possible, but trying to keep a state of normalcy. And I think that’s what needs to be done when in a state of adversity, after all as Buddha states; ‘Keep calm, nothing’s under control.’

I often have this problem where I say I’ll do something better if I moved to a different environment, as if the current environment is unconducive to work. There are a few places I can/ do work; my office at home, my office at school, and places like cafes etc. but I do use these different locations to procrastinate, by saying ‘if only I had both screens’ or ‘I need all my resources with me’ or ‘I need this specific resource but it’s not with me’ or even ‘I need coffee’.

Quite clearly this is the Resistance at work.

Just yesterday even I was working on my guidebook to the Dewa Sanzan, and I was half-way through something when I thought I’d be able to write this better if I was somewhere else. I was already at a café after having said the same thing an hour prior.

Thankfully, I reminded myself of that and quickly got back to work, but it shows just how easily the resistance can creep up on you.

Creative work is hard because it’s so easy to procrastinate. I think if you can either get over the urge to procrastinate or you can mitigate its effects, it’ll be fine. Maybe I should read Steven Pressfield’s work again…

I was once helping a friend who was an art designer organising a dancing event at the Domon Ken Museum of Photography. She is an extremely artistic person, and her thoughts for the event was that it should be about the love between mother and child, as that was the purest form of love.

I had never thought about that, but it’s true. You can’t get a stronger bond. Your mother is your home for the first months of your life, and then they are there for every milestone. My mum was there for everything.

Yesterday I talked about a Penny Lane Magnet that my mother owns, and while I was thinking about it, I was reminded of the film Departures (spoiler alert, go see the film if you haven’t already! Departures, called okuribito in Japanese, not The Departed).

The film shows a time when a father and son were skimming stones at the river. They then exchange stones to show their love for each other.

Then we learn that the father had left the son and his mother, and the movie continues with the main character becoming someone in charge of placing the body in the coffin, which is traditionally a very dirty job in Japan.

The main character learns that his father has died, and shocked with the way in which the amateurs handle his body, the son takes over, and it’s discovered that his father was holding the stone that his son had given him all those years ago.

This was particularly moving for me as (at least I felt) it symbolized the deep connection between father and son, and I happened to be watching it with my father.

When I came back to my dad’s house after I found out he had died, there was a book lying on the couch that he would have been reading probably the day of. The thing is, the bookmark he was using was his boarding pass from his trip to Japan for my wedding just 6 months prior.

This for me, symbolizes how such simple objects can become so intrinsically important when they are connected by love.

Although you can’t get a stronger bond between mother and child, the second purest form of love has to be between father and child.

My mother has a Penny Lane magnet that she got from her trip to the UK more than five years ago. It’s an ordinary magnet that you’d find probably in any souvenir shop in England, as it’s a famous symbol of a song by the biggest band the world’s ever seen.

It may not mean much to you, but to the right person it can mean the world.

When I think of this magnet, I am reminded of my mother’s love for the Beatles. I am reminded of the time she came to visit me in Japan, before heading off to the UK. I am reminded of my mother going back to her father’s home country, trying to trace her roots.

Although such a simple item, what this magnet represents is something so complex. Love.

Making a decision makes things so much easier. Once you have something set in stone, you can base your following questions on that decision, not on the ‘what ifs’.

It also affects your motivation. Once you’ve decided that you’re going for something, and you’re truly committed, it means you can back yourself more. That’s why uncertainty is not good, and it’s probably why we fear it.

That’s the problem. This may be the Resistance speaking, but motivating yourself when the result is uncertain is quite difficult.

The thing is, without uncertainty, everything is predictable, and predictable is boring. Even then the predictable can become unpredictable, but uncertainty makes things more fun.

What if’s may be hard to deal with, but they also make things fun.

That’s why I’m ok with uncertainty. I think other people aren’t as much, but I think it’s better not knowing what’s gonna happen, but trying for an optimal outcome for yourself.

Should have done it years ago.

There’s too much emphasis here on buying a house and it’s hard not to see why, there’s just too much money to be made, or lost if you’re stuck renting.

I don’t blame people for investing in property one bit when their gains aren’t going to be taxed, and houses appreciate so much, but I would like them to think more of investing in places that are better for everyone, not just the individual.

The capital gains tax, although it excludes the family home, which it shouldn’t, should go some way in incentivizing more investing in businesses that actually make the country money, and who knows, maybe even businesses that do some good for the environment.

As it currently stands, for someone like me thinking of returning to NZ, I’m extremely put off by the already high cost of living, let alone having to pay more than half my pay in housing alone. I imagine there would be a lot of other people in the same boat.

The problem is that New Zealand knows how good the quality of life is here, and they have a good education system to boot (compared to Japan at least), so they have a lot going for them. I guess all it really means is that we have to be smart about moving here if and when we do.

Last night we got to see the RHCP light up the show. It was pretty awesome hearing them live, and they played a good mix from their later albums (BSSM onwards), as it wasn’t an album tour 🙂 although there was a lack of Scar Tissue and Go Robot, the song I got my wife into the band on.

The best part of the night for me was when Josh Klinghoffer played I got you by Split Enz. Totally playing to the crowd, but man was it awesome! Sometimes you can’t help but be a fanboy 🙂

There’s something special about seeing people in real life. It’s much better to see someone in person than talking to them on the phone, or god forbid SNS. When you do, make sure you take the time to get close, it gives you the chance to see some things that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

I’m definitely someone who prefers meeting in real life over catching up by other means.

I’m talking about the Red Hot Chili Peppers of course.

Patience is a virtue. I think that is true. People really respect you when you are patient, and they reciprocate by being patient back. I’d rather someone give me the time I need to do something than have someone put pressure on me which in turn just makes things take much longer, and may not be the best quality either.

The problem with patience is when people try to take advantage of you. It can be hard to get them to stop, and sometimes it can be hard to know when they’ve gone too far. You have to be careful and stern in your words, and it helps to have set boundaries so that you can react when necessary.

Patience is a virtue, but never take advantage of it because it won’t reciprocate.

Since we’re on the topic of swimming and waterpolo, I’ll give you a little lesson that I learned 15 years ago at a waterpolo tournament. It’s amazing how much I can remember from this, it must have been that dramatic, but during the pool stage our team was facing the at the time #1 team in the country. Thankfully that was to be our final pool game because as we had beaten the other two teams already, it meant we were only playing for a better ranking in the quarter finals.

We had decided before the game that we would play hard for the first half, and if it seemed that we weren’t going to win, we would give our weaker players a go to give them some experience, but in a way forfeit the match so that we could focus on beating the next team. Well, we weren’t doing too well so we went ahead and put on our weaker players, and all this meant was that we faced the #2 team in the country in the quarterfinal. It was actually the first time I had come across this team after playing in tournaments with them for more than 3 years, because up until then we didn’t really have a chance, except this time we did. We put all our effort into beating this #2 team, we tried really hard, but we weren’t able to hold out and we lost.

We were all dejected. We were both physically and mentally defeated. And then came some of the wisest words I’ve ever heard. Our coach had been in the exact same position a few years back, where he felt personally responsible for his team’s loss at the quarter finals. He was so disappointed and that attitude carried on into the next match for third and fourth, but by then he had just given up and his team ended up fourth.

Our coach told us to put our heads up and look forward. Forget about the loss and focus on the next game. Don’t let what happened to him happen to us.

As it so happened the next game was against the #1 team in the country because they had lost in the quarterfinal. That was to our advantage. They had expected to be in the final, so they would have been dejected, but they didn’t have a secret weapon in the form of the wise words of a coach.

We stuck with our game plan, and had a great game and of course we won! Although it wasn’t for first place, it was the first bronze I had ever received while being one of the core players (I had received one as a junior player), but more importantly I had learned a valuable lesson.

When you’re down and out, you can only go up! Don’t let dejection take over you, there’s always another chance ☺

The people at the pool get it. The people at home don’t.

Even if your aim is to be the best swimmer in the world, the only way you can do that is by swimming.

Even if your aim is to lose weight by swimming, the only way you can do that is by swimming.

Even if your aim is to simply have fun by swimming, the only way you can do that is by swimming.

Simply thinking about how to do something or analysing it to pieces can never compare to actually doing it. Don’t worry about other people who do it better than you, just do it. That’s the only way you can get better than them anyway.

Swimming well isn’t the important part. Swimming is.

Recently I’ve been trying to find out what the default option is, and coming from Japan this is actually much easier.

The default in New Zealand is clearly buying a house, by whatever means necessary. The default in Japan is getting a job, just any job really but the better the better, and sticking with it.

To be honest, New Zealand’s option is better because there is a higher chance of long-term comfort in my opinion. Short-term, maybe not, because houses are really ridiculously overpriced, and having an income that a job provides gives you a sense of relief, unless it pays shitty of course.

Alas, being able to see the default options in both countries puts us at an advantage because we have a more objective outlook of the world, and we can decide what we want off that.

We’ve also come to see about what we need in terms of living, and really I am ok with the simple stuff. I’ve found that I can forgo an SUV, the soon-to-be default option in New Zealand, because they are too big to be practical in NZ just yet, both in terms of size and fuel consumption (if it were completely electric and the parking spaces and garages in NZ were a fraction bigger, then yes please).

Also the other luxury that we have often, coffee, I have found a very cheap (well, comparatively cheap) option in Mizudashi, or cold brew. I just have to buy the beans now that I have all the equipment, probably at around $5-10 per 100g, I probably won’t go much higher than that, for cafe-quality brew, or I can go for paper or Nel (cotton filter) drip now that I have enough experience with it.

The only other real big thing is housing though, will need to find a solution for that if we’re to live in NZ.

For a lot of things, the starting is the easy part but it can take a while to gain motion and to sustain it.

The hardest part of swimming is getting in the pool. Every time, you know that there will be that initial shock your body gets when you jump in, and that takes a little bit of courage to overcome. But once you’re in and moving about, it’s perfectly fine and it may even be hard to get out.

For someone who has done a lot of swimming, you know what it feels like when just after you jump in and you’re moving about, you know what it feels like when you’re in ‘the zone’ and you know what it feels like when you finish, and this all makes it easier at the start.

If we could gain the foresight for swimming with other endeavours, maybe it would be easier to gain motion and sustain it, but the hard thing is that without experience in doing so, we don’t know how. I guess again it’s just a matter of doing it.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching a movie called the Barkley Marathon on Netflix. I felt that the film dragged on too long for such a simple message, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

The film is about the Barkley Marathon held in Tennessee where participants try to complete five 20-mile loops through the wild bush under a certain time limit. It is quite an intense experience with participants’ legs covered in scratches and their feet completely mangled by the end. They also have some particular quirks that I quite enjoyed, like having to hand in a number plate from your state or country and giving things like T-shirts, flannel shirts, socks etc. on top of the $1.60 entry fee (the guy’s obviously not in it for the money). But also they play a song on the horn* whenever a participant pulls out, which is actually quite common.

Well, at one part of the film they talk to one participant about why anyone would do such a mentally and physically-challenging race and his answer was surprisingly similar to my own when it comes to simply doing stuff.

Like me, the participant had lost his father suddenly right before retirement. The story was that you don’t know when you’re going to die, so you might as well do stuff. It’s the same realisation I have had and since then I have been trying to do stuff just for the sake of it, and always look for new things to try.

Honestly, I think with enough preparation I could complete that marathon, but I think I’ll stick to Yamabushi training instead. That I know I can do.

Sometimes it can be useful to see where you sit in the pecking order so you have a more visible goal to work towards when trying to improve, but even then you’re comparing yourself to others, which is only useful at getting better than them.

Once you’re there, what do you do?

You have to be better than everybody in the world to be the world’s best, but to sustain it, you have to be constantly better than your previous self, because that’s the benchmark others are working towards.

Personally, I think it’s fine to simply be better than your previous self, and to not worry about others, or how others view you at all.

Do you want a run-of-the-mill rugby player, or would you rather someone with the X-Factor? The answer here should be obvious, but what if that player came with weaknesses that could cost them the game? Would you still take them? Actually, I would. I would prefer to have someone who has the ability to win the game, rather than someone who simply obeys, even if it means it may cost us the game.

The X-Factor changes the game. If you’re going to do something, it’s worth trying your best to become a game-changer, not a run-of-the-mill rugby player.

You know the universal income? Well, I was thinking of a way that I feel would be fair for someone employing me. For the past few years I’ve been sort of away from a salary or being paid per hour, not completely yet, but it’s a method that I much rather prefer.

I don’t like the limitations placed on you in a conventional job, where you get paid a set amount for a putting in a certain number of hours. I feel it is limiting, and depending on the amount of work you do it could be viable for either you or the employer. For example, if you’re paid a certain wage, but you either slack off, or there isn’t enough work for you, but you’re still getting paid, then it’s not worthwhile for the employer. Or, if you’re overworked or your skills far outweigh your compensation, then it’s not worth it for the employee.

Well, my idea would be similar to a universal income. The employee gets paid a base pay, say enough to cover their living costs or maybe something like their insurance or other benefits, but then they also get paid per project they take on and satisfactorily complete. This can be on top of their normal duties, or some simple tasks they have to undertake to meet the requirements for their base pay, but then they are free to take on other tasks and finish them in their own time, in their own way, as long as they’re done in the set deadline. It’s sort of like a semi-freelance deal.

This would essentially be my current situation where I am working for a university but taking on extra work outside on a freelance basis, and I think it might be a good way to keep people motivated and pay them fairly. Perhaps the employee could take a commission for finding the jobs, so that the companies can keep running and they are incentivised to find these jobs.

Well, this is just an idea for now. I thought maybe other people would enjoy it for what it’s worth.