How do you connect?

What does it mean to connect? When do you know that there is one? And why do people (when they claim to have connection) feel it BOTH WAYS — when there is absolutely nothing physical connecting one being to another? And aren’t there times when the connections feel stronger… and then less so? What’s going on there, I wonder?

In a coaching session  with fellow “coursemate,” Peter, (he was coaching me) we talked about connection. It was our first time talking one on one, outside of the course we had both been taking for a couple of months. I knew he was a nice guy but I was a teeny bit afraid that there was a chance we would not “connect.”

So he got me thinking after the call. (It turned out to be way longer than we both had planned– so much to share, it turns out!)

It made me think, “Isn’t it interesting that we notice the “un” connectedness of connection — as if we were standing with pockets of void around us until we decide to acknowledge and/or embrace one another’s existence?

So does this connection come and go? Is it “there” one minute, then “not there” the next?

“Ummm, we never really connected.”

“The connection wasn’t there, you know.”

“Let’s connect sometime!”

Maybe we’ve talked about people we weren’t comfortable with or talked to people we planned to get together with later on. Is connection really just the act of two ends meeting (as is implied in the lines above)?

Peter slipped in this observation ever so casually when I whined a bit about not being able to catch up with how more experienced a friend was. He suggested that it was not trying to get on the same level with people; people who have more “knowledge” or more “experience” or more “understanding” that is “making” the connection stronger. The moment that we realize that “we are the same person,” not higher or lower, older or younger, or more or less “qualified” — that we feel and reveal the connection that is and has always been there. Strong. Steady. Unwavering. Not more “present” today or less “present” yesterday.

So if we are neither plugging into or unplugging from one another. That’s a pretty cool thing to know. If it’s just a matter of not being able to see it all the time. That’s also a good thing to know. It’s easy to know (well, relatively easy) that we are not our “money” or our “car” or our “family,” even.

But how are we when comes to fundamental values like “love” or “trust” (or the virtue of “connecting” with people, even?) Can we say the same? Am I not my values? That’s what makes me, ME, right? or maybe not. 

Values. Are they not also “outer coats” that we were told (with the best of intentions) protected us from the cruel elements? Are they not just that — “coats” to protect us. They are not the ME — the “being” that remains intact no matter what coat we are wearing.

Does it make more sense to think that we are unconnected beings trying to connect, or that we are connected beings that are tricked into feeling that we are not?

This is the concept that I am turning over in my mind today.

A RAINBOW OF COLORS!

A Rainbow of Colors
An original song by Auntie Mitz

A Rainbow of Colors

Red, I like the color red,
Blue, I know you like it, too!
Purple and Green
And all the colors in between,
A rainbow of colors for you!

Pink, I like the color pink,
Yellow, I nice color, you know!
Orange and white
See all the colors outside,
A rainbow of colors for you!

I like the light green of the grass!
I like the light blue of the sky!
I like the silver of the moon,
and the dark brown of the ground.

Red, I like the color red,
Blue, I know you like it too!
Purple and green and all the colors in between,
A rainbow of colors for you.

Purple and green and all the colors in between,
A rainbow of colors for you!
A RAINBOW OF COLORS FOR YOU!

Hello Everyone!
It’s a warm winter in Chigasaki this year!
今年の茅ヶ崎は暖かい冬を迎えてます
And the holiday season of warm wishes is upon us!
そして心暖まるホリデーシーズンもやってきました
I hope everyone is enjoying their last days of 2015!
2015年の残りをたくさん楽しんでください!

Happy Holidays!!!

the “DR” story

the “DR” story

Hello, I’m back! Did you enjoy your Halloween!
こんにちは!ご無沙汰しています。楽しいハロウィーンを過ごしましたか?
Today, I have a video talking about words with “dr”.
”DR”の発音についてのビデオを作って忌みました。
AND….I am going to talk about a “different” way to understand English pronunciation, called KataNeigo!
そして、ちょっと変わった(オリジナル)発音の記号を紹介してみました。
Overcome some “un”useful ‘habits’ and speak English more smoothly! Enjoy!
いやな”癖”を‘なくして、英語をもっとスムーズに!
(クラスで実践している方法です。小3でも初めて見る英語をとても上手に発音出する方法です!)

Recording of English message (英語のメッセージ)

by Auntie Mitz

Outside, Together (An original song!)

Outside, Together! (A weather song)

Hi Everyone! Here is my very first original song
to be released on the internet!

Feel the sunshine
Feel the rain
Feel the wind upon my face
I like to dance
I like to twirl outside
Together
What Weather do you like?
What Weather do you like?
I like sunny days,
I like rainy days,
I like cloudy days,
I like snowy days,
What Weather do you like?
What Weather do you like?
See the clouds
See the sky
Follow the birds, flying by
I like to dance
I like to twirl outside
Together. . . .
ドキドキ!ここで初めてのオリジナルソングで、
初めての公開です!これからもよろしくね!

My First ‘Udo’ and Eigo!

My First Udo, Slow

I bought my very first ”UDO”(oo-doh) (Japanese spikenard, or mountain asparagus) at the supermarket the other day!
この前、スーパーで初ウドを買いました。
I’m so happy.
嬉しい。
My cooking teacher used it in a salad in a recent cooking class.
最近、料理教室の先生がサラダに使いました。
I have lived in Japan for 20 years, but I have never eaten”UDO”.
20年も日本に住んでいるけど、ウドは食べた事がなかった。
I loved the crispy, fresh, slightly bitter taste in my mouth as I ate the mouth-watering salad.
シャキシャキでみずみずしい、ちょっぴり苦味のあるおいしいサラダがとても気に入った。
I enjoyed it so much that I bought this strange looking root at the grocery store the same afternoon.
この面白い形の野菜をすぐに買ってみました。
IMG_3106
 I thought that buying this new vegetable was like learning a new vocabulary word.
見た事ないウドで、見た事ない‘英単語’を思い出した。
Strange new words are scary.
初めて聞く単語は意外と怖い。
I don’t know the spelling; I don’t know the meaning; I don’t know how to use it in a sentence.
スペルも知らない、意味も知らない、文での使い方も不明。
Until now, I had never seen this strange plant in the produce department, but I’m sure that it has always been there.
スーパーでは見た事なかった、私にとって、とても変なお野菜だったんだ。でも、ずっとあったんだろうね。きっと。
It was my new ‘vocabulary word’ in the cooking world.
料理の世界での新しい”語彙”でした。
I struggled to remember how my teacher prepared and cooked the vegetable.
料理の仕方を一生懸命思い出そうとした。
It reminded me of how we often struggle  to use our new vocabulary words in new sentences.
新しい単語を文章で使うと、こんな感じだったっけ?
IMG_3109
I now know 2 ways to use udo: slice them thinly for a salad and stir fry the peel with a light soy sauce.
ウドの料理法を二つ覚えた。サラダに千切りと金平で。
The next time I go to the supermarket, I will see this new vegetable “vocabulary” and perhaps will try  to create more delicious dishes or “sentences”  with it.
今度スーパー行った時は、この新しい野菜’単語’で新しい料理’文章’を作ってみます。
I hope you will also enjoy using your new vocabulary words, with new vocabulary ‘recipes’.
皆様もこれからも、新しい’単語料理’を楽しんでみてください!
Perhaps one day you can share your new recipes with friends through deeper and more meaningful conversations!
新しい英語の”料理”で、より面白い、より深い会話を楽しめるようになるでしょう!
Talk to again soon, goodbye!

My First Udo, Regular