Listen with your whole body. Curious about what it tells us, how we can use it to make meaning, and cultivate Relational Intelligence.
Afterimage 34: Looking Back to Look Forward, Thresholds to Celebrate
no 34
Have you accidentally looked into the sun or bright light and then looked away, and the image burned into your eyelids? That’s an afterimage.
I moved into my new house this week.
Here's what I saw, heard, or sensed that’s stayed with me in the past week. Let’s begin.
Memories in my Body: Looking Back to Look Forward
The movers came and went. I stood in the empty living room, the back of my eye sockets burning. I didn’t know gratitude could feel hot like this.
I liked this house. The house gave my daughter and me a soft landing in Hokkaido after a tumultuous year of living apart. Living in the countryside, my daughter learned nature isn’t reserved for weekends or holidays. She fell in love for the first time going to school from this house. Its garden gave me cherries and grapes, cherry blossoms, lilies of the valley, and hydrangea.
I learned to relax here and to trust myself more deeply. Its roof sheltered me and gave me nights of deep, restful sleep. Living in this house, I learned to be. Be me.
In the winter, though, this snow-country house had a doubling effect. It was biting cold, and my utilities more than doubled. My daughter’s school suddenly felt far away: the snow doubled the commute. This house would have made a great summer home.
I like to name my houses. This one didn’t have a name while I lived there. But looking back now, maybe its name is Chrysalis House.
Sensing Time in my Body: Thresholds to Celebrate
I wrote this section last week, edited it out, and decided not to publish it. It works this week on the theme of looking back and looking forward. Intuition has a funny way.
:::
With my fiftieth birthday coming up in January, this December feels like it’s on a quiet mission: it’s sending me off into the next decade. As I approach this threshold, I ask myself, “Who am I becoming?”
But maybe the real question is, “Who am I already?”
It’s time to celebrate.
Questions for You: What are some things about you this year that you’d like to celebrate? What do you want to take with you into the new year? What are some things you’d like to leave behind? What do you want to make room for? How will this shape your year to come?
I'm Akiko Mega.
Listen with your whole body. Curious about what it tells us, how we can use it to make meaning, and cultivate Relational Intelligence.
No 58 Being present is the unique gift of being alive. This newsletter explores small ways to cultivate more presence. Whenever an experience stands out, leave it alone awhile. Sometime later, replay the scene. Observe the past scene, what do you see? Observe what your body sensed then, and feels now. I call this processing of a past event an Afterimage. ::: The name for this newsletter first came to me in Japanese: 残像, zanzō— meaning, “leftover image”. It’s distinct. I like the sound. When I...
No 57 Being present is the unique gift of being alive. This newsletter is an exploration of small ways to cultivate more presence. Welcome to installment 57 of Afterimage. Whenever a recent experience stands out, I leave it alone for awhile before revisiting it. I replay the scene in my mind’s eye, then observe both the scene and me— what my body felt then, and what it feels now watching. I call this processing of a past event an Afterimage. After I see and feel the Afterimage, I invite my...
no 56 Being present is the unique gift of being alive. This newsletter is an exploration of small ways to cultivate more presence. Welcome to installment 56 of Afterimage. When a recent experience stands out I leave it awhile, then revisit it: I replay the scene in my mind’s eye, and watch. I observe my body and how it responds to the scene in the present moment. I call this image and felt sense of a past event, the Afterimage. After I have a good look at the Afterimage, I invite my mind to...