Reality on a Stick

REALITY ON A STICK aims to achieve the following: 1) to serve as a public workshop which allows the author to organize some as yet disjointed and/or underdeveloped views about the world around him, and 2) to provide a forum for like-minded individuals to congregate and share in a constructive quest for greater awareness. All comments are welcome. I ask only that you check your ego at the door, and approach each issue with an open and tolerant mind.About me:Born in the San Joaquin Valley of California to a mother of Mexican descent and a father of Japanese descent, my brother and I were quickly transplanted to the blacktop jungle of L.A. Well, it wasn’t quite so exotic, as my parents gave up on buying property in order to put us into schools and a neighborhood that would see us grow. Showered with love and work ethic (and unhealthy eating habits;-) throughout my upbringing, I truly had everything I needed to succeed–which was a good thing, because I had a competitive streak that just wouldn’t quit. (No, seriously.) As you might expect, I fared well in sports, drama, student leadership, student outreach, honor roll, etc. and still managed to party and have a few destructive relationships with girls who were just about as lost and confused as me. Left high school pretty much on top and pretty much hating who I’d become (though I was quite convincing to the contrary).Majored in Philosophy and English at Berkeley. Loved Philosophy the whole way through and nearly continued on to the graduate level; the first several classes in English were pretty mind-blowing, too, after which it got really pretentious and kinda lame. I had been planning to do a humanities degree while fulfilling all the pre-med requirements but the lower-division science classes got old pretty fast. Too much jumping through academic hoops, not enough intellectual challenge. When I found Philosophy I soon realized that I thrive in the world of framing problems and picking apart arguments.I then became borderline obsessed with figuring out what was truly ‘good’ in the world and which motivations we should allow to drive our actions. This brought about the dismantling of the crude and ostentatious personality I had worn so proudly through the teen-age years. In all seriousness, my high school and university experiences were polar opposites. No more being a jock, no more being caught up with appearance or ‘popularity,’ no more chasing the ‘hottest chick’ holy grail. Instead, I spent my time with the most thought-provoking people I could find, took up smoking and a few other bad habits, and had a 6 year relationship with a girl who was challenging and supportive in every way possible.Finished college–for the most part– in 1997, more confused about what I wanted to do with my life than ever. Was pretty confident that I would eventually find my way to a career in writing, but also wanted to try my hand at education and perhaps uncover my roots a bit–in Mexico and Japan (though never made it to Mexico, to live anyway). Wasted a couple of years mostly moving around, partying too much, and feeling utterly unchallenged by the options life seemed to be presenting. Ladder-climbing in corporate USA: easy enough, boring as hell, promised to be an endless slippery slope; pushing figures around for institutions that put stake-holders’ interests before employees’ just sounded like a recipe for disaster. Ladder climbing in (humanities) academia USA: intellectually challenging but headed in the direction of ivory-tower-itis; didn’t want to watch myself turn into a reclusive, anti-social publishing machine, which seemed necessary if I ever wanted the freedom to be doing work that moves my soul, which by my best calculations would have come about roughly ten years after my soul had died of lethargy;-).Moved to Japan to regroup, get away from old habits, force the break-up I couldn’t seem to pull the trigger on, hurl myself into the unknown and get excited about life again. Got really into teaching and the general concept of building relationships, especially across cultural barriers. Became consumed with the intricacies of proper communication in Japanese. Learned along the way–among other things– that there is no correct way to eat or bathe or entertain or express or listen, just traditions and our freedom to accept them or not, as we see fit.Being of mixed-ethnicity in a country where most people have the same racial/national background continues to be fascinating to this day. I had a touch of Japanese manner and discipline taught to me as a child, but it never ceased to irk me that I couldn’t speak the language or follow the customs–especially since most people in the states thought of me as Japanese due to my last name. One thing I learned right away in Japan: I am by no means “Japanese,” and never will be. It’s amazing both how painful that was to discover, and how comforting it is now.In any case, the Japan experience succeeded in opening my eyes to what I was unable to find during all those years of reflection, partying and pseudo-romantic pursuit, summed up as follows: human beings are incredibly curious and interesting and compassionate and creative and productive and honest and hopeful and intelligent and _good_ when they are put in the right set of circumstances. This anthropological realization, and the guidance it offers in terms of how to approach new relationships, has jived nicely with my love for education, and it governs my overarching perspective on life, family, friends, learning, communication, communities and happiness.I opened an English school here in Nara in 2003, where we continue to prepare students for the challenges they will face on the way to their academic and professional goals. Our community is growing, and along with it the infectious buzz of inspired human will. We will probably open a second school in the next year or so. I am also heavily involved in organizing teacher training workshops and events locally, domestically and in the Asian region, and I teach at a couple of local universities. Since opening my school, I have been volunteering most of my free time to education-related NPOs, but I’m trying to tone that down a bit now that my son has arrived.Recently, I am mostly interested in the power of communities and how to leverage them to maximize learning potential, synergy, and increased access to fulfilling lifestyles.I spent so much of my younger years looking for something that was inside of me all along, and it’s so simple: I just can’t get enough of people and what becomes possible through the collaborative efforts of the many.My generous and supportive wife, Motoko, is surprisingly uninterested in my accomplishments and accolades, which works out great for us, because there is no competition between us, and she brings me down to Earth, reminding me that none of it matters if you can’t enjoy and appreciate your most precious community, right here at home.