As with anyone in my generation, I grew up playing outside in my neighborhood until I was called in from the distance by my Mother for supper. We were probably playing some sort of game that involved nothing more than a simple ball, but my siblings and I were completely engrossed in whatever game we had invented for the day. This is not the world our current generation lives in and I can’t judge them for their seeming obsession with television, computers, video games, and cell phones, because that is how they are growing up and that is their reality. Tell them to go outside and play with a ball for hours and you are certain to get that teenage glare of utter exasperation at the stupidity of your suggestion.

A vast sea of cell phones that become more obsolete with each passing second...

I recall my teenage moment when I rolled my eyes into the back of my head when my grandfather told me about walking a mile to school without shoes in the winter. I also recall getting “the look” from my oldest son when I told him when I grew up, we did not have a microwave. The look implied, first of all, “who cares,” and secondly, “I can’t relate.” Whatever… Read more

For the full beauty of this image and quote, click photo to enlarge

I love how the perception of cats remains constant in time as reflected in this quote by Jules Champfleury, a French art critic and novelist who was born in 1820. I for one could watch a napping cat for hours, completely mesmerized by the simple beauty of the act. My cats, of course, are only too happy to indulge me in that capacity as witnessed by my sweet little Mia who models with absolutely perfect beatitude.

Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson (1820 Laon, Aisne – 1889 Sèvres), who wrote under the name Champfleury, was a French art critic, novelist, and a prominent supporter of the Realist movement in painting and fiction. His novels were among the earliest Realist works and in 1870 his book, Les Chats, a series of essays about cats including portrayals of cats by prominent artists of the time, was published by Librarie de la Societe Botanique de France. (Wikipedia)

Given the media’s propensity towards the clever, chic, hip, and trendy, it is no wonder the story of the numerous charming cat cafes in Tokyo, the reverent worship of the Maneki Neko (a cat sculpture known as the “Beckoning Cat” that is said to bring good fortune to the owner), the infamous “Cat Island,” and cats dressed up in designer outfits is so popular with mainstream social outlets as to how the love affair between the Japanese people and cats are portrayed. Truth be told, it makes great copy and what cat lover wouldn’t want to visit a cat café or an island of cats? Disaster and tragedy, however, is not glamorous and the public can only tolerate the brutal images and reality for so long before they change the channel or turn the page to something lighter and less mentally taxing.

These perennially endearing little Neko sculptures can be found in any number of retail shops in Japan.

That is why the aftermath of the Japanese disasters of last March 11th is such a complex and difficult story to tell – it just does not make sense that so many cats were homeless and abandoned in a nation of such devoted cat loving people. As I continued my interview with Japan Cat Network (JCN) volunteer, Jennifer Koca, the only thing that remained clear, was that nothing was black and white, simple, or easy to understand, especially when it came to this sensitive issue. Read more

There are certain events in life that cause one to pause and reflect where they were at that moment. I remember for me, March 11, 2011, the date of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the resulting Fukushima nuclear meltdown, that it was a Friday and I was already at work before I realized what was going on around me. The chain of events began unbeknownst to me at 12:45 am, EST, which translated to Friday, 2:26 pm in Japan. I originally found out from Dan via a text message that there was an earthquake – we did not have a television in my office and the enormity of the situation did not hit me until I got home and saw the news footage replaying the same devastating scenes over and over.

At first glance, this image looks like a jigsaw puzzle of matchsticks strewn haphazardly on the floor. In reality, this is an aerial view of the resulting debris from the earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan on March 11, 2011.

For the hundreds of thousands of people along the northern coast of Japan, first came the roar and rumble of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that had skyscrapers swaying in the wind and buckled highways, followed by gigantic waves as high as 30 feet that rushed ashore, whisking away cars and carrying buildings set ablaze by fires towards factories, fields and highways.  Read more

I remember the day like it was yesterday. Dan and I were in the car on our way to work and I found myself questioning my life. I remember saying it out loud. “Is this it?”  “Isn’t there something more to my life’s purpose?” Dan and I had a job in the same company, but we were not emotionally fulfilled or satisfied with our careers. I didn’t know what it was that I wanted or what I felt was missing, but there was a certain emptiness in my life. Read more