I found myself once again on a remote island of Japan. It’s rural there, and every day, I got this sense of being hugged by the mountains, rivers, ocean, and the sound of cicadas. I closed my eyes often throughout the day to melt into the elements around me. I sensed the homecoming of my heart. On one of the nights, I stepped out the door to shake off the white beach sand I collected in my ateliers Penelope bag. The air was finally cooling down even though the touch of humidity still lingered around my skin. Something urged me to pause momentarily to look up at the silhouette of the mountains and open sky above my head. A while back, the sun sank underneath the horizon, and atmospheric color was shifting into an evening sky but still in a shade of dark blue. I thought, “Wow. I have never seen the sky in this mysterious color”. That was when I realized that I probably had never seen this particular color - the color of late dusk without light pollution from cities. The realization felt obvious then, but it resonated with me more than anticipated. It made me wonder how much more about the world I don’t know (probably a lot), even though I might sometimes feel like any information I need is available at my fingertips in this digital era.
This month, A.C. is sharing some of their favorite pages from their Hobonichi 5-year journal. Seeing their intentionality come alive through their writings and drawings on these pages is beautiful. I have the same notebook, which I also started writing at the same time as A.C. Did. My 5-year journal looks so different from A.C.’s, and the gap makes me smile. Trina is sharing her thoughts on the first anniversary of her Notebook People project. I absolutely love that her Notebook People shines the lights on the “People” behind the notebooks rather than the other way around. That is how I would love BK to be. Beautiful analogue artifacts we share are a thread to find ourselves and each other.
We hopped from one swim spot to another every day on the remote island. It made me wonder if our kids were water spirits in their past lives. We especially loved exploring a secret local water hole where we could jump into fresh river water right at the mouth of the ocean. The waterhole is guarded by massive boulders and overgrown jungles all around. The sense of ancient spirits was everywhere. When we jumped in the water with our goggles on, we were astounded by how complex and deep the underwater world could be, despite how contrary it looked on the surface. Over and over, nature gives us clues to see beyond what we think we know. To experience more depth in life while walking on the earth’s path.
-wakako
always a work in progress...
Tokyo, Japan // September 1st, 2023
p.s. we just launched Hobonichi and Roterfaden 2024 items on our website! It marks the beginning of a new planner season, and we are thrilled to share this exciting moments with you!
**This is from our BK Love Letter for September 2023. If you would like to see the entire love letter we sent to our community, you can browse it via this link.
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