What are Your Big Rocks?

The month of July felt distinctly different from the previous months for me. It was a kind of quiet turning point when I realized that this "situation" we are in is going to last longer than we initially projected back in March. As a homeschooling family, we are used to our back-to-school looking different from other families but this year, it is requiring me and Frido to be even more flexible and creative with the way we project the new season and the new school year.

If we only tune in to what the outside world is broadcasting, it feels like we are constantly shifting sands, changing our courses frequently based on external elements we neither control nor grasp. So we started to sit still with uncomfortableness and look more inwardly. I had an opportunity to reconnect with my childhood favorite novel Momo by Michael Ende. The story's main plot is about how the happiness of connecting with those we love and enjoyment of simple pleasure can be taken away in our desperate effort to save time in the name of "efficiency" resulting in consumerism and societal stress. The book was written back in the '70s. I read a Japanese translated version when I was Satchi's age. It struck me then and through the years I have referenced the book on many occasions both consciously and unconsciously. Today, I am re-reading the book with our kids and my mind is literally blown away by how relevant the story is to the world today. Inspired by the book, I am determined to make a deliberate effort to acknowledge "time" through a new lens and shift big rocks, what's important to our lives, from the remaining sand instead of constantly chasing shifting sands. I know every family's big rocks would be different. Our big rocks for this school year is to pour our energy on social/emotional growth, getting closer to the earth, and giving more to the world. 

I hope that stories in this love letter stir new thoughts and imagination as you read them. I am thrilled to introduce you to our new BK partner Yen Fong of Tabiyo in Malaysia. I am a huge fan of her aesthetics and was so delighted to get to know her even more through her Love for Analogue story, "If not now, when?".  Trina's story about embracing the mundane reminds me that our inner cups deserve tender love and care in order for us to make a meaningful difference in the world. Just like Trina, appreciating the small joy every day is my go-to place to fill my sacred cup. 

It's hard for me to wrap up the love letter of the month like this one but perhaps if there are words that can help me...

Dear friend, I miss you. You are in my mind. r

-wakako

 **This is from our BK Love Letter for August. If you would like to see the entire love letter we sent to our community, you can browse it via this link.