Our family dog Stretch isn’t doing too well. Today may be his last day with us since my dad is planning to take him to the veterinarian. He’s been coughing out blood, threw up his food last night, hasn’t eaten today, and his breathing is getting worse. The cancer has taken its toll. The blood might be filling in his lungs. Through it all, he never complains. Stretch is 14 human years old so he is on the older side for a dog. It’s so hard to see him suffer. Stretch has such an unconditional love.
2017 New Year’s Jodo Mission of Hawaii President’s Message
Dear Members,
Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu! Wishing you a Happy New Year! For 2017, my wish is for you to be filled with happiness a great majority of the time.
In a perfect world, we could wish for happiness all of the time, but when we think about it, without some suffering and challenges, life would become boring and we would not have the experiences that make us appreciate life even more. When we fail, we appreciate our efforts and all the ups and downs, so when we do succeed, it’s oh so sweet and wonderful. Even the impermanence of life, the fact that our time is limited in this living realm, encourages us to appreciate the present moment, so we cherish our time with our loved ones, work passionately on projects that excite us, and absorb the beauty of nature such as the sun setting into our beautiful blue ocean. We develop a deeper gratitude through our understanding of impermanence so even when we lose a person we love; we are able to generate positive energy by all those wonderful moments we shared with that person, and it’s this energy that encourages us to live life the best that we can with the precious time we have before us. Thus, suffering and challenges can be a fuel for our happiness through our practice of gratitude. When you combine gratitude with all your positive practices of the Eightfold Path – Right Understanding, Right Purpose, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Endeavor, Right Thought, and Right Meditation, you will be filled with joy.
Amazon (AMZN) has created a very heartwarming commercial that shows how multi-religions can live together harmoniously, especially between Christians and Muslims where there has been conflict between leaders and members of the two religions for hundreds of years. This positive message can be applied to unify all conflicting groups. We can all make a difference in making our world peaceful by spreading love and compassion to everyone we interact with.
The commercial features a priest and imam having a pleasant conversation over tea. As the the imam prepares to leave, both men remark at their sore knees, share a hug, and part ways. Afterward, they both take out their smartphones and buy the other knee braces through Amazon Prime.
The commercial ends with both the priest and the imam kneeling to pray while wearing the knee braces they received from the other via Amazon Prime.
When I was a baby, my mom would talk and read to me.
As a toddler, she made me do math and English workbooks by rewarding me with a penny for every page I accomplished.
As a kid, my mom drove me to soccer, baseball, Aikido, cub scouts, and many other activities until my dad could meet us after he finished work.
My mom and dad attended all my soccer games and watched me progress from an average player to one of the State’s highest scorers.
While I struggled to find out who I was during my teenage years, my mom helped me through it.
On the day I graduated from high school, my mom and dad that was there.
When I broke up with my first girlfriend and saw my college grade point average drop, my mom comforted me.
When I made my college comeback by raising my GPA and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a B.A. in Political Science my mom and dad was there.
My mom and dad flew to Washington State to see me graduate from Gonzaga University School of Law, and later that year they saw me sworn in as a lawyer under the Hawaii State Bar Association in the Hawaii State Senate.
A year later, my mom and dad witnessed me get sworn into the Hawaii State House of Representatives.
When I was in jail for DUI, my mom and dad was there to be bail me out.
When I got attacked by the media, political opponents, and haters, my mom and dad stood by me.
Every time I was feeling down from angry people, power hungry politicians, tyrant and tantrum-filled judges, and selfish business persons, my mom was there to listen.
With every plan and goal I came up with for my business and political endeavors, my mom always told me to give it a try.
Even now, my mom is alway there to cheer me on. Through her I’ve learned that when we strive for what we want, anything is possible, and that having empathy and compassion is the best way to live.
I dedicate this song “Be As You Are” by Mike Posner and remixed by Jordan XL to my mom and to all of you mothers out there.
Humans keep hurting one another physically and verbally. Anger, greed, and jealousy fuel their flames of destruction. Yet through it all, love and compassion maneuvers though the smoke and ashes and picks up our spirit so we can see above the gloomy gray and into the light blue skies where our dreams and ideas flourish.
My sisters are princesses. My nieces are now princesses. They rule the world. Since I was young, I’ve wanted to save everyone from evil. I keep coming up with ideas and mix them with other ideas – some good and some bad. Then I pursue them until I live my imagination. But every now and then, my fantasy comes crashing down. Like a child, I create another dream and do it all over again.
With my nieces Sophie and Elyse on the early morning of March 7, 2016, just before flying from San Francisco, California to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
My niece Elyse with Princess Belle of Beauty and the Beast at Disney World on March 8, 2016.
My sister Mia, Elyse, and Sophie with Princess Anna of Frozen at Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My niece Sophie in her Princess Snow White dress and younger sister Lara at the hotel in Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My sister Lara holding my niece Sophie at Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My niece Elyse and I in the dining hall of Princess Belle and the Beast at Disney World on March 11, 2016.
A fun song fitting for this journal entry called “Crushin’ My Fairytale” by Celeste Buckingham.
Every child is born into this realm with innocence. As we progress through life, we try to make sense of everything. Good people keep tying to do good, while those with anger, greed, jealousy, and the like, move around them like demons thirsting for power – all validating their actions, all thinking they’re right. In the end, death chases all of us down. By then, the children of tomorrow have become the next wave of love and hate. We’re all just part of this crazy cycle.
So which side are you truly on?
This song projects my frustration with the darkness of this world – “Breathe” by Eric Prydz ft. Rob Swire.
Death has always loved Life like a boy who knows he can never be with the girl he loves. Rather than being jealous of us for having Life, he wants us to appreciate her.
Power and money will attract the good and the bad. The bad get worse with their desire for it, and they get even worse when they get it. People are only around them because they have to. However, when the bad get taken down, without power and money, they lose their identity, and no one wants to be near them anymore because there’s no reason to be.
With or without power and money, the good stay the same. Power and money don’t define them. Its love and compassion that attract people around them.
To all of you getting yelled at in your careers, attacked by greed, judged by your success, and laughed at for your failures, stay positive with your love and compassion. We all love you and are cheering you on.
Anytime, you’re feeling down because of negativity, play the song below “Hype” by Calvin Harris and Dizzee Rascal because there will always be a hype around you, and we all need that special gift that only you can bring to this world!
Note: This type of concert would be fun in Hawaii!
Lyrics of “Hype” by Calvin Harris and Dizzee Rascal:
Top of the roster
Real deal, you can see it in my posture
I feel like Leo with a Oscar
The price just changed, no sour, it’ll cost ya
And I’m not an imposter
My style don’t borrow or foster
My enemies will not prosper
Seems like every time they take a shot they hit the crossbar
And I move like Neymar
Them boys ain’t even on my radar
I do my own stunts, no saviour
That’s why I gotta stunt so major
They say I go mad for the paper
I think I need a shrink and a tailor
But I do not think about failure
I’m a star, I should get my own trailer
Hype!
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
I’m a bad boy and I do what I like
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
[Beat break]
Hype
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
I’m a bad boy and I do what I like
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
[Beat break]
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
I’m so legit
I do not slip, I just stick to the script
Fully equipped, there is no stopping me
I do not quit, I do not cip
Ready for action, I’ve gotta be physically fit
Sit-ups and burpees and dips
Gettin’ a grip and it’s making me physically sick
Somehow I still get a kick
Hype
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
I’m a bad boy and I do what I like
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
[Beat break]
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
Hype
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
I’m a bad boy and I do what I like
Every time I’m around there’s a hype
Touchdown and the crowd get’s hyped
Straight gassed, got the whole place hype
Of all the sectors to be involved with, people ask me why I’m involved with the music events sector. After soccer, I acted in theatre and a few TV commercials, so the arts has always been in my heart. It’s where creativity floats at a high. That’s why I enjoy writing fiction. Like many of you, music is a part of our soul. It has a way of lifting us up. During college, while I was Vice President of the student government of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a member of the University of Hawaii American Marketing Association, a member of the University of Hawaii Pre-Law Society, a member of Sigma Lambda, a member of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, a member of the Young Democrats of Hawaii, a member of the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce, staff for politicians, volunteer for political candidates, and working in Flightline at Duty Free Shoppers Hawaii, my friend Gregory Dehnert, otherwise known as G or DJ G-Spot was bringing me to his music events and dance parties – now known as EDM, one of the biggest genres in the music industry. In 2014, G brought me into the the industry where I handled the logistics, government affairs, agreements, and media affairs. Now I understand the entire operations. For this, I will always be grateful.
I really like this band, The Naked and Famous. I’m feeling the lyrics.
They’ll get through.
They’ll get you.
In the place that you feel it the most.
When you’re cornered.
When it’s forming.
In the place that you wish was a ghost.
For many of us, dreams and goals make life exciting. I enjoy coming up with ideas, expanding my skill-sets, and building relationships. However, sometimes in the midst of our hustle to do well in our lives, we forget the importance of having gratitude for what we have now and accomplished thus far. We get too fixated on what we want and get frustrated when all our efforts are not taking us there. We all love success, but with every dream and goal we pursue, there will be challenges and even failure. Some statistics say 8 out of 10 businesses started will fail. Many have pursued the path to become a U.S. Senator or President of the United States and have fallen short. Others have attempted to reach the highest levels in their field of work but have failed to attain that level. Failure is only failure if we don’t appreciate what we currently have and what we have gained. Shoot to be number one in the world, but number 50 is still pretty darn good. We can make peace with our mind knowing that we did our best, and won’t have the pain of wondering “What if I had given my idea a shot?” Through failure, we gain knowledge in areas we may have not been familiar with; build new relationships; and even come up with more ideas to pursue. With failure, we change and evolve, often leading us to worlds we’ve never experienced. When we embrace failure as part of success, we can keep moving higher to a level where we can keep failing until we succeed, and keep succeeding until we fail.
Here’s a great interview of Elizabeth Gilbert by Marie Forleo in regards to unleashing your creative self. Ms. Gilbert is an entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker. Below the video are my notes from this amazing interview. It’s sure to lift your spirit and keep you motivated as you pursue your creativity.
Jon’s Notes on Marie Forleo’s interview of Elizabeth Gilbert – Author
Latest Book: “Big Magic”
Nugget’s Wisdom: The real reason we don’t move creatively ahead is always and only fear.
Afraid they don’t have talent; afraid of rejection; afraid of criticism.
Nugget’s Wisdom: I have no desire to become a fearless person.
Only people who are fearless are psychopaths and toddlers.
Fear is a necessary companion.
Fear is the reason why we’re alive today. Fear protects us.
Nugget’s Wisdom: Creativity will always provoke your fear.
Acknowledge the importance of fear and invite it along. I’m just writing a poem. It’s not life or death.
Nugget’s Wisdom: You can’t let fear have control over your creative choices.
Fear can shut your creative choices one by one. No don’t do that – No, too risky.
Nugget’s Wisdom: Guaranteed it’s already been done, but it’s not yet been done by you.
40,000 years of the art and pretty much it’s been done before.
Shakespeare borrowed stories and told them in a way that’s never been told before.
Artists have always been responding to stuff but you can add to the pile.
What moves me is the humanity in the authentic piece of creation. My heart and mind has changed. The world looks different.
“All love eventually becomes help.” Inspired by Paul Tillich.
You will radiate a thing that people wants to be near.
Every pursuit comes with a shit sandwich. What do you love but willing to eat the shit sandwich?
7 years of rejection letters. Are you willing to still eat the shit sandwich?
Even when you succeed, your shit sandwich will be media criticism, people criticism, etc.
Is this still better than nothing doing it? If yes, then you’re on the right path.
Nuggets of Wisdom: People murder their creativity by insisting they’re not truly creative unless their creativity pays the bills.
Jump and the net might catch you. What would do even if failure wasn’t a word you’re thinking of.
You may or not get everything you want.
Don’t be fixated on how much money your creativity makes. You work on your creativity because you love to work on it.
Don’t get so battered that you lose your house, family, etc. that you shut down and never want to work on your creativity.
Be child-like, not childish. Don’t be childish – I want it and I should get it. People get rage, resentment etc. for failure. Do be child-like and be open to creativity like a child.
I wish there was a shortcut for personal and spiritual growth, relationships, health, but there’s not. It takes a lot of work.
Nuggets of Wisdom: Perfectionism is a serial killer.
I don’t want to be perfect, I want it to be finished.
There’s a lot of good unfinished work.
If your standards are so high, you’ll never finish you work.
The contract I made was to be a writer, not a good writer.
I promised the universe that I would be a writer, not a good writer.
I don’t want to go to my grave with 50 pages of an unfinished novel.
If you don’t like it, go write your own fucking book. And you know what, you won’t.
Nuggets of Wisdom: What will make you finish it is not discipline, but self-forgiveness.
Forgive yourself for not doing well.
I’m not Hemingway, but I’ll keep trying.
Nuggets of Wisdom: There’s no better thing to spend your life doing that saying yes to that invitation.
When did inspiration promise you anything – other than the amazing experience you have dancing with it for some time? Inspiration will watch you fall off the cliff and smile and ask you, “Do you want to do it again?”
Find ways to cushion the fall. Despite the pain, one of these days, you will say yes to inspiration again.
You will create something that you love and then you may hate it later. You love it and you dismiss it. It’s okay.
It’s not a baby. It’s just a thing I made. People will criticize it, attack it, hate it.
It’s independent of you. Your creativity was making you as you were developing it. When you finish it, forget about it.
Nuggets of Wisdom: There are two kinds of creators in the world: the martyrs, and the tricksters.
Reject the martyr way. I will do this even if it kills me.
Trickster: I didn’t come here to get hurt.
Tricksters do things in a transgressive way. They play with things, turn things upside down. Down have to treat things as a holy way.
Trickster trusts the universe. Put it out there and see what happens. Don’t be so heavy. There’s no one way.
We live in a take, take world. When our energy is drained to the point where our health begins to fade, it’s time to pause to review our life and then make the changes necessary to recover.
To combat this, we have to focus on those who fill us with positive energy and who truly care for who we are. We also need to work on what we’re passionate about and provide value that helps others. Somehow, when we do this, good things come back to us.
Today April 23, 2016, I finished my 15th draft of my Writing Project #1, a fictional story that I created back when I couldn’t sleep on October 11 to 12, 2006. In the story, the young male protagonist Ken whose health is ailing meets a girl named Kaylee in his dreams who suffers from memory loss, regret, and deep sorrow. As his relationship develops with her, he realizes that his strange dreams are much deeper than ordinary dreams. While in the dream world, he discovers a powerful secret about energy that can not only help Kaylee with her memory loss and sorrow, but save his life and bring balance between good and evil. However, by helping Kaylee attain happiness, Ken realizes that he would lose her forever.
The love between Kaylee and Ken will empower us to play a role in making our universe more positive. I dedicate “Us” by Kaskade & CID to all of you.
After 32 days of non-stop work on a development project in Kona, Hawaii and an EB-5 Regional Center based in Hawaii, I’m typing my 15th draft of my first novel that I started in October 2006 that currently consists of nearly 80,000 words, a love story between a young male protagonist and a dead girl that brings forward our fears of being alone, not finding true love in our lifetime, losing the battle against negative people, and dying without resolving the pain resulting from heartbreak and broken families. This weekend, I’m also going to continue working on my novel based in Iraq during the U.S. occupation – a love story that is sure to draw controversy because it is surrounded by violence, something you may either understand or disagree with, depending on where you stand on certain political issues. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that love can guide us through anger, death, and our darkest moments. I began writing my second story in May 2013 and it has just under 44,973 words.
The song “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry describes the emotional depth that the characters in my novels have with with each other despite their flaws and all the craziness around them. Even if the world is burning around them and their fate seems doomed, you yearn for their love to succeed. This music video has a ballroom scene. Likewise, my first story has a climax chapter with a ballroom scene. Such a powerful song.
Today, I just listened to the song below “Graduate” by Handsome Ghost and I immediately liked it. The song connects to my stories because the characters in my novels have enormous obstacles that’s preventing them from being together.
“Swept Away” by Christoper Cross is one of my all-time favorite love songs ever, so much so that I wrote it into my first novel. Every time I listen to it, it brings out this warm feeling in my chest, and when I’m alone or writing a love story, it bring so much emotions out of me.
“Seeing for the First Time” by Britt Nicole is another song that represents the love that the characters in my novels have for one another.
“Time is what we make of it. Fill it with everything that lifts our soul: Loved ones, projects of our greatest passion, and dreams that make the world stop for a moment.” – Jon Riki Karamatsu, December 28, 2015.
The tone of this song describes the sentiment I’m feeling.
As I write my 2nd writing project, a fictional story with Sadako Sasaki and all children affected by war in mind, I reflect on how precious life is and the innocence of every child. I think of my two-year-old niece Elyse and four-month-old niece Sophie. I can’t help but feel sad inside.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima city when Sadako Sasaki was only two years old. She was blown out of the window of her home, and her mother found her lying on the ground. Her mother helped her and her four-year-old brother flee to a nearby river to escape the fire, where they huddled together as the “black rain” poured on them, the residual radioactive material that was propelled into the upper atmosphere following the nuclear blast and fell out of the sky with rain water after the shockwave. When Sadako was twelve years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia as a result of the bomb’s radiation. With determination to live, she folded paper cranes, but sadly the disease took her away.
I dedicate the song below called “Tracking Aeroplanes” by The Echelon Effect to all the children suffering or taken away to soon by war. The music expresses the deep feelings that I have inside. I feel so fortunate to be able to live this long, and to be able to play a small role in making this world better for the little ones.
As I mentioned in my “Positive Living Practice and Stages Practice” post, I’m creating a Positive Living Practice series that highlights products and services that can help us with our health, wealth, and happiness so that we can live a happy and fulfilling life. By “health,” I mean good physical, mental, and spiritual health. For “wealth,” I define it as time, knowledge, and ideas. And “happiness” is the wonderful joy we get from gratitude, compassion, and love.
Today, I’m discussing a challenge that we all face within our lives – “Stress.” Have you ever received another person’s wrath because of that person’s weakness in not being able to handle his or her stress? Or worse, have you ever directed your anger at another person and blamed your bad behavior because of the stress your were going through?
How often we experience stress is within our control. I personally believe that 99% of all challenges we face are either minor or can be resolved. In regards to the 1% of challenges that we can’t control, we can become stronger by accepting it, learning from it, and moving on.
Studies have shown that stress can cause us emotional and physical problems. Further, if we manage it in the wrong way, we could hurt our relationships and reputation. Instead of handling stress in a destructive way that hurts ourselves and others, we can address it in a positive way that spreads waves of positive energy to others. In this post, I will share with you my strategies to reduce stress. I also include a poster on how to beat stress and boost happiness by Happify, a company that helps you to develop happiness skills through its online activities and articles. You can check out Happify at http://www.happify.com.
If we can reduce stress, we will be healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually; and be stronger in our practice of gratitude, compassion, and love. With good health and happiness, we can make the best use of our time, absorb more knowledge, and come up with more ideas.
The following are some of the things that I like to do to reduce stress:
Exercise: Run indoors or outdoors and lift weights.
Dream of what I want to achieve.
Type my ideas.
Write down and update my goals.
Envision the outcome of my goals.
Listen to music.
Spend time with my family.
Be around positive people.
Have gratitude for all the good things I have in my life.
Meditate.
Self-Reflect.
See the positive in every failure.
Try to get a good sleep and take a nap when I need a boost.
Listen to podcast shows that highlight positive and successful people.
Write fictional stories.
Read novels.
Learn through reading or practice.
Watch a television show or movie that inspires me.
With my nieces Sophie and Elyse on the early morning of March 7, 2016, just before flying from San Francisco, California to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
My niece Elyse with Princess Belle of Beauty and the Beast at Disney World on March 8, 2016.
My sister Mia, Elyse, and Sophie with Princess Anna of Frozen at Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My niece Sophie in her Princess Snow White dress and younger sister Lara at the hotel in Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My sister Lara holding my niece Sophie at Disney World on March 10, 2016.
My niece Elyse and I in the dining hall of Princess Belle and the Beast at Disney World on March 11, 2016.
JON RIKI KARAMATSU 