Travel to Love, Laugh and to Live Again

These photos were taken during my first trip to Japan last April. It was a first for many things.

First time visiting Japan.

First time teaching in Japan.

First time traveling with my my brother, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin and my aunt’s friend.

First time traveling in a group of seven.

First time traveling with Lance, my beloved together with my family.

First time traveling in a country for a month.

It was also the first time I spent so much time with my brother since I left my country 20 years ago. I got to know and play with him again. And I felt the surge of this deep love that has always been there. Feeling that love made me understood the proverb “blood is thicker than water.”

It was the first time I laughed so much since my mom passed away in November 2013. We, seven, traveled so well together. We were kind and easy-going with each other, and were such goof balls who laughed, ate and laughed again. And laughter is a very powerful healing medicine.

It was the first time I felt the presence of my late mother. I was trying so hard to feel her right after she passed. And I couldn’t. For months I felt lost, and I wondered what was wrong with me. And then I let go. I let go of all the ideas that I had about how and what to sense or feel the presence of my mom. During the trip, I was just being, loving, laughing, learning, resting, and seeing. And then…

Many Blessings,

My Mother,

indescribable,

untamable,

dense. She blossomed,

in all directions,

a knowing arise from inside out

that she is here,

she is life.

And to feel her presence

is to live again