I'm not a resolutions person as I immediately break even the smallest ones (remember the gym membership I had for a full year, thought about daily, and never had the gumption to use, except for the one day I walked through the door and quit? Yeah.). But I always start the new year feeling so hopeful. So I'll share a nice vague goal. This year I want to work harder at accepting the quiet parts of my life and find more joy in simplicity. I hate the term "self-care," but I want to work on that too. I used to be much kinder to myself, and it sure makes life better.
I first saw Misao and Fukumaru in the window of Kinokunia Bookstore in San Francisco a few months ago, where I happened to be treating myself to the best kind of cheap self-care: hanging out in Japantown and browsing through beautiful books. As I am wont to do when I can't afford a book but want to remember it, I took a photo (iPhone is so helpful with this!). Now that all the holiday stuff is over, I was able to do a little research and find out more about this lady and her white cat.
Japanese photographer Miyoko Ihara started chronicling the life of her grandmother Misao and her cat Fukumaru about ten years ago. They spend all their time together and Misao still works in the fields at 87 years old! The book is filled with images of these two doing regular stuff and looking pretty fulfilled.
From the publisher's imperfect cover translation: "When the white cloud float across the blue sky, the grandmother and her cat go out in the field today too. This photobook is full of preciousness and beauty of the daily life."
What's happening in these photos is what I want for this year.
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