My Childhood
I was born to two amazing parents who continue I continue to be very close with. My father is American, of Irish and German ancestry, and my mother is Japanese, of Japanese ancestry. I spent my childhood on the Pacific rim between California and Oahu in the USA, and Kobe in Japan. I speak fluent English and Japanese and the appreciate both East and West for their similar and opposing values. Being a product of both cultures, I realize that even though things might look different on the surface, they are not as different as one might think.
My Appreciation For Home
When I was a pre-teen, my mother and I had flown back to California from Japan. My father picked us up and gently informed us that there was just a major earthquake in our city of Kobe (where our house and family is), and that we should get back on the next flight. He must’ve arranged everything, because I scarcely remember unloading the gifts in our luggage and flying right back.
Kobe is a beautiful city between the mountains and the sea. When we arrived, there was utter devastation. Homes in the neighborhood were reduced to rubble, rescuers were tirelessly calling for survivors, dressers and furniture were sticking out of roofs of what was left of crumbled homes.
I went to check on the homes of friends that I used to play with, and their homes had crumbled. And the shops, many people, and places of my childhood memories were impacted in a similar way. Many people had passed away, many people had lost their homes. May they all rest in peace. And may the survivors be blessed with peace as well.
This was a long time ago, and I might remove this part of the page, but I put it in here because I think this had a profound effect on how I feel and think about the concept of home. This is a picture of the beautiful Port of Kobe to the left.
Growing Up
As a child, I often had my head buried in books, and collected extensive Boxcar children, Goosebumps, and Sweet Valley Twin series collections. I wanted to become a marine biologist, and wrote ‘books’ about not polluting the ocean, and sold them to the neighborhood.
Then in high school, I became fascinated with cars. This was when Fast and Furious was big. My friends and I used to go race the quarter mile at the race track, and we would also meet up at night to race in the middle of nowhere, or in empty business complexes. It was thrilling. I even got a job at an auto shop, and changed my automatic to a stick shift, and then dropped a different engine into my car. When I go in, I go all in.
My dad has always encouraged my curiosities, and he knows a lot about cars, so we used to work on my car together. He taught me a lot! When he himself was a teenager, he used to build hot rods from the ground up, so I guess it runs in the family.
My dad also spent as lot of time teaching me how to fix things around the house. He also showed me the importance and benefits of reading from an early age. He always encouraged me to read, and lead by example. He’s been my biggest proponent throughout my life, and is also the wisest and humblest person I know.
My mother always forced me to go to both Japanese school and English school, and to keep my studies up. She has always had great style, and made a lot of her clothes herself (as well as mine). She is an excellent cook, and taught me how to cook well. She always expressed embarrassment in my teenage rambunctiousness (and car), and would often say that she wished that I would just behave better and take up a hobby such as playing the piano.
I never did, because it wasn’t authentically me, but I have always been close with my parents and they have been an amazing influence on me. I try to be a good daughter, as well as a good human.
University, Then My Career
I decided to go to California State University of Long Beach because of a feeling that I had on one sunny afternoon. I had submitted applications to multiple universities, but when my mom and I drove over to visit the campus, Long Beach at a snapshot just felt right when I saw people laughing and rushing by on a sunny day. I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to go.
After graduating, I worked for Japan Airlines. Then as a sales executive for a Fortune 500 company, then went into medical device sales. These were excellent years where I learned a lot and made many friends. I loved this period of my life. It was my goal to accelerate my career and learn the ropes of being a legitimately good sales representative who filled the needs of clients and provided them with thoughtful solutions.
My life seems to be fraught with identifying and smashing the conception of stereotypes, because some of the best, most honest, and kindest people I know are salespeople. They help others with the items that they sell, and with the intent to do so. Good salespeople fulfill a need and provide expert solutions, but sometimes the name gets tainted when we think of the stereotype.
Anyway, long story short, it was an awesome period of my life, until…
I Decided To Sell Everything To Travel The World
The preparation was intense to save up. For over two years, I worked back-to-back ninety-hour workweeks and began to sell my possessions that I didn’t need, use, or love one by one. After I finished with work, I would go to my eBay station that I had set up at my desk, and send the items out that had sold for the day.
I stopped most of my spending, and ate budget home cooked meals. I spent time with my friends when we did free things, which actually ended up being awesome. Instead of going out to dinners and clubs, we went to the beach, went surfing, went for walks, or stayed home and talked or watched movies. It ended up being just as quality and was really fun!
Everyone thought I was crazy for leaving an excellent career that I had worked so hard to get into that I also enjoyed, but it felt right and I had made up my mind to go on an adventure. I thought that the world may be able to teach me what school couldn’t, and satisfy this deep curiosity I hold about the world. Spoiler: I underestimated what and how much it would teach me.
Although something interesting and important happened during this period of my life- it was that I felt a click. To explain this, my apartment was clearing out, and I was left only with only the items that I absolutely loved, plus my furniture and plants. There wasn’t much, but I had everything that I needed.
One day, I was in my living room and felt a click. I’ve not heard anyone else talk about this click, until I read Marie Kondo’s book (about five years later)! My apartment felt good before, but now it felt amazing, with incredibly comfortable, refreshing, and nourishing energy. I was dumbfounded and intrigued at how good it felt. Then this started my obsession with how to make a home feel amazing- there are so many aspects, but keeping only what you need, use, and love are key.
I traveled
I bought a one way ticket to Colombia and left for my adventure. I made amazing friends in many countries, and for long spurts, up to months at a time, I would be alone. It was awesome. I learned to be comfortable in my own company, which prepared me for the solitude that accompanies writing.
I followed the surf, and surfed bigger waves and in crazier conditions than I would’ve ever imagined. I loved the experiences and the people and lands that I met along the way.
I lived just over two years as a vagabond, and just over two years as an expat. It was after three years of being gone that this quote resonated with me deeply: “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” -Aldous Huxley. Again, seeing through the fallacy of stereotypes and judgements on others was a key lesson.
I traveled to over sixty countries, often roughing it and sleeping on hammocks on the beach, on rooftops, on trains, and in airports. Alternatively, I stayed in many friend’s homes throughout the world, in many hostels and guesthouses, and have had awesome apartments and even once an ocean-front home.
I’ve been invited into homes in more than thirty countries, and have totally nerded out if a home felt amazing. I would literally whip out a notebook and pen and get to questioning the owner(s), declaring that I would write a book about it one day. It’s been my quest to find out why and what combination of elements contribute to those good-feeling energies that are in many homes. That feeling of the click never left me, and I found this trip to be an amazing opportunity to see homes in all kinds of different settings, and to talk with all kinds of people about it.
I started a Home Organizing Business
And it’s been amazing. After about ten years of studying Feng Shui, about the same amount of time studying interior design, and remembering tid-bits that my Japanese grandmother would tell me about energies in homes when I was little, having the opportunity to visit all kinds of homes, studying energy all around the world (such as in Bali, the vibration of the bells that ring on the island clear the stagnant energies away), and remembering my own click, I started working alongside others in their homes.
I take principles from the East and West (and all around the world, really) and pay attention to the concepts of energy and apply it in a pragmatic sense.
There are so many elements that go into making a home feel great, but I think the key problem is an overabundance of stuff in some spaces, which congests the energy in a home, and in turn, the home doesn’t feel great to be in. Therefore, much of my focus and expertise has now become centric on decluttering.
And now onto the books…
I’ve wanted to be a writer, since I was a child. I’ve naturally researched and documented things all through my life.
That book that I proclaimed I would one day write about how to make a home feel amazing- I’ve been writing it over the course of the last five years. I’m currently editing and revising draft after draft, until it’s streamlined and super useful.
It’ll be a ten-part guidebook series that is comprehensive and resourceful, yet simple and to the point, and in order of implementation. I am planning to release the first one this winter, on December 15, 2024. This first book will focus on decluttering.
Before publishing the guidebook series, I’ve published another book that is near and dear to my heart. It’s a children’s book on water safety, called, “My Friend, Water”. This was released on May 25, 2022.