FOUR DAYS A WEEK. At Our Fingertips. An Unexpected Place.

 
 
COMING TOGETHER. We carry our best wishes and dreams in our hearts and out into the world. We are growing.
At the end of the year and sharing with you below a wish, hope, and growth: an email and a story I recently received from my Japanese friends, Ken Crane, and his wife, Yumi Crane. It was Ken and Yumi who received our treasure box of wishes and cranes for Japan after the tsunami hit their homeland on March 11, 2011.

Today continuing on the journeys of hope and into the New Year, a message from Ken and Yumi:

_Dear Mia,

Year 2011 was quite a terrible year here in Japan.

But whatever the situation is, people has to move on forward. For me, year 2011 made me convince this fact. People just can't act all the way through like a victim, because all of us has a free will to choose where we are heading.

When I was in teenage, I didn't understand why John Lennon was singing "~we have grown," because when I was younger I thought that people would stop growing when we are about 20. Now, I know that we are always growing, and we are forever growing.

Based on this thought, recently I wrote a short story Caterpillar.

I would like to share this story as a message for this Christmas.

We wish you a Happy Christmas without any fear,
Ken Crane & Yumi Crane


_OUT OF THE DARKNESS AND INTO THE LIGHT. Remembering our strengths and hopes. We embrace and release our fears.

Thank you, Ken and Yumi, for being here with us and sharing your story and light.

And to you, my readers, I wish you a wonderful New Year. May it be filled with magic and dreams come true. Thanks so much for being part of our journeys. Aspiring and inspiring.

We hope to see you again next week here at the blog on January 2, 2012 when we announce the winner of In The Circle Of Joy (raffle ~ giveaway). If you are reading this on December 26, 2011, there's still time to post a comment, tweet, follow, and like to enter the raffle, which ends at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 27, 2011.

Until next time when we reconnect, please meet Ken below with best-selling author Paulo Coelho. Ken also shares with us an excerpt from his story, Caterpillar.

-Mia

P.S. I hadn't planned on posting at the blog in December, but when I received Ken's email, I wanted to share his story of growth and hope with you. Enjoy and happy holidays. Thank you, Ken and Yumi.


PHOTO ABOVE: Yumi and Ken Crane.

ILLUSTRATIONS ABOVE: Butterflies by Ken Crane, an illustrator, graphic artist, writer, and musician. He is also the illustrator for best-selling author Paulo Coelho's stories and posts at Paulo's blog. Ken's portfolio includes illustrations for magazine covers (Forbes, Japan Times, Newsweek, Vogue, and Wired), rock concert posters, artwork for the theatre, films, and animations for television shows.

Ken Crane and Paulo Coelho.
_ FROM PAULO COELHO, MAY 12, 2011: Writing creates images in the reader's mind. So, when someone tells you "I can make an illustration of your work", normally I politely decline. Till one day ... that I met Ken Crane in Twitter. Ken proposed to illustrate some posts in my blog and after having a look at his illustrations, I told to myself: "That's the person!"

From this moment on, we started to collaborate together, pro bono, only for the sake of sharing our ideas with other people. Also, from this moment on, people started not only commenting the text, but also the illustrations. I hope that, by the end of 2011, we will have enough material to publish an illustrated book.

I am proud to have Ken by my side, and I am one of his most fervent admirers. [read more from Paulo on Ken and on writing creating images]


__AN EXCERPT FROM THE CATERPILLAR by KEN CRANE: 
"I am all the material of this universe. And you are an existence to choose what to do with those material. The Sun has chosen to shine by collecting the gas floating in space. The Earth has chosen to rotate around the sun using the sun's gravity. Terrestrial plants on Earth has chosen to bloom flowers using the energy of the sun. And that is what is called creation and evolution. And I am this process itself. You must choose what to do and what to be using this process. Once you have chosen what to be with your will, you will be able to experience the miracle ...Don't you want to see a miracle?"
[continue reading the story of the Caterpillar at Ken's blog]


 


Comments

Ken Crane
12/26/2011 9:04am

A great thanks for this post!

Love,
from Japan

Reply
12/27/2011 1:20pm

Ken, you are so welcome. It is an honor to share your message . I am touched and inspired by your story, art, and the hope of Japan. Arigatou-gozaimasu. Thank you so much for your friendship.

Love,
Mia

Reply
rosa de los vientos
12/27/2011 3:29pm

Very good for Ken and Yumi because they are a special persons. Thank you very much God for meeting us and see througt his eyes the other side the world.
Kisses from me to you

Reply
12/31/2011 3:56pm

Just lovely.
Wishing you and yours a most wonderful New Year, one filled with love and smiles and many wonderful words.

Reply



Leave a Reply

    From here to there.
    CONNECTING AND SHARING OUR JOURNEYS through the moments, travels, stories, treasures and dreams. AT FOUR DAYS A WEEK. ✶Aspiring and inspiring. FROM HERE TO THERE. LET'S DO. DREAM. BELIEVE.-Mia T. Starr

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    _ Mia, you do such beautiful and inspiring things. Simple, effective, wonderful. Thank you. -Stan Stewart


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    I loved your post and your description of the secret garden! Your words to me right there. :) Thank you for that experience. -Carolyn CJ Jones


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    _ How lovely, Mia! Thank you for sharing these poignant thoughts about your beautiful, strong grandmother and the excerpt from your WIP. It reads like poetry. -Caron Guillo


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    Mia, what an amazing thing to wake up to ... that was the most beautiful imagery I've ever seen ... and your words, as beautiful as your spirit ... I can't thank you enough for sharing it. And to think I never would have seen it if it weren't for lovely you ... -Jennifer Valentine


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    TOP STORIES ~ the ones that captured your hearts and imagination, here and at Anita's Finding Inspiration Daily, The Becoming Daily, and other online papers. Thank you so much. *¨¨**¨*

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    _ In Venice ~ an awakening. In a swirl of art and joy. Above the grandeur. Photos, moments, and poetry.


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    _ A daughter makes a visit to her father's village of Mong Phu in Vietnam. A family passage.


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    __ Clara's 8th grade graduation speech ~ believing in oneself. Looking forward, looking back.



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    Uncommon views. Unforgettable moments. Under the sun. On the White Rim Trail. Moab, Utah.


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    _ We lift our voices above the sorrows of the earth ... a hundred flowers bloom.


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    _ Together we can make a difference. Wrapping our arms around hope. For Japan.


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    _ HG handed the story to Mom and said, "Put it in my packpack. Please. I want to read it in school. Okay?"

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    _ MORE TOP STORIESƒ๏ℓℓ๏ω YOUR HEART AND INTUITION experience TAKING FLIGHT WITH LIFE something new BEYOND THE TRAIL THE WAY TO THE SKY, THE WAY TO THE STARS AN IMMERSION into Writing, Bliss, and the ARTFUL LIFE AM WRITING MORNING SUN MOM'S GARDEN From Vietnam to Michigan SPRING ETERNAL WISHES AND CRANES WITH LOVE JOURNEYS OF HOPE IF YOU FOLD A Thousand Cranes PRELUDE TO MORNING SUN A HISTORICAL FICTION In Progress ¨**¨*


    _BELIEVING AND FOLLOWING OUR BLISS. FROM HERE TO THERE.
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    ABOVE: Words and inspiration by Mia ~ 1st place Winner of Words. Art ~ Drawing by Rachel Awes.

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    TREASURES ALONG THE WAY ~ DOING WHAT YOU LOVE.  

    Life is short. Live your dream. And share your passion. -Holstee Manifesto _


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    Art to Save Trees by Jade Webber.

    Lush little book by Naoko Stoop.

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    Freedom by Kate.

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    Vintage assemblage jewelry by Sacred Cake.

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    In 1965 a nine-year-old son gave his mom a magnolia tree and planted it in front of their home in Toledo, Ohio. Each spring the tree grew and blossomed, carrying with it the spirit of life. This year the flowers of the tree were dancing to the winds on a clear, blue sky day. Photo by Beth Bingle.

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