40 Going On 14 |

This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, Sunday Salon, and #IMWAYR

September was probably one of the better months of the year for me.

Life slowed down a bit. I was no longer going to the vet every week with my rescue foster. A cat, whom I’ve had since March and has needed a lot of hands on care. Since his health finally started to improve and we got into a rhythm, I was able to relax a bit more.

September is my birthday month, so I celebrated turning 40. Gah! That is still something I’m coming to terms with. I don’t feel 40, and I definitely don’t think that I act 40. I don’t even have my crap together most days. I still feel like a teenager playing house with my boyfriend. Anyway, I would like to say I did something awesome for my birthday, but I didn’t. I went to a nearby coffee shop, and enjoyed a cup of coffee and then the Mister and I got conveyor belt sushi for dinner. I’m a real hard girl to please. Ha! Even though my actual birthday was low-key, I did decide to treat myself all month. And by that I mean I said yes to a bunch of things.

One of the women I know out here asked me to go to the beach with her and some friends. Usually groups of people I don’t know isn’t my thing, but I told myself to soak in the month. So, I said yes and got to experience a gorgeous beach that I have never been to before.

My local area put on their annual eisa festival. Eisa is an Okinawan street procession where dancers move to the booming rhythms of taiko drums and the catchy tune of the three-stringed sanshin. It’s a celebration of Okinawan culture.

I also got to attend a local sanshin institute’s first recital. Other than a couple of them taking a deep breath before their performance, you would never know that they were performing in front of people for the first time. Min-yo is Okinawa’s traditional folk music, and it is everywhere here on the island. The heart of the performance is the sanshin which is this beautiful three-string lute that has this distinct, plucky, rhythmic sound (almost like a banjo, but deeper in it’s resonance). When you pair that with the soulful, almost chanting style of Min-yo vocals, you get a super raw, and emotional performance.
I wasn’t able to get any photos of the recital since no photos were allowed. However, the photo included is the institutes founder, who is a well-known artist here in Okinawa.

I’m really trying to get out an explore so that I don’t have any regrets when we do eventually have to leave Japan.