10 Years Later

It has been 10 years since my husband started working as an accessory designer.

As if to mark an unexpected turning point, the exhibition by Yuichi Sasaki (aka Taisho), the owner of "Ibitsu" in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, and a classmate of ours in the same field, ended successfully yesterday.

This was Taisho's first solo exhibition. Thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed it online. I'm really happy to have been able to introduce it.

It was 10 years ago that Taisho and I did a working holiday together in Australia and then travelled around Asia together.

She was the friend who was with us when we decided to get married and take the next step.

It's been almost 18 years since we met, and we're happy that we can now exhibit in each other's stores.

This is something I gained by continuing to move forward toward the flag I had set despite my suffering and worries.

It was a valuable time for us to reflect on the hard work we had put into climbing the mountain using different equipment and routes.

As the saying goes, once the crisis is over, things will change, but a lot has happened in the past 10 years. In this article, I would like to write about the changes in my own heart that have taken place during those years.

Ten years ago, our first son was born and my husband began to push forward to make a living in the path he had chosen.

I support my husband by doing housework and raising children.

I did a variety of things, including embroidery projects, making accessories, doing accounting, and general chores.

At the same time, I had a strong desire to spend time with my children, so I think I worked in a passive manner rather than a proactive manner.

Although she felt that she had to get her husband's work back on track, she thought of it as a somewhat separate role, as a support for her husband.
I had a feeling that one day, once my child-rearing days were over, I would like to take the initiative in my work.

My eldest son started kindergarten and gradually his interest began to turn outward, but he began to have mood swings and our lives became busier and busier.

My husband is learning and absorbing various things next to me.

I often feel frustrated and upset because I want to grow in the same way as others but can't.

It was also a difficult time to balance work, housework and childcare.

Every day I take three children to the grocery store, do housework, and get frustrated because things never go according to schedule.

On top of that, I cut down on my own time, I can't do what I want, and even if I work for everyone,
I began to wonder why I had to endure so much, and became dissatisfied with my self-sacrifice.

Why couldn't I say a word to those around me to ask for help? I worked hard on the places that didn't need to be stretched, and didn't know how to pull them out.

I only realized this after I started Aikido.

For example, if someone grabs my arm and puts pressure on me, I respond by putting pressure back on them.
If you can relax at that moment, it will be difficult for your opponent to apply force, and you will not be attacked.

I never thought that by pulling it out, the force I had received would be released.

From then on, I became more conscious of relaxing my mindset in my daily life.

I also became aware of my habit of pushing back when someone points something out to me by using force, and I've become able to accept it head on.

By removing the hair, I was able to relax and take a good look at my current condition.

There is a lot to learn about both the body and mind from Aikido, and there are many things that I can wholeheartedly accept, so it's one of the good things I've started.

Also, for me, who was not good at writing, this staff blog became an important opportunity for me to reflect on myself.

I'd like to reread it in 10 years.

I believe that my worries will continue to exist and I will have to face them one by one.

While I am greatly influenced by the beautiful people I meet through Utsushiki, I want to make sure I don't forget my core self.

With the Taisho exhibition over, we look back on the past 10 years and look forward to imagining the next 10 years.

The COSMIC WONDER exhibition will begin this weekend on May 1st. It represents the state of mind we should aim for in the next 10 years.

It looks like this exhibition will serve as a guideline.

Ono Kaori