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A Daruma doll (達磨) is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting the Indian monk, Bodhidharma, vary greatly in color and design depending on region and artist. Though considered a toy by some, Daruma has a design that is rich in symbolism and is regarded more as a talisman of good luck to the Japanese. Daruma dolls are seen as a symbol of perseverance and good luck, making them a popular gift of encouragement. The doll has also been commercialized by many Buddhist temples to use alongside the setting of goals. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
I have always loved Daruma dolls & truly believe in their symbolism. The first time I had ever decided to use Daruma dolls to set a goal was when I planning my pregnancy. Jian & I had purchased 3 miniature Daruma dolls from our favorite Japanese clothing & lifestyle brand BEAMS, long before I had ever decided to try to get pregnant. We had originally planned to keep them as display collectibles. It wasn’t until I started my IVF journey, when I decided to use those Daruma dolls to set my pregnancy goals (& perhaps make a wish or two). For each of the dolls I had set very intentional goals. After those three goals had been met, I knew the Daruma dolls held a great significance and meaning within my personal journey.
Jian & I have taken our daughter on many short-term localized vacations, road trips, airplane trips, but we’ve never actually prepared ourselves to take her on an 11-hour plane ride across the Pacific ocean until last year. We had also not taken a long-form trip like this since before the COVID pandemic happened, & I wanted to take extra precautions to make sure good fortune & good planning were on our side. I know I am sounding very superstitious here, but I wanted to cover all my bases on the ‘luck’ front.
This is when I thought of my miniature Daruma dolls sitting on a display shelf in Jian’s home office. At first I thought of getting a Daruma doll just for the fun of it and not trying to take it too seriously. I wrote down a few wishes I had regarding our trip on a small piece of paper. I folded it up and placed it under the Daruma doll (after drawing the first eye, of course).
I wasn’t sure if this was just a silly little ritual that you do symbolically, or if it was the real deal. I had to wait until the end of our trip to determine its legitimacy. As you can see where I’m leading with this, it was a triumph! All of my wishes had been fulfilled. Just so you know, I didn’t write down any outrageous wishes or anything like that, only simple things like: a smooth flight, make lots of core memories, don’t get sick during the trip, etcetera.
This is the part where I tell you about the tradition that started forming in my head. I had decided from that trip on, that I would get a new Daruma doll for every major family trip. It was from that point on, I had become a true believer in the power of the Daruma doll.
This coming Spring, in a few weeks actually, we are taking our little bean to Japan again. This time we are tagging along with our best friends and their family (our friends, their 2 kids, 2 grandparents). Our friends haven’t been on a proper, long-form vacation in nearly a decade, & they felt that now was their time to go. They invited us to go with them, & we made the impulse decision to tag along.
We had originally planned to take only one overseas vacation this year, taking our little bean to China for the first time to meet her other relatives. However, with the current currency exchange rate being so favorable to us here in the U.S., & we are still riding the high of our last trip to Japan (even though that was 2 years ago), we leapt at the chance of going back there. Plus, Jian has always wanted to experience Japan in the Spring when the famous cherry blossoms are in bloom & seasonal allergies are running rampant.
I have continued my new found tradition & recently bought two new Daruma dolls: one black (to ward off bad luck), & one red (to promote good luck). Since we are traveling with a larger group this time around, I wanted to make sure I stacked the deck in the good luck department. I am hoping (& praying) this new tradition I’ve started is successful once again. I will try to report my results upon our return.
This all may sound like silly superstition & childish games, but it is fun to have something positive to look forward to & a solid goal to reach for. Besides, this is just for me & not for everyone. So that’s that. Until the next one, 乾杯。
Today’s song of the day:
I was listening to the song “Your Side of Town” by The Killers on the radio today, and it very much reminded me of a close friend of mine who has the same tastes in western music as I do. The style of this song got me reminiscing about the kind of music each of us used to listen to when we were in high school…or maybe even younger.
I was listening to this song, bopping along in my car, and my mind started imagining and making up a story/scenario. I was imagining my friend being back in high school, but the whole tone had a John Hughes (a classic 1980s movie director, if you didn’t know) vibe. I was picturing my friend standing against the wall on the side of the school, wearing skinny-ish jeans & a slouchy blazer with a collared shirt & skinny tie, trying to flirt with girls while feeling super angst and moody.
That got my mind drifting and wandering even more, & as I parked my car in my driveway, I stopped my imaginary stories. I suddenly realized, while also talking to myself aloud in the car, that I love my imagination. I love the way my mind drifts & I can invent wild & fanciful stories that I can picture to myself so vividly.
I have always been a kid who can make up stories with my own imagination, on the spot. I rarely write them down, but I often remember stories I’ve thought of years ago. Sometimes I will go back to one of my old imaginings & reimagine the whole scenario with added embellishments, or to fit the current time. Other times, I will think back on an old story I made up just to reminisce about that scenario I once thought of.
No matter how old I get, I will never stop imagining stories or daydream in my mind. I love every one of my made up stories. They are little scenes just for me, and they make me so happy. Cheers.
Well, I didn’t get to write that epic Japan travel recap blog that I promised to post here. 2023 has already come & gone, & we are officially two & a half weeks into 2024. On the same day that we flew home from Japan, Jian had to fly right back out for a crucial work trip in Los Angeles. He barely had time to shower & eat lunch before he was rushing back to the airport. I, on the other hand, got pretty sick from the jet lag when we got back. I mean, the jet lag knocked me on my ass for nearly a week. At least we weren’t planning on going anywhere special for the Thanksgiving holiday, so that was a bonus…but my brother was going to be staying with us for a week, which means I barely had time after recovering from jet lag to get the house guest-ready.
The first half of November will go down as one of my all-time core memories. Our little trio had the best time in Japan, & hopefully I can recap everything for this blog site in a different post. All I can say for now is that I cannot wait to take our little bean back to the land of the rising sun again. It was an absolute blast getting to reconnect with my fraternal cousins & hang out with old friends again. I was definitely surprised how well our little bean was able to adapt to such a head-turning new environment. Stay tuned for a slightly more in-depth post in the near future.
The latter half of November flew by in a blur. Then our little trio embarked on a new journey. We were sending our little bean off to preschool for the first time! We were both excited & nervous at the same time, but no one was more nervous than me. I was feeling major separation anxiety, & if you have been following my blog for quite some time, you’ll already know I have a moderate fear of things changing, especially with major life milestones, hence my love of routines & steady habits. Sending the little bean off to preschool wasn’t nearly as scary as I had thought it would be, but you know I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do a little freak out session in my head first.
Pretty much the whole month of December was spent being on-again-off-again sick. It was either myself or the little bean being sick, & by sick I mean a small variety of illnesses such as: allergies, cold, flu, etcetera. Our best friends, who already send their little one to daycare, already warned us countless times about how our little bean will be bringing home some sort of virus or germs from school every other week, but surprisingly, she hasn’t gotten sick from anyone at school yet. *KNOCK ON WOOD* We’ve just been passing around the everyday seasonal virus or germs between our little household. Every other week at least one person in our household has a runny nose or a scratch throat, but nothing too serious like the big C-word. *KNOCK ON WOOD, AGAIN*
Our Christmas holiday this year was better than previous years. For the first time in a long time my sister & our brother (her fully-related brother, also my half-brother) weren’t at each other’s throats or fighting like cats & dogs. It was kind of a relaxing & peaceful time. The only mishaps that happened were when a couple of sentimental tree ornaments got broken & my niece passed her cold virus to me & my little bean. Other than that, we had a pretty uneventful month, & nothing significant happened. Uh, well, maybe I should mention that this past week I check into the Urgent Care ward at the hospital to treat a severe case nausea & vomiting. After getting checked out by the doctor, I was cleared to recover at home. It is safe to say that I am now back to good health other than a slight case of the sniffles, but we’ve been having a cold weather front recently, so that might be what’s prolonging my runny nose.
This year, in 2024, I have absolutely no resolutions whatsoever. Zero. I do not need to make any resolutions. I am just going to keep on doing what I need to do & what I want to do from here on out. I don’t need to make any special promises or goals. My goals are just ordinary life milestones that should & will be happening naturally on their own anyway. I don’t need to declare a resolution to make those life goals happen. So that is all I am going to say about that. Until the next post, cheers to everyone in 2024!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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