10 Tips for Mindful Work

Here are 10 general mindfulness exercises for when you are working.
1. Engage yourself in your work as if your job depends on it.
2. Become the best at what you do, not the best at gabbing around the office.
3. If you finish a project early, review your work and look for ways [...]

Ijime: Bullying (いじめ) （建設的な生き方）

Here is a translation that I made this evening from a Japanese Constructive Living website. The topic is a dark one that is a persistent problem in Japan: “bullying.”
Here is my translation:
Bullying
Bullying has occurred in every time period. So, it probably won’t go away from now, either. It is a problem not only [...]

Summarization of a Speech Given in Japanese to a Graduating High School Class

I recently presented a speech to a graduating high school class here in Japan. Re-molding one’s thoughts into a wholly different tongue with the intention of interpretive clarity for the receiver is no easy task. Aside from content, which may have been a bit “over their heads,” the biggest compliment was the fact that the [...]

Constructive Living: Listening

The following is a quotation from Constructive Living Reflections on St. Augustine’s Homilies by David K. Reynolds:
“Let’s talk about talking. Each of us speaks a private language, some of which is shared with others. Aim to hear the nuances of each other’s private speech. Do your best to translate your speech so that it [...]

Mindful Absorption: Fluidity and Mindfulness

Carl Rogers talks about “the fluid nature of the self.” But, how does one achieve such an awareness of the fluid nature of the self? Aside from my recent article, I will expand on a few key elements to this most elusive yet ordinary way of living, hopefully, moving us toward a better understanding [...]