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Barbara Shoup's avatar

Love the idea of close observation in the tea ceremony. Lovely piece.

And that Chris is a keeper:-)

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Leanne Ogasawara's avatar

He is!!!!

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Shapeshifting's avatar

Aside from appreciating your elegant writing, I always learn so much from these and especially this one. Have you considered gathering your Japan essays in a book?

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Leanne Ogasawara's avatar

Hi Heather, I appreciate this so much. Thank you for reading! This newsletter is a way to figure out an approach to a memoir project I am calling Dreaming in Japanese. I had written the beginning in a novelistic narrative style, but something kept "not working" for me... I am now trying to rewrite it more like travel literature, more essayistic. I really love writing essays and I was even thinking of this post being part of a prologue to situate me back home after so long away....For now, I am focusing on fiction since it is my great love... but I really love writing essays too xoxooxxox

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Shapeshifting's avatar

There are so many wonderful memoirs written as essays. Pull together your work and see what it wants to be as a collection. Email me if I can be of any help!

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Leanne Ogasawara's avatar

Thank you so much!!!!

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Sally's avatar

A path of persimmons -- six!

Improbable! . . . not impossible;

The ghost inhabits memories already ripe for falling into the toil of life.

I walk in fives, fingers and toes.

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Leanne Ogasawara's avatar

I didn’t say it above but o did think the symmetry of six was not ver😍as Japanese per se ❤️

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Sally's avatar

Yes! Makes you wonder, hmmm . . .

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