Daruma the Lucky Man --- Nao

Even though I don't like rain so much, I actually enjoyed the rain last couple of days here in Southern California. I hope nobody got hurt from this rain storm, though. I think it was kind of nice having rain once in a while.
I could appreciate the water supply from nature:-P

In Japan, there is a rainy season, and it rains every day… yes, every single day. I hated it. But since I got here to Southern California, the sky just doesn't seem to cry as often as the Japanese sky. Haha. I love this sunny whether so much, but I think I missed having rain a bit. I was at home listening to the rain, and it was soothing.

Oh, so you are wondering what "Daruma" is? Daruma is a doll that brings you happiness. Japanese usually go to Daruma festivals in January to buy Daruma dolls for the year. Daruma dolls are rounded body dolls with no arms and no legs. It has a distinguished beard, and its eyes have only white color. We write our wishes on the back of its head, and color one of its eyes with black ink. And when the wish is fulfilled you color in the other eye. We keep the doll for a year, and we hope that Daruma will make our wishes come true. These Daruma dolls are modeled after Bodhidharma, who is the founder of Zen. (If you'd like to know more about Daruma, visit here.)

But anyways, I used to buy Daruma dolls at a Daruma festival every year. I don't have my Daruma dolls for 2008, but I think I'll have an exciting, fun year. As you know, Japanese cherish our traditions a lot, so it kind of hurts me not having my Daruma doll, but I think I can make my wishes come true myself. I have to act to make things happen. I cannot just wish that it'll magically happen…

We need to do everything we can to make things happen. Just waiting for your wish to come true is easy and lazy. I believe that ACTING and WORKING towards your dream are essential to make things happen or making your dream come true.

Whatever you decided for your new year's resolutions, I hope you will make it, and reach your goals:

Have a great day, everybody.

Hugs, Nao