Phantom Fear

You've heard of phantom limbs, haven't you? After an illness, injury or accidents, a limb is amputated. But the patient still feels the existence of that limb. What a terrible thing! To be 'bothered' by the sensation of the limbs that caused problems even after they are gone!

There is one thing worse than that, in my estimation.

Phantom Fear!

In my coaching sessions, I see some people who are so worried about everything. Some fears are so strong that it almost immobilize their life. But I have a good news for you.

Fear is phantom. Something unfounded. Fear is....

F = False
E = Evidence
A = Appearing
R = Real


Sometime ago, I came across a local art therapist who worked with children with cancer.

He had a group of children with cancer and he asked them to draw. They were to draw themselves along side what they imagined their cancer looked like to be.

Some drew themselves bigger and stronger than the cancer, shooting arrows at Cancer. They also had lots of friends helping them shoot arrows at the image of cancer.

Some drew themselves very small beside a gigantic cancer monster towering over them, spewing fire out of its mouth, and coming after them.

The first group of children felt they could lick their cancer while the second group was obviously afraid of cancer and didn't think they could beat it.

Guess which group had a greater number of survivors?

You guess it. The first group!

The first group of children felt confident that they can overcome their disease.
The second group of children didn't. They were absolutely afraid of their cancer monster.

Certainly, the both groups had reasons to be afraid. But the first group didn't get that fear, the ultimate defeat, affect them. They went on with their therapies with many friends encouraging them on. While the second group of children succumb to their fear. Although what they feared was not a reality at the beginning, they actually lived out what they saw in their own fear.

I'm not saying fear alone killed the second group of children. There must have been differences in the severity of their cancer between the two groups. Nevertheless, I can't ignore the possibility of what FEAR might have played in their demise.

I have a question to ask. Why should FEAR, something that hasn't  happen yet, influence our health and life?

We want to be careful, what we say, especially to the sick children. These children need to know that they don't have to fight the battle alone. They need to know that they are supported by something much bigger than cancer, the love of people around them.

Kind, loving, encouraging words we speak to them may be the only thing separating those who survive and those who do not.....

Half-Life of Plutonium

Plutonium is rarely found in nature. Plutonium is the most economically important of the trans-uranic elements. Plutonium-239 readily undergoes fission, and it is used for nuclear weapons and for energy. And it was used to create the atomic bombs.


Energy from Fission

The sum of the masses of these fragments is less than the original mass. This 'missing' mass (about 0.1 percent of the original mass) has been converted into energy according to Einstein's equation.
Fission can occur when a nucleus of a heavy atom captures a neutron, or it can happen spontaneously.

Half-life happens when plutonium decays. Many factors play into producing the decaying process. Usually, the half-life is a very, very long time, hundreds of thousands of years.

Half-life essentially means that after that many years, you will have half as much of the original product.  So it doesn’t mean that it will only last twice that length because after that many years again, you have half again. This means, it could exist almost 'forever.'


I'm not a chemist. Why should I be even slightly interested in Half-Life of Plutonium-239? Well, combined with Coriolis Effect, one nuclear explosion can affect the entire earth for millennium to come.

Some good news?

Somebody asked Smithsonian a related question. And here's the Q. & A. reprint in its entirety.

Q. Why could Hiroshima and Nagasaki be rebuilt so soon after they were destroyed by the A-bomb? Wouldn't the fallout remain unsafe for years? 

A. Those two bombs were deliberately exploded high in the air, as a result, much of the radioactive debris was carried aloft and dispersed by the mushroom cloud. 

Moreover, the amount of fissionable material in both bombs was only about two pounds. In contrast, the meltdown at Chernobyl involved some two tons of material released at ground level with no mechanism for rapid dispersal. 

Today, Hiroshima and Nagasaki have background radiation levels well within the world average. 

Tom Crouch, curator, aeronautics, National Air and Space Museum


So, that's why the A-bomb that was dropped 600 feet above ground Hiroshima was called a Little Boy?

So, it was a 'good' thing that the bomb didn't hit the ground?

So, what happened to the debris being dispersed throughout the world? Did this debris dispersion cause the rate of cancers throughout the world to rise?

So, the 'world average' means not only Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the entire world is safe?

So, is this why my Traditional Chinese Medicine Master told us not to walk outdoors when the wind is blowing?

With more countries getting 'nuclear weapon ready,' can each country be more conscious of the global effects such weaponry could have on humanity?

And the similar questions continue.....

Coriolis Effect

Have you ever heard of Coriolis Effect? I haven't, until last week.

I have an interesting client. He was in Military and instead of fighting a war, he was involved in some 'experimental' projects.

As a young 'soldier', he was assisting many surgeries involving removal of organs. Yes, without a medical license. It was on the job 'training.'

He was also involved with a top secret testing of nuclear explosion effects on numerous animals. Yeah, I can hear the animal rights people now.

Consequently, he has developed interest in medicine, science, chemistry, and numerous other subjects after he became a civilian again. He has studied many things on his own because of his thirst for knowledge.

This client told me about Coriolis Effect and what kind of 'effect' it has on any nuclear explosion.

Simply stated, Coriolis Effect is the effect on the movement of air and water on the surface of Earth.

Because the earth is constantly rotating from the West to the East, any moving object's course is deflected either to the right or to the left, depending on which hemisphere of the earth you are travelling. The moving objects will deflect to the right in the norther hemisphere, while in the southern hemisphere, they will deflect to the left.

You can watch a short PBS video explaining what Coriolis Effect has on weather. 

Coriolis Effect

Now, why will this Coriolis Effect be an interest to you or to me?

If an atomic bomb was dropped in a Northern hemisphere, the nuclear effect will basically cover the entire northern hemisphere. If you are further away from the site where the bomb was dropped, the effect maybe less, nonetheless, it will reach where you are eventually.

This is one of the reasons why Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, which is still not under control, is of a big issue here. Not just Japan, not just the west coast of the US, but the entire northern hemisphere will be 'contaminated' eventually.

And there is a 'half-life' of plutonium issue, which I'll talk about in the next post.

Stay tuned......

Dotonbori Economics 道頓堀 経済学

It seems until not too long ago, that I heard some parents, who wanted their children to finish a meal say, "Eat your dinner. Think of all the starving children in China."

Even then, I wondered how finishing up your meal could save the starving children in China. Even if you saved the left over foods that you didn't eat, how do you get the food to the children in China?

I didn't take any course in politics or economics in college, but this approach of enforcing 'no waste' policy at the dinner table didn't make sense to me.

Growing up, we didn't have lots of money or lots of food. But I never felt lacking. I always felt well taken care of, not because we had lots of things but I felt loved in our family. Now, I'm diverting from the topic at hand. Let me get back.

When I first came to the States, the exchange rate was $1 to ￥360 Yen. I know, I know, I date myself here. A few years ago, Yen got really strong and it broke ￥100 Yen to a $1 mark.

For some years, the Japanese Yen was so strong against the US dollar that there was even a speculation of Yen becoming the World Currency instead of the US dollar. That has come and gone. Yen never became the World Currency.

I was pleasantly surprised to see $1 was over ￥117 when we arrived in Japan this time. This means my dollar can buy more in Japan. By the time we left Japan, it went up to over ￥123! I thought I should have spent more money in Japan! Sorry, we never seem to be satisfied! (^_-)-☆


Shortly before we left for Japan, The Dow's average fell more than 1000 in one morning. Some even lost a half of their portfolio. There was a rumor of another stock market crash. The experts explained that this was due to the sudden fall in the Chinese Yuan. Up until then, the Chinese economy grew so fast in recent years that there were talks of China leading the World economy.

This Chinese economic bubble bust didn't seem to affect the Chinese much. There were Chinese tourists everywhere, tons of them. I've never seen so many Chinese people, all tourists, in Japan, ever before.

We visited Dotonbori in Osaka, for the first time. We were totally taken back by the concentrated number of shops, department stores, restaurants, etc., which seemingly went on forever both the board walk along the river, and under the covered outdoor shopping arcade. We must have walked at least 2 ~3 subway stations distance non-stop! And you guessed it, the Chinese tourists occupied the most of that space. The Korean tourists next and the Westerns last.

It was so crowded that if you didn't walk on the correct side of the thoroughfare, you could easily be swept away in the waves of humanity.

Were they just walking through the arcade? No! There were tons of people in shops, restaurants, and yes, in Starbucks!



We stopped at the crab specialty restaurant for lunch. I love crab! Much to my dismay, there was over three hour wait! We went down to their 'annex' restaurant a couple blocks down the street. They also had over one hour wait.

However, the host, told us, if we didn't mind the non-smoking section they could seat us immediately! Are you kidding?! I can't stand to be in any smoking area. I'm allergic to smoke! Hey, this was the first time, being a non-smoker paid off for me in Japan! (^_-)-☆




I don't want you to think I am speaking with authority on an economic topic here. As I stated earlier, I have no clue about what's going on with politics or economics.

Just today, however, one Chinese friend of ours, 'enlightened' us on the subject. The Chinese economic bubble bust was an 'intentional' thing, much the same as the Japanese economic bubble busted over a couple of decades ago for a reason.

The US caused that bust! The US owed China so much money that we had to 'devalue' Yuan to decrease the debt amount. This, apparently, was what the US did with the Japanese Yen before also.

I don't know if his 'theory' is correct but it somehow made sense. Who wants to lose the World Currency status, right? The US doesn't. I also heard before that the World economy was controlled by 4 major players in the world. And alas, none of them is me. (>.<)

So, it's all 'politics.' No economic growth can be achieved without some political interference. They both seem so superficial and unrealistic, having no true intrinsic value. No wonder I don't understand politics or economics.

Multiple Universe ②

Continued from Multiple Universe ①


In Multiple Universe ①, I marveled at the ancients' understanding of the existence of multiple universe.

It is fascinating to ponder what's beyond our known universe. By the way, the Cosmologists estimate that we currently know about only 4% of the entire universe. I think that is an over estimate.

I suspect as the Cosmologists explore more, that they will come to a conclusion that they might not know 1%, or even a fraction of 1% about our universe.

As much as I am fascinated by our external universe, I am even more intrigued by our microcosms that are created by individual human beings.

You think the pagodas signified the multiple universe and there are countless universes? One thing I'm more certain is that there are far more human microcosms than you can imagine.

The existence of microcosms within our macrocosms, the universe, is so well portrayed by an old film, The Grand Hotel. You can watch the film and/or trailer here. The Grand Hotel   (1932)

The Grand Hotel

A group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious hotel in Berlin deal with each of their respective dramas.

A doctor, a disfigured veteran of World War I and a permanent resident of the Grand Hotel in Berlin, wryly observes, "People come and go. Nothing ever happens", after which a great deal transpires.

One man who squandered his fortune and supports himself as a card player and occasional jewel thief, befriends a meek accountant who, having discovered he is dying, has decided to spend his remaining days in the lap of luxury. An industrialist is at the hotel to close an important deal, and he hires stenographer, who has a totally different agenda,  to assist him. So on and so forth, the drama unfolds. And they are all happening under one gigantic roof where 'nothing ever happens.'

Not knowing what's happening in another person's life, we feel disconnect and think 'nothing is ever happening.' Just 'people coming and going.' They have nothing to do with your life. You have nothing to do with their life. When in fact, tons of unimaginable things are happening in each microcosm.

When people, families, and countries feel no connection with other entities, it is easier to feel resentful, even hate, fight, go against each country in war, etc.

I'm not saying you need to stick your nose in somebody else's business. We are forever individuals. There is no physical unity in humanity. However, we can connect with others at the level of our true essential existence. When we do connect, the universe becomes one. We don't ever have to feel alone, again.

                                               Which universe are you living in?

Multiple Universe ①

We had a chance to visit Osaka, Japan this summer, for the first time. We found one interesting spot in Osaka.

We've seen a "Picture Frame" building in Dubai in the Smithsonian Magazine several months prior. This Sky Building reminded us of the Picture Frame building. So, we definitely wanted to go see it.

The circular Sky Garden was precisely placed between the two tower buildings 500+ feet above ground. The Sky Garden was actually an observation deck. It afforded 360 degree view of the city.

After you reach the 35th floor in an elevator, you then get on a 360 degree see-through escalator to get to the floor just below the observation 'garden.' This escalator 'ride' was a bit scary, more so than the open air circular observation deck.

Visiting the sky garden was interesting, but what caught my attention was the pictures of tower buildings that were constructed throughout human history. It exhibited the Egyptian pyramids, the tower of Babel, pagodas, and many others. It was really interesting to see the humanity's fascination to reach 'heaven.'

I learned a few things about pagodas. Although the architectural designs changed as they traveled from India to Japan, the philosophy behind them didn't. The multi-tiered roofs denoted the ancients' understanding of multiple universe! How did they figure that. Interesting, I thought. The ancients may have had more insights about our universe than we give them credit for.


                                 How many universes are there?

To be continued......... 

Looking Back On 9/11

Some horrific pictures of That Day in America.

Need I say more?  30 Pictures of American That Day  14 years ago.


This is a true story of a blind man and his guide dog, their evacuating saga of That Day. They were in the first tower, right below where the building was struck. An amazing story. You'll learn a lot about the relationship between the blind man and the guide dog. A must read.

No Victor In War

When we went to Japan this time at the beginning of September, we visited some historic sites. This year being the 70th memorial of Hiroshima A-bombing, my husband wanted to visit Hiroshima Peace memorial.

I have visited the Hiroshima memorial on a school excursion while I was in high school. I can still remember the absolute horror I felt upon seeing the aftermath of the A-bomb.

Before visiting the memorial this time, I was told by my Japanese friends that they have 'toned down' the exhibits.

Nonetheless, the effect of the new exhibits was quite the same. Visitors were silent as we walked through the exhibits. Some were quietly wiping their unstoppable tears.

I was especially struck by the remains of some personal effects of perished children. Most of these children were from the families that evacuated the big cities that were thought to be targeted by other bombs. Those children who 'survived' the bombing, somehow walked home almost unrecognizable, only to die a few days later in spite of their family's effort to take care of their irrevocable injuries. Knowing the agonizing process of death, you would think that they would have been better off had they died instantaneously. They wouldn't have had to endure such unimaginable suffering......

I couldn't help but think, if only they hadn't evacuated......

One thing I didn't know was that there were foreigners beside the Japanese who perished.

12 American soldiers and numerous Koreans, who were brought to Japan from Korea as forced laborers. There was an outdoor memorial erected for the Koreans.

Would they have been better off staying in Korea had they had a choice? They had no houses, businesses or work and possibly nothing to eat in Korea, but they may have somehow survived all that.....

One would be made to contemplate on unfairness of one's 'fate' at such a time as this..... 


There is a peace arch, where the eternal flame is offered, in this Hiroshima Memorial Park. On the monument was this inscription.

"Sleep in peace. We will not repeat this mistake."

I could understand this as a 'prayer' but at the same time I wondered if we truly learned anything from this mistake and all the similar mistakes the humanity has made in history.

Sure, there has not been another atomic bomb dropped anywhere in the world for the past 70 years. But the wars have never ceased. The terrorists attacks, including 9/11, somehow continue to happen in different parts of the world. When will humanity ever learn from this mistake?


In front of the 'dome' were a few people who were sharing information with the foreigners. One young volunteer came to share some information with us. He was working side-by-side with another man whose mother is a survivor. His mother was pregnant with him when A-bomb happened. He is an in-utero survivor.

There is a short documentary (20 minutes) on Mr. Mito, his family and what happened THAT DAY. The film was produced by an American couple. It includes Mr. Mito's interview. It will give you a glimpse of the devastating effect of A-bomb. Watch  That Day here.

Warning: Although the images are just a fraction of what you can see in the memorial museum, they may be too much for the faint hearted. Viewer discretion is advised.

Mr. Mito also has a blog if you are interested in reading more about his mother's memoirs and other informative articles on Hiroshima.  Mr. Mito's blog


Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me~~~ ♪　♫　♪　♫　♪　♫　

Teach Them To Fish ②

Continued from Teach Them To Fish ①


So, we started to send him small amount of money. Only a couple hundred dollars a month.
One dollar went a long way at $１＝ P50+Pesos.

We wanted to teach him money management. So, we requested that he would write and tell us how he spent his money each month.

We never received the money report. One time, we asked if he was receiving the money from us. The answer was NO. Oh, dear, what ever is happening to the money we sent him?

The next time I went to the same youth center, I was thanked by the keeper of the center repeatedly for the money we sent. Hey, we didn't send 'you' the money!

It turned out that the money was used to feed the entire 'family' who was living there!


I felt so small. Here, I was aiming to teach this young man money management while it was helping the entire family!

You see, while in the Philippines, we easily spent an average worker's day's wages in one breakfast! What an arrogant thinking I had that I thought we can teach this young man how to handle his money. They don't even know where the next meal is coming from. There was a huge gap in my understanding of the economic differences here.


This young man was able to not only finish his high school but also went on to graduate from college. By the time I returned to the Philippines about 10 years or so later, he was married and running his own Tricycle business. Tricycles, along with Jeepneys are their main mode of transportation.

Just this year, some friends of ours went back to the same village and brought back a picture of this young man and his growing family.

He became an architect and a mason. He is building a house for his friend now.

Mind you, we even thought of adopting him and bringing him over to the States to give him a 'proper' education and better life. However, we realized that bringing him here, totally uprooting him from his environment may not be the best thing for him.

Good thing that we didn't.

Give a man fish. He'll eat for a day. Teach him to fish. He'll eat everyday that he fishes.

Sure we could have given him a fish everyday. But this way, he learned to 'fish' daily on his own. (^_-)-☆

                                            Are you teaching somebody to fish today?


Leo and his family ...

Teach Them To Fish ①

When we see people who are less fortunate than we are, we tend to want to help them in anyway we can.

When I first went to the Philippines, I was shocked by the way most people lived there. Driving through the busy streets in our air conditioned tour bus, all we saw was dilapidated shacks and people roaming around almost aimlessly. It was as if we were driving through Post War Korea, not that I've ever seen the post war Korea.....

When we arrived at the youth center where a certain youth gathering was held, I was even more amazed. The only food served to the children at the meeting was a small plate of rice, and sometimes, a small portion of vegetables on the side.

I felt so bad that I didn't bring anything for the kids. I could have brought candies and toys,....

Since I didn't have anything to give them, I made an Origami Crane and left it on a table one day.

The next morning, when I went by the table where I left the Crane, there were TWO Cranes! How did it multiplied!? When I asked around, one 14 year old boy said he made it. How?!!!

I have to confess here. If I hadn't made thousands of such Cranes in my life time, I don't know if I could have remembered to make one at that time. Somehow, I pulled it off. Then, how on earth this boy, who had never made one before could pull it off?

He said he unfolded my crane, then followed the folds to make him another one! Do you know how impossible, at least, for me, to do that?!

So, I told him that he "deserved" to know how to make a Frog!
If you think remembering how to make a crane was difficult, making a frog was 10 times more so.
Somehow, after several tries, I pull that off also.

And this young man? No, problem. Without me showing him how to make it, he 'produced' another frog with no hesitation!

My, oh, my! Is he smart or what?

In the subsequent trips, I would make sure to bring him some 'difficult' puzzles, etc.

Have you tried to do the Rubik Cube? I could never make all sides, not even one side one color.

This fellow? Within a couple of minutes, he'd have it solved perfectly. It was a 'baby's play' for him!

Why, some years later, the people around him told me that he could take apart a car and put it all back together!

After returning to the States, my husband and I decided to 'support' this young man for his education. Why, he has this talent but no opportunity! He was living in this youth center with tons of other people because his family couldn't 'afford' to feed him!


To be continued......

Things Are Not What They Appear To Be

The way we see our world is so different from person to person. We think our understanding of it is the way it actually is. When in fact, the world we see is all colored by the personal glasses, through which we see the world. Depending upon the color of your glasses you are wearing now, the world could look rosy or dark and gloomy.

                 ********************************************************************************

One man got on a rather empty New York subway one day. At the next station, a man with small children came in. The children were unruly. They were running all around the subway car, calling out to each other quite loudly.

The first man was quite disturbed by the children's behavior but what bothered him the most was the fact that their father wasn't doing anything to stop them.

The man's patience was running thin. Finally, he spoke to the father with agitation in his voice.

"Why don't you do something with your kids! They are disturbing everybody here!"

The father who was taken by surprise, responded, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even know they were running around. We just came from the hospital. Their mother just died at the hospital...."

The man who was so irritated by the children's behavior, now was filled with shame. He had no idea what happened to this family.

                     *********************************************************************************

I am not promoting unruly children running around in a subway car here, you understand.

We think what we see is how things are, when in fact, the things are rarely the way they 'appear' to be.......

                                            What color glasses are you wearing today?