Today is Tanabata, a day when the Japanese celebrate two lovers parted by the milky way who get to meet up tonight – and only tonight – if it’s a clear night.
To celebrate, Japanese people write wishes on strips of paper (that I searched in my photos for examples of … I didn’t find any nice photos of them there, sorry 
) and hang them from bamboo branches. Every year that I was in Japan, I made sure to carefully write (at least!) one of these wishes. After all, it’s good handwriting practice! I think the first time, I wished to be Japanese. The second time I wished to pass the JLPT 2 test (I made a point of wishing so hard that I actively sought out every place where I could write wishes for tanabata!). When I was on JET I wished for my students to study hard and make good futures for themselves.
As I was walking into town this morning I was wondering what my wish would be for this year. I think, if I had some paper and some bamboo here, I’d wish to be a stronger, more confident person this year.
Ever since the second year of uni, right up until I started at Nintendo, I was pretty sure of myself – I worked hard, and liked to wallow in my skills and abilities (if it’s possible to do such a thing). At Nintendo, there are so many really amazing people that I feel I have lost my sense of strength while watching everyone around me do their amazing things.
This is really important to me now, since there is a new project starting that I will be leading and I am really nervous about it. I’ve “lead” things before now, but this will be a meaty project and I need to be on top of my game. There is no time for me to sit there gazing at everyone around me, I need to get up and join them.
Both inside and outside of work, I need to stand up for myself and be more confident in the person that I am.
What would your tanabata wish be today?
