In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...) Most people completed it last year but I have decided to start it now…..I won`t post everyday A-Z but I will do it over the next couple of months (possibly with some other posts thrown in for good measure!)
This is post number 2…post number 1 is here
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B is for beliefs
I think what we each believe is a very important people of who we are…and not just our religious beliefs but also our customs and thoughts on life tie us to our own identity.
I was baptised as a Catholic when I was a baby…I grew up going to Catholic schools, going to church occasionally, midnight mass a couple of times and giving up candy for lent. Both my parents grew up Catholic (My dad is one of nine!!!)…They never tried to force religion on either myself or my brother….we were able to make our own decisions.
Each night we had prayer time with my dad, who almost always put us to bed (This continued until I was at least 9 or 10, and started staying up later than my dad so he could no longer put us to bed)… We would recite the following two prayers
“I see the moon, the moon sees me. god bless the moon and god bless me”
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take”
Except my father changed the words `die` to `get sick` ….Prayer time, to me, was a lot more about the songs we sang and music we learnt. I could sing songs from the 60`s before I could recite nursery rhymes! If I have kids I would like to continue something like this with them…obviously I would encourage them to learn Japanese songs as well, although Shumpei would have to take care of that because my singing in Japanese is atrocious!
Heaven is also something I believe in…and while I am not exactly sure what it is but I do believe it would be just like care bears. Growing up I was told heaven could be anything I wanted it to be and I thought it would be like care bears…playing in the clouds. I am pretty sure that anybody that I know who has died will also be there. I think even if you are not practising in the religion your were raised that certain things always stay with you…..like for example, if I had children I think I would like to baptize them and have discussed this with Shumpei before. I have a god-son, and he is eight now, and I still remember holding him at his baptism when I was 14. It was such an honour.
Like I said though, I don`t think beliefs are all about religion. One thing I truly believe in is that you should treat people the way you wish to be treated. I do not have time for people that are liars, selfish or hypocritical, even though I know I have shown signs of these traits at least once or twice!
Due to my relationship with someone that is Japanese, there are certain things I have incorporated into my own life. One of those things is `aisatsu` or Japanese greetings or things that are said often. For example before we eat we always say itadakimasu and gochisousamadesu at the end of the meal. We say Ittekimasu when we are leaving and tadaima when we come home and ittarashai to those leaving and okaeri to those coming back. All the kids at school do this also, even though it is an international school and there are also foreign students. It is the only Japanese we use often inside the classroom….It would feel too strange not to say `aisastsu`.
We always take our shoes off when we go inside the apartment ( I haven`t gone as far that I have separate slippers in the bathroom although I think eventually I will need to do this)
One other thing that I have noticed that I do is when Shumpei and I go to a shrine and throw our 10yen coins into the osaisenbako and pray/ say what we want I always repeat in my head my wish/prayer in English the in Japanese…because I want to make sure I cover all bases. Would hate to find out after I die that who ever had been listening hadn`t understood English (and or Japanese).
I am sure once we are married and have children that the beliefs we have will evolve and combine to be a mix of what is important to both of us. Christmas for example, while not celebrated here in the same way it is back home, will be an important part of our beliefs and I have already spoken to Shumpei about always taking Christmas morning off work because it is not a public holiday here. New Years, I am sure would be come a very family orientated holiday, similar to how it is here in Japan. There are a lot of Japanese customs that I want to make sure our children know about because I would hate for them to ignore their cultural background. Just as I would teach them that Australia day is for a BBQ and knocking back a few beers….
This post has not turned out how I wanted it to. I had a completely different idea of how this would sound in my head and it hasn`t come out right but it will have to do for now…
What do you believe in? What would you teach your children?
Stay tuned for C is for…..
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