Sticky Notes - Come with me to Japan.

THE SHORT STORY...

RAITĀ is a 7-day writing course inspired by the writings, teachings and philosophies of Japan. It's taught entirely via email. It requires no more than an hour of your time each day. And, it will not only help you establish a daily writing practice but stretch your style and perspective as a writer and human. You can enroll on the other side of the big black button down below. Class begins Monday, August 22nd and ends Sunday, August 28th. Don't be late.

THE WHOLE STORY...

At the writing of this email, I've been in Tokyo for 24 hours, eight of which I've spent completely unconscious, sleeping off the jet lag. 

Jet lag is interesting in that it's just a word until you've experienced it. After you've experienced it, it becomes less a word and more so a feeling.

I’d liken it to treading water in a trench coat, where everything feels heavy and slow and with each passing movement you become more and more exhausted until, eventually, your forehead melts over your eyes, nose and mouth and everything goes black. 

I would describe Japan in this same way.

Having never traveled to Japan –– but having spent ample time with my Japanese Grandmother –– I thought I had a feeling of what Japan was. 

Now that I am over here, walking the same streets that she once walked seven decades prior, I’m realizing that not unlike Jet lag, I only ever knew Japan as a word or an idea, but never a feeling. 

As I experience this strange, foreign place that birthed one of my favorite people to ever walk the Earth, I'm finding myself feeling so much. It's truly overwhelming.

I plan to take copious amounts of notes during my stay here in Tokyo –– particularly in a course I will be teaching called "RAITĀ" which I will tell you about shortly –– but, for now, here’s what I’ve been surprised by…

Japan is constantly sacrificing efficiency for beauty. The Japanese seem to be less concerned with doing things quickly and more so with doing things perfectly. 

When I walk into my hotel, I must remove my shoes and hand them to a host wearing a kimono.

The host places my shoes in one of about two hundred cubbies and closes the cubby with a laced wood panel –– somehow, she always knows exactly which cubby is mine –– I then walk up to my room in my socked feet.

This has taken some getting used to, especially for someone like myself who might wear three different pairs of shoes on any given day.

Yesterday, it felt a bit inefficient (and even odd), slipping into my gym clothes, walking shoeless down to the lobby, retrieving my Hoka running shoes from the host, taking a moment to lace them up at the door and then taking to the streets.

But, goddamn was it beautiful.

All that to say, I'm feeling inspired over here –– more inspired than I have in a very long time –– and so I've decided to teach a short, 7-day long writing course I'm calling "RAITĀ". 

In RAITĀ, we will work to establish a daily writing practice, hone our style and expand our perspective as we take a look at the writings, lessons and philosophies of Japan. 

If you're interested in enrolling, please do so soon. 

Class starts Monday, August 22nd and will end Sunday, August 28th. 

So, you don't have much time.

Godspeed,

Cole.