Dr. Yukari’s Listening Lounge #14-1, American Willing to Listen
[ Dr. Yukari’s Listening Lounge ]
Consultations will be available to discuss your challenges and worries faced in daily life involving family, relationships, anxiety, stress, grief & loss.
The first 2 sessions are free of charge. Contact us at the address below for any questions or to reserve your 60-minute zoom session.
Email: info@honolulumyohoji.org
Guided by the hope of St. Nichiren, we continue to work towards a peaceful society. Honolulu Myohoji Mission collaborates with Psychologist Dr. Yukari Kunisue, a trained and experienced therapeutic life coach, to offer a safe online space: Dr. Yukari’s Listening Lounge
Fran Peavey, a Futurist. “American Willing to Listen”.
Seated in the corner of a crowded Osaka train station, a heavyset white woman began taking out a homemade cloth sign from her bag. The cloth sign read in English, “American willing to listen”.
A passerby took notice and stopped to ask,
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Fran hesitated for a moment before responding,
“I am not 100% sure myself…”
The Japanese man stood puzzled contemplating her response and proceeded to walk away from their exchange.
A few minutes later, a second man stopped in front of her sign. In broken English he asked her,
“What kind of stories are you willing to listen?”
The man proceeded to tell her that he currently works at a nearby shoe factory. Fran began to ask him a few questions she prepared prior to leaving California,
“What do you think is the most serious issue that your community faces? What would you like to change in your own life, community, or even society?”
The factory worker proceeded to share his opinions on issues involving the Korean peninsula, among other topics including consumerism in Japan.
Fran is originally from Idaho and previously worked as a high-school teacher in California on top of being an anti-nuclear activist her entire life. After retiring, she sold her house in San Francisco and began her unique trip with the message of an “American Willing to Listen” starting from Osaka, Japan and travelling to places including Korea, Philippines, Australia, England, Scotland, Germany, and India. She was either seen at a street corner, a park bench, a campus classroom, a cafeteria, restaurant, or even a local’s house.
This concept was entirely her idea with no sponsors or travel companions. Her only goal from this grassroots activity was to sit down and listen to the voices of regular people. She did not want to make interpretations off of media or other people’s experiences but her own. There were no cameras or videos throughout this process. These travels were the manifestation of her life’s work, the exchange of knowledge and wisdom between people.
(To Be Continued)