I have grown to notice that the natural spaces or places I feel most like myself are places where I have visited during my early ages in life. Whether it may be places I have stayed for long periods of time, or places where I learned something new which has impacted my life and mindset. I also feel most like myself when I am spending time with those who I have met and befriended early in my lifetime, because I feel that I can trust those individuals based on the fact that we have seen each other grow up. They know the person I was back then, and I know the person they were back then. And when I go through hardships or conflicts with other people or situations in life, those friends I have known early in my life can see the true person I am behind any rumors or lies that may be thrown into the present day.

I have grown up in Torrance, California, sharing my past experiences with a number of friends that I still keep in touch with today. There are very few that I am very close with, but that is what makes those relationships more meaningful to me. The fact that I have known them for so long and that both of us will listen and help each other when we can brings nostalgic memories of the old days when we were younger, and more innocent to the world. As long as they stay truthful to who they are with me, and they accept the truth of who I am, I feel free being around those people. This also leads me to miss those people when I haven’t had a chance to see them in years, but we may still keep in touch with each other every now and then. But besides the topics of friends helping me feel most like myself, there are places I have strong relationships with that help me appreciate my life and the way I view the world.

All of my important memories are reflected in my mind as a time machine for the great times I’ve had in my life, as well as all of the not so great times in my life. And these memories are often brought back into my consciousness through my senses, most notably the locations I come back to. My hometown will always remind me of my experiences growing up. Whether they are good or bad, these experiences are what brought me to where I am today, and I often ponder how my life could have changed if one experience was missing in my life. The happy moments that I recall reminds me to appreciate what I have because there may be some people who never experienced what I have. The bad moments remind me to keep on going with my life because life can be cruel, and I didn’t get past these bad moments by giving up and crying about them.

Another place that makes me feel like myself is where my mom grew up in Japan, the Okayama prefecture. Okayama is a Southern central prefecture in Japan which is filled with farmland everywhere you look, and it always amazes me how my mom was able to shift from a country girl living in Japan to a city environment in California. I have visited Okayama to visit my family members a few times as a child, but I can faintly remember what I was thinking or what I was doing during those times.

I recently was able to visit Okayama once again last summer, which was an eye opening experience for me to compare what I thought about my homeland back when I was a little kid versus how I view the area now that I am a college student. I was able to observe the environment and the people who lived in the area and appreciate the difference between my life living in America compared to Japan. The weather was amplified in Japan compared to California and the access to entertainment, convenience stores, public transportation, and other aspects of life greatly strengthened my understanding of my privileges and experiences growing up.

There are countless other places that bring me the feeling of being most like myself, and I will continue to grow my understanding and appreciation for the world I live in now and what parts of the world I am yet to experience in the future.