Reading Notes

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Reading Notes 2026-08-29

Reading Notes: Quotes & Practices

Quotes drawn from the books featured in the Reading Notes, grouped under Calm the Mind, Nourish the Body, Mone

Reading Notes / Money & Freedom 2026-08-30

What "Getting On Happily and Skillfully with Money" Taught Me About Letting Go of Money Worries

Reading Kobayashi Seikan's Getting On Happily and Skillfully with Money at 66, and the practices it led me to

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-28

What "On Death and Dying" Taught Me About Meeting Mortality Quietly at 66

Reading Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Death and Dying at 66, and the practices it led me to — noticing the uncons

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-08-27

What a Japanese Bestseller on Eating Less After 50 Taught Me About Living Well in My Sixties

Reading Hideo Makiuchi's practical guide to eating less and living longer after fifty (Kodansha+α Shinsho) at

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-26

What a Japanese Scholar's Book on Enjoying Life After 60 Taught Me About Training Memory and Words

Reading Shoichi Watanabe's book on enjoying life after 60, written when he was 81, and the practices it led me

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-25

What "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages" Taught Me About Living With Change After 60

Reading Leo Buscaglia's The Fall of Freddie the Leaf at 66, and the practices it led me to — accepting that no

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-23

What "Aequanimitas" Taught Me About Living in Day-Tight Compartments

A personal record of what I actually started doing after reading four addresses from William Osler's Aequanimi

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-22

What "What Is History?" Taught Me About Becoming My Own Historian

Reading E. H. Carr's What Is History? and the practices it led me to as I try to become my own historian — wri

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-21

What Alain's "On Happiness" Taught Me About Building My Own Happiness at 66

Reading Alain's On Happiness at 66, and the practices it led me to — treating mood as a matter of the body and

Reading Notes / UK Life 2026-08-17

I Turned Thirty-Five Years in Britain Into a Novel

At 29 I moved to London and spent 35 years in sushi — apprentice, factory manager, global consultant, then a s

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-12

What "The Power of a 90-Year-Old" Taught Me About Living With My Own Scars

Reading Shigehiko Toyama's The Power of a 90-Year-Old at 66, and the practices it led me to — seeing my own re

Reading Notes / Money & Freedom 2026-08-11

What "Ende's Legacy" Taught Me About Rethinking Money and Time After 60

Reading Ende's Legacy: Questioning Money at Its Root at 66, and the practices it led me to — pausing before in

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-10

What "Momo" Taught Me About Taking Back My Own Time

Reading Michael Ende's Momo at 66, and the practices it led me to — planning by the next step rather than the

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-09

What "The Essential Drucker" Taught Me About Practicing Change After 60

Reading Peter Drucker's The Essential Drucker at 66, and the practices it led me to — questioning myself at th

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-07

What Fumiko Hayashi's "Hōrōki" (Diary of a Vagabond) Taught Me About Living Today

Reading Fumiko Hayashi's Hōrōki at 66, and the practices it led me to — living through today alone, savouring

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-05

What "Heal Your Wounds and Find Your True Self" Taught Me About Setting Down My Masks at 66

Reading Lise Bourbeau's Heal Your Wounds and Find Your True Self at 66, and the practices it led me to — waiti

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-08-03

What "An Illustrated Guide to Kampo" Taught Me About Reading My Body's Messages

Reading Zhou Chuncai's An Illustrated Guide to Kampo at 66, and the practices it led me to — feeling yin and y

Reading Notes / Relationships 2026-08-03

What "Gift from the Sea" Taught Me About Living Quietly Full

Reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea at 66, and the practices it led me to — not holding onto too

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-08-02

What "Euthanasia and Dignified Death" Taught Me About Living Fully

Reading Masayasu Hosaka's Euthanasia and Dignified Death at 66, and the practices it led me to — learning to e

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-08-01

What "Dramatically Effective Kampo Medicine" Taught Me About Reading Myself, Not Just My Symptoms

Reading Dr. Fusako Masuda's Dramatically Effective Kampo Medicine at 66, and the practices it led me to — read

Reading Notes / Money & Freedom 2026-07-31

What "One Win, Nine Losses" Taught Me About Failing Forward

Reading Tadashi Yanai's One Win, Nine Losses at 66, and the practices it led me to — accepting that one win ou

Reading Notes / Money & Freedom 2026-07-30

What Honda Seiroku's "Life and Fortune" Taught Me About Turning Effort Into Happiness

Reading Honda Seiroku's Life and Fortune at 66, and the practices it led me to — translating the quarter-savin

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-29

What "Dynamic Equilibrium" Taught Me About Living as a Flow

Reading Shin-ichi Fukuoka's Dynamic Equilibrium: Why Does Life Reside There? at 66, and the practices it led m

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-07-27

I Wrote a Book About My Cataract Surgery — "Cataract Surgery-A Memoir: Double cataract surgery in Osaka, Japan"

A year around the cataract surgery I had on both eyes at 66, now published on Kindle as Cataract Surgery-A Mem

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-27

What "The Island That Has Nothing, Yet Is Rich" Taught Me About Living With Enough

Reading Katsuhiko Sakiyama's The Island That Has Nothing, Yet Is Rich at 66, and the practices it led me to —

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-25

What "In the Autumn of Life" Taught Me About Growing Older on Purpose

Reading Hermann Heuvers' In the Autumn of Life at 66, and the practices it led me to — keeping a record of fai

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-21

What Marcus Aurelius' Meditations Taught Me About Enjoying the Years After Retirement

Reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations at 66, and the practices it led me to — preparing my mind before meeting

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Reading Notes / Relationships 2026-07-20

What "Laughing, Then Turning Serious" Taught Me About Living by What Life Asks of Me

Reading Kobayashi Seikan's Laughing, Then Turning Serious (Lecture Recordings on Laughter, Vol. 1) at 66, and

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-14

What "From East to West" Taught Me About Receiving Each Day With Empty Hands

Reading Hiromu Murai's From East to West at 66, and the small practices it led me to — trusting what holds me

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Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-14

What Uesaka Fuyuko's Oi no Shūhen Taught Me About Living Alongside Growing Old

Reading Uesaka Fuyuko's essay collection Oi no Shūhen at 66, and what I've started doing about living alongsid

Reading Notes / Calm the Mind 2026-07-14

What Seneca's On the Shortness of Life Taught Me About Time

Reading Seneca's On the Shortness of Life at 66, and what I've actually started doing about how I spend my tim

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-07-14

What "The Healing Heart" Taught Me About Starting Fresh After 60

Reading Norman Cousins' The Healing Heart at 66, and what I've actually started doing because of it — not bein

Reading Notes / Nourish the Body 2026-07-12

What "Anatomy of an Illness" Taught Me About Living Well After 60

Rereading Norman Cousins' Anatomy of an Illness at 66, and what I've actually started doing in daily life beca