About These Posts

Each day I add a new journal entry to my social media feeds. Here, I take that day’s entry and expand it through the lens of my Good Life Creed, which you can read about in my book Going Alone (available for free on this website). These dissections aim to connect ordinary reflections with the enduring objectives and principles of the Creed.

Journal Entry (10/29/25)

Receiving my new Japanese driver’s license yesterday wasn’t just another bit of paperwork—it was the last step in settling back into life here. I didn’t expect it to feel like much, but as I walked out of the licensing center, it hit me that our twelve-year round trip to America was finally complete.

When I left Japan alone in 2014, it felt like a one-way trip. I was determined to make a new life and never look back. But somehow, we made it back. We managed, we rebuilt, and now here we are again.

Holding that small card in my hand, I felt a quiet sense of relief and gratitude that the long journey out and back is finally done.

Dissection

This reflection captures a moment of return—not just to a place, but to a state of being. A chapter that began with departure ends here with arrival, and within that circle lies the quiet rhythm of time, adventure, and homecoming.

#Time (Objective: Make Good and Effective Use of Time and Resources)

The years between leaving and returning measure more than distance—they chart the full use of a life’s resources in pursuit of growth, survival, and meaning. The license is only a symbol, but time itself is the true currency spent and redeemed.

#Adventure (Principle of the Great Life Adventure)

Every departure begins with uncertainty. To leave, to rebuild, and to return is to complete the archetypal journey—the outward venture into the unknown and the inward journey of rediscovery. Adventure ends not in triumph, but in understanding.

#Home (Principle of Family / The Social Principle)

Homecoming is more than arrival—it’s the rediscovery of belonging. This principle honors the human need for connection and shared purpose, the steady hands that help rebuild a life, and the quiet gratitude that marks its completion.

Takeaway

Some circles take years to close. The road out and back may test our strength, but it also affirms it. When the journey finally folds in on itself, what remains is not the motion, but the meaning carried home.

#RetiringInJapan 🇯🇵 #GoingAlone 🌵 #Time #Adventure #Home