Hello, my name is Eliza.

I am a Japanese Hoosier living in Houston with my best friends Beau, a Basset Hound - Australian Shepherd mix and Laila, a Boxer-mix. I have a loving husband with me here, the cutest little boy, a supportive brother living in New York City, and an inspiring and free-spirited mother and a kind-hearted dad in Indiana.

I was born in Nagoya, Japan, and lived in Miyazaki (splitting my education time between the US and Japan) until I was 10 years old, when I moved to Muncie, Indiana. I graduated as part of the IU Hoosier Class of 2013 with a degree in Accounting and International Business, with a minor in Japanese, and have been living in Houston, TX ever since.

I've lived in more houses than the years I have been on this earth, and so "home" has never been a physical place for me. With family all over the globe, "home" to me is a feeling associated with people, not a physical structure. Home is the wind on my face while I sit on my family's boat on Lake Tippecanoe in Indiana. Home is the birds chirping while Peter and I nap in a hammock in Central Park in NYC. Home is seeing the Scottish Highlands and feeling the warm tears fall down my cheeks while I don't fully understand why. Home is biting into my dad's yakisoba, bringing me back to street festivals in Japan. Home is the way my heart feels as I lay in savasana, sweat dripping off my hard-worked body. Home is hearing the laugh of my son and seeing his face light up as the sight of me.

For a long time, not having a physical, permanent, concrete, home led me to feel displaced and lost. I was always chasing that one answer that would solve everything and make sense of my world, and therefore make everything all right. At that time in my life, that one answer meant a permanent home, a permanent sense of belonging. In my state of disconnect and search for answers, I struggled in my personal relationships; I struggled to find my voice within myself, with others, and I struggled in my relationship with food. I was on the obsessive search for having it all figured out.  This destructive path I was on for many years had the potential to lead me in many different directions (both good and bad). Luckily, it led me to my practice of yoga.

In my yoga practice, I truly experienced that "home" is a direct result of intentional space that is carved out for connection — with others and myself. This blog is an extension of that space. 

Through yoga, I learned that I will never have all the answers--and that's okay! We all have obstacles, questions, insecurities, and baggage. It is our duty to pick those up, claim them (while not being defined by them), and live our lives. So that is what I’m doing--living my life to the fullest, while staying open to the possibilities that the universe has for me. And that’s why I’ve created this blog.

The question “why” has always been a roadblock for me. When I didn’t have an answer to any question that began with “why,” I would abandon it completely and run away. The reality that I did not have the answer – or that there simply was no answer – frightened me, overwhelmed me, stunted me. I was an all or nothing kinda gal.

Now I know that “why” is the doorway to all possibilities that the universe has to offer – and that’s a lot. Instead of fearing that expansive space, I choose trust. Instead of being overwhelmed, I choose to be hopeful. Instead of resolving to stay stunted, I choose faith. I choose to be. This blog is a space for me to discover and venture through the unknown, and I invite you to take that journey with me. That means feeling everything – the good and the bad. Together, through connection, collaboration, listening, and sharing, we will navigate through these questions. There is no expectation. There is no “should” or “need to.” This blog, like life, is an active discovery.