Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Summer · Jul 2026
The hubs bought me a new MacBook Neo in June, ahead of my five-day silent retreat in Chiangmai. In the midst of an intensive job search, we thought it would be prudent to travel with a proper laptop instead of an iPad. That decision ended up being the best decision of 2026 (thus far).
A month later, we were in Hokkaido for a milestone birthday trip when an email arrived notifying me of a job interview — along with a 1,000-word essay due in three days.
The hotel room where I slogged over the essay.
So I spent the next three nights in Sapporo slogging over the essay, while everyone else was presumably enjoying the holiday. And I was very thankful for my foresight — and the hubs’ agreement — to bring along the Macbook because I cannot imagine writing this essay on a smaller gadget.
We had an uneasy few days in Sapporo as a result of this assignment. How to answer the question intelligently and thoughtfully was almost always at the back of my mind, taking up more mental space than I would have liked. The hubs had to remind me to enjoy myself. I suppose I did eventually, having ended up adding almost ten pieces of apparel to my wardrobe.
The hubs was not spared either. He had to listen to me read and re-read every paragraph aloud, again and again, after every edit, all while trying to figure out how we were going to pack our very much expanded belongings — and the Royce chocolates. I suspect he knew almost as much about the essay by the time I submitted it as I did.
At that point, the business was still operating. I wasn’t officially looking at the great unemployed abyss yet. But I knew its end was coming end of August, and here I was, in Japan, suddenly writing my way into whatever might come next. On hindsight, could I have asked for a slight postponement to the submission date? Absolutely. I just didn’t feel like doing so.
Prior to the interview a week or so later, the hubs had reminded me not to stress too much about finding a job. He earns enough for the both of us and didn’t need my income, just the opportunity for me to get out of the house, he said. It reminded me rather inexplicably of Pursuit of Jade, where Changyu tells her injured husband that if he stays, she can simply slaughter pigs to feed him. I suppose this was the modern version: no pigs required, just a husband who was quite prepared to keep the household going while I figured out what came next.
As it turned out, I didn’t have to figure out what came next for very long.
The offer came.
And so, on our 22nd wedding anniversary, I find myself thinking about how often the hubs has given me the freedom to step into uncertainty — simply because he knew that being happier mattered.
Happy anniversary, hubs. ❤️
