Daruma

"Facebook tells me that five years ago today I posted the picture on the left, which I took at the Wisconsin State Fair just after we moved to Madison. At the time, we were feeling a little like the guy in the photo (i.e., a lot was up in the air and we were experiencing deep-fried butter on sticks for the first time). Fast forward five years and we are suddenly making our way in a new place once again. Yesterday afternoon we filled in the eye of Sofia's Daruma doll from Nancy E.  Daruma dolls have a round bottom, so if you tip them over, they come back up, symbolizing resistance, resilience, recovery, and the proverb "Nanakorobi Yaoki" (fall seven times, get up eight"). Our goals for the coming months are pretty simple, so we look forward to filling in our Daruma's other eyeball and in the meantime he will remind us of our tasks - keep both eyes open to the new, the different, the frightening, the exciting, and don't let anything keep you down!" -Aria