I.D.
Happy new year.
2006 has begun.
The end of last year saw the publication of my first essay collection, “I.D. ”. I’ve been delighted to read letter after letter of your impressions of this book. I’d like to thank everyone for kindly taking time to read it. Essays that have appeared on this home page as well as new material fill the space between this volume’s covers. Since my younger years I’ve loved reading, and as someone who also loves to write, authoring a book was one of my dreams. I’m overjoyed to be able to make that dream real.
This home page’s very nature means it’s available from anywhere in the world. Every day brings people from all walks of life to this site—men and women, adults and children, friends and strangers. Words hold tremendous power, and so when I compose an essay for this site, I always choose my words as I consider the untold masses whose gaze will fall on my writing. My intent was to write what I want to simply and precisely within the bounds of this personal rule, but at times I’ve been forced to suppress my desire to voice more of my inner thoughts.
But when I turned my pen to this essay collection, I devoted myself to setting this rule aside and taking a frank look at myself and the facts as I wrote. So while the contents turned out quite personal, for me this has been a welcome opportunity to retrace my footprints up to the present.
At a glance my line of work may seem showy and exceptional to others, but just like anyone else I go through cycles of highs and lows in my life, and I imagine my daily thoughts are filled with feelings that are foreign to no one. I fall in love and feel ashamed, make bold moves and lose heart, find success and make mistakes. I hope that by honestly writing out both the good and the bad, those who read it will smile or feel a twinge in their hearts as they slip into the story and draw parallels to their own lives. Whether the readers’ feelings match or are unlike mine makes no difference to me. Besides, I believe essays are fascinating because they allow the reader to share the experiences and emotions of the author, find things that are similar and dissimilar to herself, and through that come to a new realization of what she likes and dislikes.
And in the midst of reading the work of someone whom you expect has a totally different life and philosophy, when you find something that resembles or overlaps with yourself, for some reason it seems to renew your courage. For me, this is an essay’s greatest appeal. I think it would be fantastic for my book to gain that status with someone else.
I put everything I had into crafting a book that both those who know me well and those who don’t would find pleasure in reading.
I’m so very grateful for my staff, who worked with me cheerfully and listened to my many troublesome requests. Thanks to their work it turned out as a superbly warm, adorable book.
It’s something I truly prize.
maaya