Last week, another family member received his advanced degree, welcoming him into the groves of Academe. My grandson, Arden Taylor, received his Master’s degree in Classical Japanese. One of those high-paying, in-demand, hot specialties sure to guarantee that he’ll be driving his Maserati to the bank when cashing his 6-figure payroll checks. (Things could be dimmer though, financially speaking. His second choice was to be a haiku poet.)

Among other major developments in his life, Arden is currently prepping to begin work on his Ph.D, and will spend another year of intensive study in Japan. If, like me, you have no idea what classical Japanese is, think Latin. Like his Great Uncle Leo – a Latin teacher – Arden is a scholar of a language which is no longer in actual use.

Classical Japanese is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard till about 1926 when novelists started writing in a spoken form of the language. It seems to me that the novelists in Japan did to the classical Japanese language the same thing Ernest Hemingway did to the English language. They pared it down to be friendlier, less flowery, and easier to read, and the rest, as they say, is history. (In movies and theater, Akira Kurosawa must have played a bit of an influencing role, too). Nonetheless, classical Japanese is still taught in Japanese high schools and universities because of its importance in traditional Japanese literature. And therein lies Arden’s interest and his chosen “life’s work”.

I’m always interested in the choices we make in our “life’s work”. In today’s world, it’s an ever-changing role. During the ten years I was pregnant, it seemed to me that the one I was stuck with could be called the practice of Excessive Fertility. Husband Gene and I managed to produce a whole houseful of little persons who required intense manual labor and economic poverty. Oddly, though, I have since had experience in the practice (and improved remuneration) of other “life’s work”, but it turned out that the results of that original one inflicted on me during my twenties is the one I most treasure and appreciate today.

And so it will probably be with Arden and all the rest of my grandchildren. The nuclear age they live in will encourage and reward those who don’t fear change. I am exceedingly proud of Arden and the depth and maturity of his choice of “life’s work”. And while he’ll probably never take any intense interest in more lucrative vocations such as rocket science or in managing a hedge fund, his interests and talents may evolve in other interesting tangents.

When it comes to vocation, what matters is if we can find that “sweet spot” – the work we love. Whoever said “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life!” got it right!

Arden’s family – his sibling Corr, and his parents Judy and Gary Taylor – make up a family of extraordinary talents. My daughter Judy, as a example, is an award-winning writer and an international authority on Nantucket rug hooking. Among the treasures she has produced is the rug shown here. It bears a quote by Thomas Carlyle which reads
“Blessed is he who has found his work;
Let him ask no other blessedness”.

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So I guess Arden came by his choice naturally. And we certainly saw his interest at an early age. Check out this video of when he was 13 months old. (We called him Gwendolyn in those days). I like to think he was trying to teach himself the ancient art of proper Asian tea serving. And he wasn’t about to give up easily. . . .

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Fast forward a few years, and here’s his faculty advisor at the University of Washington describing the text of Arden’s thesis regarding “The Tale of the Heike” (pronounced “hay-kay”). The professor’s description begins about 3 minutes in from the start of the video.

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And here’s a dramatization of “Nasu-no-yoichi”  (“The Fan Target”) which Arden said is one of the most popular episodes of the tale.

So, okay, Arden, your subject matter may never go viral on YouTube, but then again, neither will these blobs. I keep posting them anyway because – what the heck – somebody’s gotta do it! Keep the faith, and carry on, child! And write if you get work!