Between Homes

Where does your mind live?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be "Between Homes."

Not simply between one physical house and another, but between the many “homes” we inhabit throughout our lives.

There is the physical home—the architecture, landscape, objects, light, sounds, and spaces that surround us.

There is the internal home—our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, memories, expectations, and the stories we tell ourselves.

There is the home of the past, where memory lives.The home of the future, where possibility and worry live.And then there is the present—the only place where life is actually happening.

We also move between our personal, professional, and community homes. We become parents, partners, leaders, colleagues, friends, neighbors. Each role asks something different of us.

And there are other homes we may not recognize as homes at all: certainty and uncertainty, belonging and independence, success and identity, who we were and who we are becoming.

No wonder we sometimes feel unsettled.

We are constantly moving between them.

What our physical homes teach us

Neuroarchitecture helps explain something we intuitively understand: our environment affects our nervous system and our capacity to think, feel, and function.

The quality of light. The presence of nature. The arrangement of space. Sound. Materials. Views. Order and complexity. A sense of refuge.

Our surroundings can either demand our attention or help settle it.

This is part of what makes the Kominka so meaningful to me.

The Kominka is not simply an old Japanese house relocated to Oregon. It is an environment shaped by generations of Japanese living around simplicity, connection with nature, sensory awareness, and intentional use of space.

But there is another layer.

The most important architecture is internal.

Zen teaches us that suffering often increases when we become entangled with what the mind is producing—our judgments, attachments, resistance, and stories about how things should be.

Modern neuroscience gives us another language for understanding this experience.

The mind naturally wanders. It revisits the past, rehearses the future, evaluates ourselves and others, and constructs stories about what is happening.

The problem is when we forget that the mind is doing it.

This is where the Kominka Method™ begins.

Notice. Allow. Discern. Align.

Notice where your attention has gone.

Allow what is here without immediately fighting it or becoming consumed by it.

Discern what is actually happening from what your mind is adding to the situation.

Then align your attention and action with what truly matters.

Being present does not mean stop thinking.

It does not mean ignoring the past or abandoning the future.

It means being able to recognize that the mind can move through time while we remain grounded in what is happening now.

The past can be remembered without being relived. The future can be planned without being consumed by it. Our roles can be fulfilled without allowing the mind to confuse role with identity. 

Preserving Homes, Cultivating Presence

Perhaps we all move between homes at different moments in our daily lives.

The question is not simply where we are, but how fully we inhabit where we are—both around us and within us.

Neuroarchitecture teaches us that a thoughtfully designed environment supports the mind. Zen teaches us that a well-understood mind allows us to be fully present, right where we are.

When we preserve places that invite presence, such as Kominka, we preserve more than architecture. We preserve the possibility of a different way of living—a way of living that allows us to experience a deeper sense of connection, meaning, and fulfillment.

In the end, by preserving such homes, we are not only protecting the structures themselves. We are preserving the wisdom they carry—the wisdom of how to live with greater harmony, awareness, and intention.

We may change houses. We may change careers. Our families change. Our communities change. Our identities evolve.

But there is one home we carry everywhere: our attention.

What would it feel like to actually live there?

Between Homes: A Conversation Across Communities

The conversation about “home” continues beyond the walls of a single Kominka.

This season, Kominka Collective is traveling from Enterprise, Oregon, to communities throughout the Pacific Northwest—including Portland, Olympia, Seattle, and Port Townsend—to share the story of Kominka preservation, the craftsmanship and wisdom embedded in these traditional Japanese homes, and the importance of carrying this heritage forward.

Through these presentations, Kominka Collective will explore how preserving physical homes also preserves cultural memory, connection, and a way of living that remains meaningful today.

I will be joining the conversation by sharing the perspective of the Kominka Method™—how the environments we inhabit influence our minds, and how cultivating awareness allows us to reconnect with the places, people, and moments that shape our lives.

Together, we invite you to explore what it means to be Between Homes—between past and future, tradition and innovation, physical spaces and the inner landscape we carry with us.

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, August 4 | Enterprise, Oregon

Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, 12:00–1:00 PM, followed by a Kominka Open House until 7:00 PM with complimentary Japanese tea ceremonies.

If you are not able to make it for the presentation but would like to come for the open house, please email me (kiyomi@kiyomikoike.com). I'll send you the directions with a map.

Friday, August 7 | Portland, Oregon

Architectural Heritage Center, 6:00–8:00 PM

Saturday, August 8 | Portland, Oregon

Portland Japanese Garden , 1:15–2:15 PM

Tuesday, August 11 | Seattle, Washington

Seattle Architecture Foundation, 5:00–7:30 PM

Thursday, August 13 | Olympia, Washington

AIA/SWW Monthly Design Parti, 5:00–7:00 PM

Saturday, August 15 | Port Townsend, Washington

Japanese Woodworking Festival, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM