My story took shape on the high plains of central Wyoming, a landscape famous for its desolate expanses, fierce winds, and conservative culture. From early on I felt more outside than in, and books were the way out. Stories of the fearless, independent pioneer women who had walked the same rugged ground delighted me, as did stories from much farther away. Bedside, I kept paper folded maps of the world and studied them constantly.
A Japanese aunt living across the country sparked my interest in Asia early on, and thanks to her I started reading stories about and by women in Japan and the lands they walked. I left Wyoming for college with a year of Japanese behind me, another rare and lucky encounter, and went straight into Japanese and Asian history, literature, philosophy, politics, and religion. Appetite kept me there as much as aptitude. Oh, the pleasure of not understanding something yet!
I went into religious studies because the gap between religious texts, with their lofty ideals, and the messy realities of how people actually live was too intriguing to leave alone. The environment and gender were my angles of approach, and the path since, shaped by those early encounters and nurtured by a series of especially fine mentors, has led me through an array of spaces.