I'm Shohei.
Now and then someone asks how I write that in kanji, and I used to struggle to explain. I would settle for, “It's the 尚 from a temple priest—oshō.” Plenty of people did not nod along. Worse, the character felt nothing like me. I looked so sheepish that the other person got stuck too.
Much later I started answering, “It's the 尚 of nao—still more, and even so.” Whether that lands is even more doubtful. Still, I felt it held a little of my stubborn streak, the part of me that does not let go. At least more than the priest.
What I write here is a string of very personal things from that person.
