The Gifts of Daily Life
I set my wandering shoes aside for longer than I had planned.
Sometimes life demands a sacrifice.
Some days it feels like payment for all the many things I’ve asked for.
Other days it feels like punishment for all the time I wasted, all the insecurity I let slow me down, all the times I failed to let my heart guide me.
All I know for certain is that it is out of love.
No matter how far we stray... The path that calls us may change based on our decisions, but there is always a path of the heart that is open to us.
I asked to be carved and so life does the carving.
Every thought, every wish, every utterance, those made in joy, in hesitation, in haste, in anger, those I am proud of and those I am ashamed of…
…if each is a prayer, then all my prayers have been answered.
Now I pray for a clear heart and the power to bring more joy into the world, to clear a path for myself and all those who wish to walk down it, to clear that path on my own and with others, whatever the moment demands.
These past two weeks have been full of tiny treasures, hidden, as if waiting all along for the right moment to be discovered.
It would take a dozen books and a hundred songs to express all the precious things I’ve felt in such a short period of time. Not all were pretty but each was needed.
A festival.
The voices on the stage like playful angels and devils on my shoulders, none of them meaning any harm, just gently inviting me to join in and start sculpting away at life with them. All these players on the stage, as well as those behind the stage; those dancing in front of the stage.
Bar and stage designs that made me believe once again that anything is possible when you have a vision and put in the work.
Favorite artists watching other favorite artists from the crowd, not a pyramid, a circle.
A friend surprising me as I arrived, dragging me into the crowd to dance, reminding me of all the love hiding beneath the surface of the daily life.
And then that guitar solo that reverberated through the stadium and ripped open the sky!
A hot bath after a long day.
The strange and uncomfortable charm of Nishinari.
The smiles of old friends I wish I could see more often.
The sound of rocks on rocks in the water in the mountains of Kyoto.
Music born straight from the elements and the clapping of hands.
New friends.
Weeping on the Shinkansen to a Chilean folk song, the tears and joy of Pachamama. Your voice speeds across the land, even on this side of the world, at 285 km/h.
These are only a few drops of magic that come to mind.
The gifts that three cities imparted are too many, I’ve only started unwrapping them.
I will do my best to be worthy of them and to share them with friends and strangers in Tokyo and everywhere I go.
Onward!
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The beauty in life is found in what we observe. Your snapshots show just that, and little more. Writing about being happy, fulfilled and inspired is hard - but you've done it here so well.
It's funny, I was all ready to go to sleep but this song on repeat in my head just filled me with so much joy and pain and gratitude that I had to write something.
I am about to head that way myself in a few moments, to sleep, that is :) I'm glad your wrote it :) The post, that is. I'm tired, forgive my lack of clarity :D
That's the thing with life, good days and bad days, i really understand the whole sometimes it feels like punishment for insecurities. There are things I overlooked thinking it won't come back to worry me but there's almost always a day it all comes back 😂 life is lifing 😂
You write well about your experiences even when it hasn't been fully processed yet! I think our hearts will always guide us towards a path that's meant for us to walk and holds no grudges when we ignore it through the act of free will. Nowadays, I see life more as an open world adventure that could always go either way :)
Matsuri! !wine :DD