After over a month of travelling, I'm back home in Japan. It's funny how time off changes one's perspective. When I'm taking life seriously, I feel small. When I'm living it whimsically, I feel big. To explain, the houses in my neighborhood are small and rather flimsy -- nothing to devote much respect to. However, I became obsessed with owning one and bought into their exorbitant prices, accepting them as reasonable.
It's funny how culture can consume us, even when we're unwilling. Ironically, I'm cheap as they come with daily purchases. Generic this, off-brand that. Weeks on end of sack lunches (
bentos, as they're called here) with little more than a few store-bought beers in the way of disposable income expended. But the biggest expenditure of all -- a house -- was something that I was willing to take-on. Sure glad I didn't. My time away from home gave me the vision to be able to see that. The culturally contrived image of a domicile (my very own!) -- and all the positive emotional connotations that come with that purchase -- consumed me a bit. I'm human. What can I say?
But now I'm back here, a renter, and never happier. I do owe some money each month to someone I don't know and have never met. Though, I'm not anchored to the earth like so many others. I, and my family, are still free to dream about the unknown future, free to wonder what this odd incarnation will one-day bring.
Support:
AJ Snook's Amazon Author Page
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks
No comments:
Post a Comment