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‘You have to do it properly or else all the trouble you’ve gone to this far will be wasted.’
One thing I can do in Tenshoen is sniff the wind and listen to the murmur of the trees. I pay attention to the language of things in this world that don’t use words. That’s what I call Listening, and I’ve been doing it for sixty years now.
It’s my belief that everything in this world has its own language. We have the ability to open up our ears and minds to anything and everything. That could be someone walking down the street, or it could be the sunshine or the wind.
People’s lives never stay the same colour forever. There are times when the colour of life changes completely.
believe that human beings are living creatures with this capability. When I Listened, I sometimes heard things.
From then on I began to see everything differently. If I were not here, this full moon would not be here. Neither would the trees. Or the wind. If my view of the world disappears, then everything that I see disappears too. It’s as simple as that.
I began to understand that we were born in order to see and listen to the world. And that’s all this world wants of us. It doesn’t matter that I was never a teacher or a member of the workforce, my life had meaning.
I can say that I know with certainty that life does have meaning. Of course, knowing that doesn’t mean that all our problems are suddenly solved, and sometimes simply getting on with life feels like a never-ending ordeal.
All experience adds up to a life lived as only you could. I feel sure the day will come when you can say: this is my life.
You may never become a writer or a master dorayaki cook, but I do believe there will be a time when you can stand tall as yourself in your own unique way.
If all you ever see is reality, you just want to die. The only way to get over barriers, she said, is to live in the spirit of already being over them.’
Anyone is capable of making a positive contribution to the world through simple observation, irrespective of circumstance.
