These days I feel my schedule being consumed by the daily tasks, things I need to do and don’t necessarily want to. Cleaning, washing, shopping… it seems like I am always washing dishes and always running out of food. I feel that I am not getting time in the day to do what I want, and so I search for the quickest and most efficient way to do these things. But that feels unsatisfying as well. It starts to make me feel like I am rushing through the day, and the feeling of rushing always drains me of my energy. The day feels like a race, like a long list of items that need to be checked off, and there remains no time to enjoy life in between. No matter how many hours there are, I can’t seem to find enough in the day.
This morning, I felt a little frustrated by this so I threw out all my plans and left the apartment early to enjoy a long walk to a shrine. As I walked out the door, I wondered to myself – how do the Japanese deal with these little things in life? Everything seems so calm and so organised here, I wonder if they also hate doing every day chores? As I walk by, I meet school students walking in the other direction as I do every morning. Usually there are people waiting on the street corners, calling out aritagogozaimasu (thank you) or ohayogozaimasu (good morning) and making sure the students cross the road safely. I find it very sweet, and a testament to how the Japanese generally like to look after their children and ensure their safety. I also pass by several immaculate gardens. The trees are neatly shaped, green, displayed in such a way that is well balanced with the neutral colours of their homes. How do they find the time to keep their houses looking so nice? I wonder to myself and continue observing what’s around me.
The last few days, how to dispose of my rubbish has been occupying my mind. Something so simple can become a bit of a challenge when you move to a different country. It made me realise that I had never seen a big communal bin in sight, like there is in France. There are also no green wheelie bins here, as in Australia. It took me a while to understand what it is that the residents here do with their garbage. But today, I noticed that for each day of the week there is a type of rubbish that is collected. Plastics and cardboard are washed and neatly tied up in plastic bags, general waste is collected on a different day, and never spilling out onto the street. The bags are placed in netted sacks or baskets, green and yellow, left by the roadside for the rubbish truck to pick up during the day. I start to realise why the streets are so clean here… even the trash does not look dirty.
But how? There are so many things to do to keep even a little apartment like mine tidy, how do they do it? As I continued to walk it struck me that everything here is done with a purpose. The people out on the street standing and waiting there, engaged in a seemingly useless task, is actually something which has a lot of meaning behind it: looking after the next generation. Shaping their trees into little green bulbs of leaves, ensuring that the soil remains in the pot and not all over the floor. This is not just about keeping visual harmony but it is also about the joy and relaxation involved in looking after a garden, the beauty of watching your plants grow. Ensuring that your rubbish is tidy and organised not only keeps the environment clean, but also makes the job generally more pleasant for the rubbish truck drivers.
I realise that this is all very similar to the way in which a meal is prepared here as well. Each little dish and bowl has a purpose, and the time allotted to preparing each dish is important too. It’s not only the outcome that’s considered, it’s the process as well. Zen seems to be something that is weaved deep within the culture here, with or without the conscious awareness of the Japanese. Sorting and taking out the garbage every day has just as much potential for bringing about calmness as a beautiful tea ceremony does, at least that’s what I have observed. And I think it’s wonderful. It strikes me that perhaps my daily chores don’t need to be draining my energy. They are, after all, meaningful ways in which I take care of my own life and the life of others around me too. When I am able to see from this new perspective, I feel my day opening up a little. I breathe in a bit deeper… there is plenty of time for everything.
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