旅 (Tabi)

人生の毎日が旅。

Every day of life is a journey.

This is a realization I came to while exploring Alligator River Wild Life National Refuge with my dear Andrew and one of his good friends.  I stopped to take a photograph for the first time in a long time.  I saw something that caught my thoughts… Beauty.  I enjoyed the scene for several moments, lingering in it.  That’s when I thought the words “人生の毎日が旅。”

“What are you thinking?”  Andrew can see the thoughts move in my head like gears of a clock.

“Every day of life is a journey…  Journey?  Is that the right word?”

As I began to define the word tabi to him in English, we came to realize that “journey” was indeed the exact translation of the word, but it still didn’t mean the same thing.  It took a while to figure out what the difference was.

“I think it’s cultural,” I told him.  “When you say in English, let’s go on a journey, you never leave your sentence just at that.  It’s always, let’s go on a journey to such-and-such a place.  In Japanese, we can simply say, 旅しよう。(Literally, let’s do a journey) and it is understood that your are journeying to enjoy the adventure set before you.  It is not directionless.  It’s direction is to enjoy the moments and the surprise of a wonderful destination.

人生の毎日が旅。

Every day of life is a 旅。

Japan

“So what’s Japan like?” I looked up at the curious college student sitting across from me.  She may only speak English as of now, but she sure didn’t want to stay that way- and she sure had a curiosity for my home country.

I laughed.  “Japan… Japan is beautiful.”

My thoughts were abruptly diverted to the eastern part of the world at 4 am on March 11th.  That was a rough morning- a rough month or three actually.  My thoughts weren’t really with me anymore much less my emotions.  Up to that point I had forgotten though… Japan is beautiful and I had forgotten.  There’s only so much beauty communicated by a picture of a woman.  Being with her is what blows people away.

Then I went home.  Summer was one of the most beautiful summers of my life.  Why?  Japan is beautiful.  Japan is beautiful and much like when you leave a beautiful person behind with a semblance of their appearance in your wallet and come back to her months later only to realize she was even more beautiful then you ever bothered to remember, Japan stunned me again.

It leaves me praying.  It leaves me praying for my beautiful home, a hypnotized slave to darkness, to come to life- real life.  You know that scene in Taken when the dad finally embraces his daughter after fighting for her with absolutely everything he is?  I’m praying for that moment… and that fighting spirit- well, few have it.  Few persist.  That’s why I have to.  No matter how many oceans apart I am from her, I need to fight on my knees for her- cuz if I don’t, days pass- and she’ll be gone.