What is the connection between artistic expression and the joy of living? How can one best live a literary life? This book is a collection of small word-projects. Each examines a book, a moment, a story that helps to deepen the author's literary adv...
December 3, 2023. The day is cloudy. But I continue my walking project by trekking to Nagayo. This beautiful countryside: it teaches me to just be. The green mountains, the cool air. Perhaps one day, I'll put a little Ghibli music on my MP3 player and just "go" to some little place. Somewhere I have never been before. It's been a while since I've done any hiking trails. It's been a while since I've explored someplace new. Quietly, casually beautiful Nagayo tells me I'm on the right track.
I remember reading "Red Dwarf." That dark humor and satire. That was about a year ago.
The best elements of the novel "Red Dwarf" are the humor, the characters, and the sci-fi setting. Who hasn't had a boss like Arnold Rimmer – some crazy buffoon who won't let you be, some micro-managing, all-too-serious type...who then eventually becomes some haunting hologram that follows you around forever.
What a book! What a find! I was transported back to that humorous mindset of my middle school and high school years. Why not read more Vonnegut? Why not read more Douglas Adams? Why not get back to that essential version of myself who loves to laugh and think at the same time?
Writing comes down to "time and experience." My lack of story-telling comes down to my habits of sticking with the familiar. I need to taste the rich pallet of life. And when that rich pallet has built up inside of me, I will again rise like a phoenix.
The walk through "downtown" Nagayo reminds me how much I like small town living. "Goooood Coffee" is exactly the kind of place I can whittle down my middle age years.
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The falling brown leaves connect me to a different time. The year is 2017 – when I was living in Sendai. I would walk to Izumi Chuo. There was a little bread shop I enjoyed. It gave me the Ghibli feeling of warmth. There is something about Nagayo that gives me a similar feeling. I could live out a few of my best years here. And those years would be filled with walking.
Like water dripping into a bathtub, I keep working on my projects. I'm going to start by picking up some easy victories...perhaps some short writing. But, for now, I'm walking. I'm walking up the Nakaojo Park tower. I will take some pictures...I will think about life...
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At 5:17, I have a mini-regret. I regret not starting today earlier. My hour walk to Nakaojo Park made me realize – everything I really want in life takes longer than I would like. Coming back to Nagasaki – I was 39. 13 years after I left. It makes me wonder, how many things have I been waiting too long to do?
