Jogging Haiku 45: Let's Get Philosophical

Innocent questions
Distract my mind from the pain,
Why ask why, really.

(10.7km, fairly easy pace)

For the second day of my challenge I decided to jog back from my morning class in Itami. The course is nice, with a good mix of pavement and riverside paths, a good part of which has sadly been cemented recently.

During the class the student and I started talking about sports and hobbies, asking me why I had so many activities. When asking 'why?' - and I often do when writing for Kansai Scene - people often expect an easy-to-follow and revealing answer, but often it isn't as simple as that. Here is an approximation of an answer.

To me, Life (capitalized for a reason) is about change and adaptation. Species that don't evolve and move (plants 'move' with their seeds) get swept up by new developments. And as I view my life as a microcosm of Life, I find it important to do many things, to try new experiences.

I feel human life is also about happiness. Keeping a young heart is easy when you do different things and continue learning and achieving new goals. Although I can't say that I love the cold weather, I pity those who live in the tropics where the weather is the same throughout the year; they will never experience the amazing joy of seeing the first snow of the year (and later seeing the same amazement in children's eyes), the comforting joy of drinking hot sake under a kotatsu table on a cold winter night, the liberating joy of that first spring day when you venture out the door in short sleeves and shorts with the warm sun hitting your face, or the dazzling joy of seeing beautiful colours on trees blanketing mountains. For similar reasons, I pity people who waste hours watching TV, remaining spectators of fiction instead of being actors in real Life. When I'll be on my deathbed, memories of 24 are not what I want flashing in front of eyes.

For me, I experience different joys partaking in different activities. With jogging I will always remember the moment I crossed the finish line of the first Oxfam Trailwalker Japan with Yuriko, Akemi & Carsten by my side. The Wow!-I-can-do-a-back-bridge eureka moment is what drives me to continue to play capoeira, always getting a kick when I manage to do a high parafuso, 5 or more scissor kicks while on a handstand, or a beautiful bico do papagaio, even if that's how I dislocated my shoulder two months ago. Ride 30cm+ of dry powder and you'll understand the rush I get snowboarding. And that just with physical activities. Mental activities, like photography and composing inconsequential haikus, are also part of that process.


Wondering like my student how I do it (and it's nothing special, really)? The answer is deceptively simple, so actually difficult to grasp completely: I just go out and do it. I get off the tatami mat, put my shoes (and hat when it's cold or rainy), and out the door I go, literally or figuratively. Come out play!