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let go and everything made sense.
Moments like this was a rare gem.
A glistening light to remind me. But not only are there moments of realization
of what it means to live, there are people who I meet along the way and
find within them, a kindred spirit, a friendship that didn't need to be
spoken of but existed for their beauty like a passing cloud.
There is a picture, a memory captured
on paper that is my reminder of how to live. A Japanese woman in an old
kimono playing an instrument, her eyes shut and her body swaying to the
music she made. Later she sang and then got up and dance to no music that
could be heard except in her own head. She became a bird flying with untame
abandonment. She flung her arms towards the sky, the sleaves from her
kimono flapping against the wind, she flew.
How could a freespirit woman exist
in an obsessive compulsive hard-driven, hard-living neurotic city like
Tokyo I wondered? From an Japanese interpreter, I asked who is she and
why is she
dancing.
She's a housewife, a mother and
a teacher with a childhood dream being realized, my interpreter translated.
She once dreamt about pursuing a career as a dancer, but life does not
always go according to plan. As she pursued other life demand for her
parents, her husband, her children and her work, the dream took the back
burner in priority. The day I met her was a Saturday. A day her husband
went to play golf and her children went to see friends. With no one in
the house, she came out to the park and enjoyed a small moment for herself.
She looked at me with a humble smile
when I told her I enjoyed her performance. I thanked her and wanted to
give her a few yen as a token of my appreciation. She didn't accept my
bank note. Thank you, she said, I am not doing this for money. I did it
for myself. My soul wanted to dance and I let it out.
To strangers she looked weird and
maybe even crazy. But this woman while doing her bird dance that day entered
a personal trance and found a personal joy in movement. She danced for
the pure love of it. She found peace within herself. She felt joy within
her life. How many people, myself included, can say that about what they
are doing everyday? Finding peace within ourself? Loving what we do?
In a world filled with chaos and
that pursuit to live - to 'make a living,' we actually forget to live.
The lady in the old kimono is my reminder not to forget.
Sept, 2001
By: Areeya Chumsai (pop)
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