Day2: There are already beautiful things around you
I read an interview article about Japanese calligrapher Souun Takeda. He told the audience that “there are already beautiful things around you once you take the time to look around. It is the fastest way of changing people to let yourself happy. So we should start by changing yourself, and in other words changing your usual daily life.” (translated by Nagisa Mizuno)
Original Japanese is here:
今立っているこの場所を見渡してみると、ものすごく美しい。自分の心を「楽」に整えることが、一番早く周りを変えていく。まず自分から変わる。それもデフォルトの日常から変えていくことが大事。
He emphasizes the importance of facing what is already there and of noticing the wonder and beauty in front of us.
This is what I try to keep in mind. Even though living in a city like Tokyo makes it difficult for me to keep it because of many distractions, noise, too much information, and caring what others think, I realised that cooking is an activity where I can concentrate on the present and get myself back.
A thing to make Takeda mindful is calligraphy. For me, it would be cooking.
