Well, to be honest, last year I was able to look through all my journals and look back at all the things I forgot. Unfortunately, most of my journals are back in the US, so I will have to make do with my own brain.
My dream when I was a middle school student was to work in Japan. I never had a real specific job, I just thought the idea of working in another country was so exciting that any job would suffice. I have to say, I am glad things worked out as they did. My job allowed me to experience an aspect of Japan that I only saw romanticized in books and movies. “Inaka,” or the rural part of Japan, is something that I will always treasure. The sort of relaxed feel of everything, the way I could walk outside and see a crane fly by my window, how I could just choose a road and walk until I found something interesting, it all felt like an adventure. I learned a lot, but I think the most important thing I learned was to both survive and excel on my own. Being able to identify a problem, solve it, and then to use my own drive to add my own spin and creativity to the solution is something that would be impossible to estimate a value on.
I think this blog is an example of that. I love writing my own thoughts and takes on things, but being able to start and complete COMPARTMENTALIZATION (start here) is something I will always be proud of. Like I said before, it was a dream of mine to write that story, and being able to see it through is something that still amazes me. It is something I still think about a lot. I have many ideas for a continuation, but I want to read and re-edit the original before I start on any sort of sequel. Maybe I will even get it published one day? Well, once I get back settled in the US, it is something I can start to act on.
Going back to the US is something I have also been thinking a lot about. I felt more this year more than past ones that I need to be closer to my friends and family. Not just because of emergencies or other worries, but because I miss the connection I had with many people I knew. As I am getting up there in age, I feel the need to re-cultivate and gather the people I haven’t seen in a while. Not just to network, but also out of my sense of curiosity.
This year felt like I was repaying debts I had (both literally and figuratively) and I got that perspective that I usually get when I am moving on with my life. I heard that for men (not sure why this doesn’t also apply to women, but I guess that is the problem with “hearing” something) changing the place they live is the most stressful thing they can go through. For me, cleaning things, throwing away others, and deciding what I should keep is something that is necesary. Being able to go through and choose what is important, and not just letting it exist because it is too much hassle to get rid off, is something I have needed to do for a while. It feels like the next stage in my life will start when I finally move back to the US and see what I own and then decide what I need.
When searching through all the stuff I have read, seen, and whatnot, I am happy to say this year was a good year. Oliver Sack’s Musicology both educated and inspired me. Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan felt like some of the best science fiction I have ever read. Rereading the Phantom Tollbooth also was much more enlightening than I thought it was going to be (that book can be read as cliff notes to being a happy, productive person).
With music, I ended up throwing away much more than a bargained for (though that is what I get for backing up my music on an old hard drive), but rebuilding my collection has been an adventure. Whether I like it or not, Ke$ha’s Warrior will probably be the most memorable album as going to the hospital to help my partner (in the same way she helped me when I was in the hospital) was probably the event I will remember the most. But as for best, I will have to go with Benoit Pioulard’s Hymnal. Though I still can’t quite figure out the lyrics, the soundscapes that Hymnal creates are sublime (check it out here). I also really liked Kishi Bashi’s 151A which feels like it combines an analog electronica sound with thoughtful lyrics.
As much as I would like to list every single memorable media I consumed (especially How I Met Your Mother and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon which both also helped me in those times we I frequented the hospital) I want to make sure I close with both a hope, and a wish to the future. As I am creating Plan A, B, C, and every other letter in the alphabet, I wonder what I will write here in the next year. Hopefully my big move won’t effect the blog too much, but just in case, I want to make sure I thank everybody that has read my thoughts over the years. Thank you so much, and hopefully I won’t make you guys wait too long!
No comments:
Post a Comment