In This Room...

        Walking among the isles of desks in one of my JHS classrooms while the students worked quietly on some test-preparation worksheets, I had the following insight. Hereafter, I will recount to you what exactly went through my mind at the time.

In this room… (I began thinking) are the future lawyers, politicians, doctors, farmers, fishers, engineers, designers, musicians, businessmen, actors, scholars, teachers, leaders, and Olympic athletes of today and tomorrow.

In this room… lies the inspiration and the power to transform society in the direction of its masters’ choosing.

In this room… lies the potential to empower the world and take it into a direction in which no one will be left behind.

In this room… lie the broad perspectives about the way the way the world is seen through different eyes of consciousness.

Ultimately, what matters most is that within the walls of this room, each individual has the power and capacity to make a choice.

“What a privilege to be able to witness how each of them grows day by day,” I thought.

As I attentively observed each of the students’ pencil cases, I immediately became aware of their distinct characteristics and personalities. “It’s amazing how much one can learn from something as simple as a pencil case!” I considered.

Before I even realized it, there were ten minutes left in class. I looked out the window to face Mt. Nosaka covered in white. After a short while, I turned around to face the opposite window and get a glimpse of the sea... Suddenly, I began to think of the thousands of fellow JETs scattered throughout Japan, who in that very moment found themselves in a room such as this one, surrounded by the same potential and creativity.

With five minutes left in class, I slowly made my way back to the front of the classroom and stepped onto the platform to face all of them collectively at once. Since a few of them had already finished their assignments, some of them proceeded to take a quick “power-nap”, others pulled out their mangas to continue on reading, and others starred back silently at me smiling.

By now the clock at the back’s wall announced that in two minutes the bell would start ringing. “What have I learned from this class?” I began to write.

In this room there aren’t two teachers… there are thirty-two. And in this school wherein this room is found, there aren’t forty-five teachers, but seven hundred and forty-five… and perhaps, to a certain extent… there is only one student.

“きりつ," I heard a voice say.

“ありがとうございました,” they all said.

“No. No. Thank YOU for what I just received,” I thought to myself.

The Way of the Traveler: Navigating into the Unknown

I have always considered myself a traveler - an explorer. As far as I see it, I believe that whenever I'm given a destination for travel, I'm handed an opportunity to learn more about myself and the world around me. One particular aspect of each journey that never ceases to intrigue me is the way in which the voyage lies before us like an ancient map of the known world. There is the land we recognize, and the sea... yet the rest all around it (or inside it... especially inside it) is a mystery. The cartographers of the past referred to it as "terra incognita" - the unknown territory. In this respect, without prior knowledge of our destination, we are like those ancient explorers who stared at the dragon-bordered maps and boldly navigated into the unknown... guided by the mere possibility of discovery.

I have often asked myself what it is that I'm seeking, what it is that I'm after? Nevertheless, I have never really been able to come up with the answer. It is said that the better you understand the significance of any question, the more difficult it becomes to answer it. Nevertheless, I suppose that in a sense... I am really not looking for anything specifically - the mere joy of seeing what the journey puts before me is sufficient enough. On the other hand, there is also the unavoidable growth which takes place. It's amazing how much one's perspective changes each time we step out of the known territory. Indeed, it many respects one could say that traveling may be the best antidote to narrow mindedness.

Perhaps it is this awareness which drives me to continue moving from place to place in order to embrace the spontaneous moments that come and go on a moment-to-moment basis. Lately, however, I have noticed that one needs not travel far in order to gain this awareness. After all, wherever you go... you are THERE! And in that "there" (or here) spontaneity continues to take place with or without your acknowledgement. In this sense, whether one walks the same path over and over again, day after day after day, month after month after month, or year after year after year... the "path" is never the same. It continuously changes in as much as our views and perceptions about the world are also transformed. Thus, perhaps (paraphrasing Marcel Proust) the real discovery lies not in visiting new and distant lands, but in learning how to see the "same" sights with new eyes - perhaps for the first time.

In this way, the journey is really not only about the destination. It resides at every step along the way, wherein the opportunity to be created anew is always present. Consequently, attempting to follow an itinerary is essentially futile since the very action of attempting to pre-determine your destination can only take you further away from your ability to engage in the spontaneity of each passing moment. The picture above encompasses the way of the traveler as I see it. Not only does the moment captured portray the spontaneous discovery of one weekday's afternoon, but the picture itself could be said to portray the very basis of our existence... in more ways than one. 

I'm sure this could be interpreted in different ways according to your own perspective; nevertheless, regardless of how it's seen, surely the water, the mountains, and the horizon's light give an air of what is known and yet unknown. A lot could be said of the ship's steering wheel, but perhaps the word that would best symbolize its meaning would be "freedom". Yes, the freedom of movement, the freedom of choice, the freedom of openness, and the freedom to navigate boldly into that which is unknown. Furthermore, apart from the fact that the wheel points out towards any of the compass's directions,  there is one final symbol found within this particular steering wheel which makes it not only "unusual," but also gives it a special significance - the empty circle. Look through it, what do you see?

I end this post with a reflection dating back to the times when ancient explorers set the ship's steering wheel into the course of their own choosing. A course which has carved a path that is as timeless as this very moment:

"We can shape clay into whatever pot we want,

but it is the emptiness

inside the pot which holds whatever we want".

- Lao Tzu

(Tao Te Ching)