Traveling to Japan has always been on my bucket list. While it all started with reading Murakami, the urge increased once I fell in love with sashimi and Japanese grill. Every time I had sashimi; I imagine it to taste 1000 times better in Japan. This imagination fueled my want to visit the place.
While I could ideally write a travel write-up of my itinerary, as I usually do, this time around I did not feel like doing so. I could do that in an Excel sheet and share it with anyone who wants it. What I want to share is some incidents that have had a life-changing impact on me. So here goes…
When is the last time that you have undertaken a mundane activity in your life with mindfulness? Let me explain this with an example. Most of us make our bed once we wake up. Do we put thought into it? Do we focus our energy and thought on the act of making the bed, closely observing the fall and the fold when we do so? We do not. We utilize the time to think about the day ahead, the meetings we have to attend, or the chores we need to finish before leaving for work. This is very unlike what I witnessed in Japan.
There is a certain amount of slowness and mindfulness in every activity – be it mundane or otherwise. The first time I witnessed it was in a supermarket. Every time one pays the bill, the employee at the counter takes your money in a tray. He/She carefully settles the bill and gives you the balance on the same tray after carefully arranging it in a neat stack of notes and coins. The act of taking and returning the cash is undertaken very respectfully with both hands. It may take a few seconds more considering that a tray is extended every time and effort is taken to stack the notes neatly when providing the change. But one begins to appreciate the pace, the mindfulness, and the act of being present in the moment. It feels like one is respecting the time – the moment that one is in. The act feels wholesome and complete.
A few days into the trip we went to a shopping mall. While the husband was trying out some clothes, I wanted to have a quick look at the crockery section. I happened to ask directions from a sales man who was not very well versant in English. He explained the floor and escalator I have to take to reach the spot. I thanked him and proceeded in the direction he pointed. In a few seconds, I was surprised to see him follow me. Got creeped out for 2 seconds, but was amazed to understand that he was accompanying me in order to escort me to the specific escalator and ensure that I take the right one. It did not look like a forced act; it did not seem like he is following an SOP of the mall which expects him to place customer centricity at the core of whatever he does. It seemed as though it was a part of him. He would have done it even if he had met me even outside of his workplace. It was him and not his job that made him do this.
These mindful acts made me realize that the very hyped and oversold concept of ‘ikigai’ from the book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, is not limited to Okinawa in Japan. It is embodied as a way of life even in the busiest city of Tokyo. People in this country seem to be finding a purpose and fulfillment in their daily mundane life chores. They focus on the present, engage 100% in any activity and try to bring value to the world even if it is in the minutest way possible.
The trip taught me that one need not go on a vacation to the hills to practice mindfulness or slow down. The overwhelming speed of life can be consciously controlled by your mind by focusing on the simplest acts in your life.
For me, Japan is no more about Murakami, sashimi, Japanese grill, Shinto shrine or cherry blossoms. It is about practicing mindfulness and cultivating respect for the most mundane activities of our daily life. It is about the gentleman who took time out of his daily life to help me with directions and unknowingly fostered a deeper connection with me.
Japan – you have my heart.
Cleaning up the clutter 