Zen on the rocks - V

Wanna take a shower together?

Wanna take a shower together? 😏 I tell my wife.

She laughs, knowing I'm referring to forest-bathing, the aptly Japanese rebranding for walking in nature.
Accepting my proposal, we stroll through another beautiful garden, soaking in the greenery, coming out refreshed.

That above term was coined by the Japanese government in the 80s to encourage more visitors to forests. And it's not the only thing they encourage regarding nature. The spring equinox is a national holiday, for example.

All these invitations to get closer to nature are influenced by Shinto, the religion that harmoniously coexists with Buddhism here in Japan. Most of their belief system revolves around the worshiping of nature, and that has in turn permeated everywhere.

Haikus, traditional Japanese short form poems, can only be considered real haikus if they have a word or phrase that references a season (kigo).

Yasujiro Ozu named many of his movies after specific parts of seasons (up to a confusing degree): Late Spring, Early Spring, Early Summer, An Autumn Afternoon, Late Autumn...

Or the (deserved) sacred status they give to the cherry tree (sakura).

If you pay attention, it's like the whole country sends the message: "get attuned with nature".

So I did.
And now my life flows perfectly as the seasons.
.
.
.
Just kidding, I'm pretty lost.

I'm attempting a radical career change, from owning a small startup to becoming a filmmaker.
The romantic in me saw this 3-month trip as the bridge between the two, dreaming to come back in full-form Tarantino, having put to the side the intense entrepreneur facet.

The reality is very different.
For the past 2 months I've lived more stories than I can tell in a year, seen some of the most beautiful landscapes and met many new friends.

All while my business is going through a crisis I haven't been able to get out from, writing exactly 0 words of a script I keep postponing and in general feeling like I'm not making real progress on any front, except exploring Japan.

I send my best friend a long voice note with thoughts along those lines, and she quotes me back just to make sure I realize how ridiculous it sounds:

I feel behind on everything except living.

And now, a haiku:

Boiling river
Passing equinox
Calm soul