Blogging as a Strange Human Endeavor

Why do we continue writing when we do not know who is reading—or whether our words are useful at all? Reflecting on life, death, and the uncertainty of existence, I find myself wondering what this daily act of blogging really means.

From the moment we are born, each of us is alone, and we remain alone until the day we die.

A living being exists as a single individual, and every living being must eventually die.

No one knows when they will die or what will happen before that time comes.

Something sudden and unexpected can happen to anyone.

We need to be prepared for that possibility to some extent, and when we realize that death is approaching, we make preparations for it.

How to preserve and prolong life is something like a fundamental human concern.

Is continuing to live not the greatest purpose of human existence?

Some people end their own lives, but perhaps that is because they have been driven into a situation in which living can no longer feel like a meaningful purpose.

Were that burden somehow removed, would not many of them choose to live?

Because people naturally believe that what they themselves think is right, it is easy to make general statements about how life should be lived.

I do not yet think very much about my own death.

And yet, this year’s medical checkup might reveal cancer somewhere in my body, or I might lose my footing on a railway platform.

Even without a serious illness or major accident, life can hang by a thread.

Once, while I was dozing on an airplane, a piece of luggage fell from the overhead compartment. It narrowly missed me, and I felt that I had escaped with my life.

There is little point in spending every day thinking only about such possibilities, so in the end, I go on living while thinking about all sorts of other things.

But what exactly is this daily act of thinking?

I do not really understand it myself.

Does it contribute anything to the world?

Sometimes I cannot help thinking that it serves no purpose whatsoever.

Then why do I continue every day?

The question merely goes around in circles.

What lies beyond this strange dialogue between me and unseen readers through my blog?

As I continue wondering about that, I speak each day with you—someone whose face I cannot see—about living and about life itself.

That in itself is a strange human endeavor.

Perhaps blogging is the act of placing one solitary life beside another, without ever knowing exactly who is there.

・・・

individual
一個の個体。一つの独立した存在。

eventually
最終的には、いつかは。

to some extent
ある程度まで。

preserve life
命を守る、生命を維持する。

fundamental concern
根本的な関心事、重要な命題。

be driven into a situation
ある状況へ追い詰められる。

hang by a thread
「糸一本でつながっている」の意から、非常に危うい状態にある。

overhead compartment
飛行機や列車の頭上にある荷物収納棚。

escape with one’s life
命拾いをする。

go around in circles
議論や思考が堂々巡りになる。

unseen reader
姿の見えない読者。

endeavor
努力を伴う営み、試み。ここでは単なる「活動」よりも、継続的で意味を探る行為を表す。

#Blogging #LifeAndDeath #PersonalReflection #JapaneseBlog #Coloken