A quiet commute during Japan’s Obon holiday season made me realize something slightly uncomfortable: frustration, irritation, and other forms of “negative energy” may be part of what keeps my blog moving.
Because of the heavy rain that began late last night, the air was slightly cool this morning, and I woke up feeling refreshed.
I had wondered whether anyone would really bother going to work during this awkward gap between the scattered holidays of the Obon season, but apparently about 60 percent of the usual commuters still do.
The train was nearly empty, and I found myself grateful to the railway company for keeping the usual service frequency even at a time like this.
I wonder how many of the people heading to work are what we call essential workers.
My own profession is one of them. Illness does not take a holiday for Obon or New Year’s.
The cool weather will probably last only through the morning, and it will no doubt become hot again during the day. Still, at least there is none of the usual stress caused by a crowded commute.
And then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
What am I going to write about today?
I have only just written about my distrust of politics, and I also recently wrote, almost impulsively, about something that made me extremely unpleasant.
Inside the spacious train car, the people around me seemed relaxed. There was little of that tense atmosphere that usually says, “All right, another workday is about to begin.”
So then the question becomes: what am I supposed to write about?
Japan’s decline?
The Dodgers’ poor performance?
World peace, perhaps?
Global warming?
Environmental pollution?
Even if I wanted to write about such things, I know only a little about them, and opinions are often divided. They are not subjects I can properly deal with in the twenty or thirty minutes I usually have to write.
Still, when something negative catches my attention, I can usually turn it into material for my blog.
On a peaceful morning like this, however, even that becomes difficult.
Perhaps negative energy is one of the forces that drives my writing.
I could write more about enjoyable things, or about happiness.
Perhaps there are simply fewer such things.
Or perhaps, even when they are there, I do not particularly want to show them off.
Either way, they are strangely difficult to write about.
Of course, once I arrive at work, I will have to switch into full concentration and take everything seriously.
But perhaps there is also something good about arriving at work with my mind as relaxed as it is today.
Perhaps a little less negative energy is not such a bad thing, even if it leaves me with less to write about.
・・・
scattered holidays
Holidays that are separated by working days rather than forming one continuous break.
飛び石連休
essential worker
A person whose work is necessary for society to continue functioning, even during holidays or emergencies.
社会生活の維持に欠かせない仕事に従事する人
service frequency
How often trains, buses, or other forms of transportation operate.
運行頻度
tense atmosphere
A feeling of pressure, nervousness, or seriousness in a place or situation.
張り詰めた雰囲気
impulsively
In a sudden way, without much advance thought or planning.
衝動的に
material for my blog
A subject, experience, or idea that can be used as something to write about.
ブログのネタ
negative energy
Here, frustration, anger, anxiety, or dissatisfaction that becomes motivation for thinking or writing.
ここでは、不満・怒り・不安など、思考や執筆の原動力となる負の感情
drive my writing
To provide the motivation or force that makes someone continue writing.
文章を書く原動力となる
#Japan #Obon #DailyLife #Blogging #Writing #Commuting #EssentialWorkers #Kamakura #pathologist
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