Skip to main content

Adulthood

    What is adulthood? I've been thinking about this question lately. It seems as if there is no universal age that represents it. The path to it is different for everyone. The journey is never easy, but once reached, it is a satisfaction.
     I am an adult. I feel that I have made enormous strides into adulthood in Kakamigahara, Japan. I'd like to share these strides with you. Two realizations in particular. Two pillars that made me an adult. Two pillars that could help someone navigate there own path.

Reliability.

    There is something maturing about waking up each day and knowing that people rely on you. There is a sense of purpose when you enter the day knowing that you are responsible for helping others. For me, this was realized through teaching. I had to develop myself into a reliable teacher. Someone who would not only show up, but show up with a positive attitude. Someone who you could count on. 
    I felt responsible to be reliable for each student because of their spirit. The people of all ages who brightened my day gave me the task of returning the favor. My mornings were fueled by the opportunity to engage with students in the classroom. My evenings were for reflection. This cycle has continued for 10 months now. During this cycle, there were spirits in my classroom. People who taught me a sense of reliability towards others.


Appreciation.

    Once you learn to appreciate, you learn to live. This learning helped me achieve the true feeling of adulthood. This took some time, though. It seems as if society sets us up to take things for granted. To not appreciate shelter, food, or water. These things are so normalized from birth, that we tend to not be happy that we have them. Once I learned to literally appreciate everything, my entire life became a flow state.
    The morning cup of coffee. The 9 hour work day. The bike ride home in the pouring rain. It all taught me to be thankful for life. For existence. For health. For challenges. For achievements. For struggle. Stressful moments exist in everyone's day, but if this were not the case, life would be dull. I rest my head each night with the blessing of a pillow to support it. I appreciate my time on this earth. I hope this helps you do the same.

J.S

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Take Your Time

  I arrived at the bottom of Mt. Fuji at 7am. Before starting, a man said that I had 12 hours to complete the trail, in order to catch the final bus home for the night. Otherwise, I would have to sleep on the mountain. I thought 12 hours was a sufficient amount of time, but it caused me to rush at first. After a half-hour, I was exhausted and contemplated quitting. The ground felt like sinking rocks the size of tennis balls. The trail was steep.  What should I do? I asked myself. Go back down? Rest? Go only half-way up? Then it occurred to me, go slowly. A motto for life, perhaps. Life may feel fast, but if one takes their time, slowly and steadily, they can enjoy it more. Moving forward, the next 4 hours consisted of a slow ascent up the mountain. I was literally stepping about 6 inches at a time. This allowed me to keep my breath, something I lost at the beginning. Eventually, I found myself at the 8th station, the final stop before the summit.  It was 1pm. 6 hours befo...

Learnings

This month, Mother Nature showed her teeth by shocking me awake with an earthquake.  Other than that, life has been rather smooth. My work travels have taken me throughout Chiba, Yokohama, and Saitama. Each day has been a world on its own. It has been months since I've spent more than two days in a row in the same town. This has allowed me to encounter the hidden corners of a unique country. And often times, I cannot recognize what is written or spoken around me, which may seem frantic, but has actually made my internal dialogue crystal clear. Like an awakened inner soul that can now be heard. On an opposite note, I stand in front of hundreds of students each week, thus spotlighting my outer self. My chosen words. My body language and expressions. I have learned to take up space with my presence, for this is necessary to hold 30 peoples attention at once. This combination, simultaneously learning about my inner soul and outer self, has been a good learning so far. Perhaps our inner...

Joy

It is Golden Week here in Japan, the time of year when people take a break from business as usual. Instead, this week is reserved for leisure, relaxation and vacation. Golden Week is a joyful time. So, I figured that would be the topic for this month. Joy. It is quite evident that I am surrounded by it. Although this society is known for a disciplined work ethic, it does so in a joyful manner. Or so it seems to me. I can recall passing through Tokyo Station, once. It was about 9pm on a Tuesday. I was exhausted after a full day of work. The train was stopped and I was gazing out the window. Sitting next to me were a group of smartly-dressed professionals of some sort. They were chatting and laughing until one man got off the train. Now, in my home society, in the United States, the natural thing to do when leaving a conversation is to exchange goodbyes and walk away. But, not in this instance at Tokyo Station. The man did not walk away after departing his colleagues. Instead, he stood d...