another mixed bag
a thought that has been cooking for a while in my head now. it’s still rare, at least medium rare - is it going to get any better? there is a difference between the focused, pin point-sharp center vision and the more broad, peripheral, one might say contextual vision. i feel like, in japanese culture the latter is important and widespread. not strictly in the sense of seeing (different note: myopia epidemic in asia) but rather the field of communication, the use of language. let me explain what i am getting at: japanese can be very indirect and nuances are an important part of understanding the feelings or goals of the other person. the peripheral vision, the context seems to have a higher value than in western communications and seeing. you see? to give another exaggerated example: a japanese and a let’s say german painter are faced with the same task. draw a deer. the german painter would start center, maybe 2/3rds up and draw the deer's head with great effort in the big black eyes and fluffy furred ears. next would be the neck connecting to the rounded but agile body, adding the legs and finishing with a stubby tail. clearly visible: a deer. the japanese would start on the outer edges, for example the right side of the canvas and put three pine trees standing tall with thorny blackberry bushes to their feet. some clouds would be suggested up above the birch tree to the left side. the bottom center would describe some bamboo grass with a flattened patch, as if something made rest there among the ants and twigs. a is direct, b is indirect. b is also very beautiful and pleasant - which comes at the cost of misunderstanding. was it a fox giving his paws a break? a baby black bear hiding from his bigger brother? or indeed a deer, napping before nibbling newly grown leaves? it is the space around something, as much as the something which defines it. this concept i have already touched on, thinking about “ma”, and just have found another manifestation of it.
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i was assigned to the emergency exit seat. 30c extra leg room, free of charge, very welcome. maybe a reward for being able to hide 3kg of excess hand luggage on my body, to avoid paying checked luggage. really looking forward to the extra space, i was queuing up some songs for runway and take off. should i go classic “make the world go away” - eddy arnold? “wasurerarenaino” - sakanaction for extra acceleration? surely it would have to be miki matsubara singing “mayonaka no door” to my tear glands. the bummer came in form of a very strict stewardess, reminding me to take my headphones off. the song for taxi went out the window, as she was eager to remind me again: the headphones are taken off during take off. i am pissed, because everyone else is hiding their airpods behind long hair and under tightened hoods. i let her know, this feels unfair! she takes her seat facing me, next to the emergency exit. i guess it’s a safety procedure. a new one, as i never had someone care for the earpieces so much before. a newly developed fear, maybe. we are not flying airbus after all - but boeing. after a bit of cool down on my side and gained altitude on the planes, the seatbelt signs are turned off. the serious stewardess gets up and gives me a service smile and tells me, it’s okay to use the headphones now. i am overcome by a feeling of guilt, having lost my temper over the unheard songs - i apologise for my in-compliance. she tells me, it’s not a problem and gives me another one of these well trained smiles. what a job, having to be overly nice all the time. she surely goes to the toilet once in a while, puts on her noise cancelling headphones, puts “rabid” by mortician on full volume and dreams of crashing into a church, airspeed 800kmh, partly cloudy, 16 degree celsius, 10am local time. thank you for flying with us today.
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i am home. home? well, the place i grew up in. it feels weird, as nothing has really changed. it feels like i woke up from a dream. a long dream. a dream that felt real. one, that makes you want to go back to sleep and hope to continue. it probably will continue and more probably i will be awake for the rest. so that being said, written, lets see what’s next kunde