Animal

It's not easy to describe this feeling; but let me try nonetheless.

If plants can sit quietly and be productive, staying in the same spot and bearing the fruits of their labor everyday, then I am an animal. I feel at ease when I am in motion.

Perhaps I am running away, from something. Perhaps there is, that I cannot bear to face. Perhaps I lack of, courage.

But one cannot run away forever. One ought to neither look down, nor look behind. One must face up, and thrust forward, and there is no other way can one lead his life.

Notwithstanding, a person can feel that he is alone and by himself. He feels that no one understands him, or tries. He feels fear enveloping him, and he feels helpless as he is in the verge of collapsing into darkness.

What does a person ought to do, once he is faced with that?

For a person's life does not belong to himself. It belongs to the people around him, and he owes his life to his mortal enemies as much as he owes it to his best friends. There is only one real duty, that is to live, to see through the scary parts of the fairy tale and eventually discover that dragons can be slain.

If such a man was to come to me, I at least have an answer. Go to a Japanese train station. No, don't jump off the tracks, that won't solve anything. Take the fastest train, something faster than the special limited express, if possible. Go to the first car where the conductor maneuvers the vehicle like a wizard bringing his golem to life. Do it early in the morning, let the sun bash your head and knock into you some life. Watch the Japanese towns, trees, and landscapes unzip before your eyes. It doesn't matter whether you are standing by yourself or there is a crowd of commuters behind you. Keep looking straight up, feel your body accelerating with the train. Zoom past your worries, troubles, and loneliness. Until the next stop, they cease to exist.

And sometimes that small pause is all we need.

A small hope.

Perhaps through that tiny seep, one can realize that those fears, worries, loneliness, are but illusions one create and stubbornly cling onto. That's why velocity might just be able to shake them off.

Isn't it a joy to be living?